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Change resistance among staff, according to Carol O'Connor in her latest book, features distinct categories of behaviour. But through the use of diagnostic questions, this phenomenon can be managed and potentially, overcome.
Resistance at its most obvious is a slow-motion response to meet agreements or even a complete refusal to co-operate with change. In an organization, resistance is opposition or withholding of support for specific plans or ideas. It can be either intentional or unintentional, covert or overt.
Leaders who are self-aware and have a sense of humour have the best chance of success when managing resistance. Unfortunately, those who lack these essential qualities also lack the means to acquire them. That is, awareness and a sense of humour. This is a vicious circle with an ironic end-result. Those who are flexible and adaptable themselves are able to deal effectively with resistance. Those who are not have difficulty, and they even provoke further resistance as they attempt to force change.
One of the great difficulties about managing resistance is the need to avoid inadvertently creating resistant situations. Often, those who resist change refuse more forcefully when they see others around them supporting it enthusiastically. This issue is a challenge for managers of change. It far outweighs any other aspect of the change process, whether this is goal setting, understanding company needs, planning and implementation, evaluation or leadership issues.
This is because resistance can seem irrational and develop without warning, interrupting any activity at any time. The choice to ignore its first minor appearance can lead to trouble later, and yet an overly firm reaction to trivial incidents of resistance can make a manager look like a bully.
Resistance is a way to say "no" to change. Wisely used, this is a valuable contribution to the change process. Randomly or irresponsibly employed, it causes unbearable stress and considerable bad feeling.
It is the managers' task to work creatively and rationally with resistance. As effective leaders, they cannot afford to ignore their colleagues when they disagree with change because even annoying instances of resistance can be based on sound thinking and realism. When everyone within an organization responds to change easily, then this is as fortunate as the situation is unusual. Age, background, learning style and...