Do not be surprised by resistance! Even if the solution a project presents is a wonderful improvement to a problem that has been plaguing employees, there will still be resistance to change. Comfort with the status quo is extraordinarily powerful. Fear of moving into an unknown future state creates anxiety and stress, even if the current state is painful. Project teams and change management teams should work to address resistance and mitigate it, but they should never be surprised by it.
Research on the function of the brain shows that resistance is not only a psychological reaction to change but actually a physiological reaction (see the “The Neuroscience of Leadership” by David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz for more information). To act in a new way requires more power from the brain. The physiological reaction when presented with a new way of doing something is to revert back to what the brain already knows. Human beings can adapt their behavior, but it is a difficult and painful process—even for the brain itself.
When preparing for resistance, spend time before the project launches to look at likely sources of resistance. All too often, a project team will reflect back on resistance and say, “We knew that group was going to resist the change,” but nothing was done to address this upfront in the project. When the project is getting started, be proactive and specific about where resistance is likely to come from and the likely objections that drive this resistance. Then, act on this knowledge ahead of time before the resistance impacts the project. These are some likely sources of resistance for most any project:
- Employees who are highly invested in the current way of doing work
- People who created the current way of doing work that will be changed
- Employees who expect more work as a result of the change
- Those who advocated a particular alternative, say Option B, when Option A was ultimately selected
- People who have been very successful and rewarded in the current way of doing work
These groups are likely sources of resistance and should be addressed proactively in the project lifecycle with targeted tactics for mitigating these objections.