Communication styles
Topic time estimate: 22 Minutes
Resistance Management is one major component of Change Management. And whilst Change Leaders are rarely creating the Resistance Management Plan, you are going to be the best-suited Resistance Manager.
You, therefore, need to understand:
- What resistance looks like and how you can recognise concerns
- Where you can anticipate the most resistance to come from
- And, how you should approach resistance to mitigate open conflict and change project risk
During uncertainty, people hope for their direct supervisor to address concerns and facilitate conflict resolution and the removal of barriers. People don’t resist change in general, but they resist being changed for no good reason.
The problem is that mid-level managers often get so preoccupied with managing their own change journey, trying to fight fires and open conflicts, that passive resistance gets easily overlooked. Proactive resistance management planning that preempts and monitors resistance hotspots and concerns, allows change leaders to spread the resistance management over more resources and time, making it more impactful.
If resistance to change is left unaddressed negative risks become more likely to affect the change management chances for success.
Resistance Management Plan
Allow 20 minutes to reflect on your hotspots for resistance, the risks of leaving it unaddressed, and how you will approach it and monitor it. Ideally, you will discuss resistance management as a group involving the senior leadership team, the change manager and the project manager, and ask for input from a few selected individuals from your change advocacy network.
Your Resistance Management Plan should be seen as a working document all the way from pre-implementation to post-implementation.
Reflection
Spend 2 minutes to reflect on the change leadership activity and share your insights with the EXCELerate community before you progress with the course.
Check out what your peers learned from their Resistance Management Plan