The Hard and Soft Sides of Change Management

14

Anticipating and Addressing Resistance

You’ve probably seen something like this before. Employees smile and nod politely as their manager describes changes that are planned. A few employees ask questions to be sure they’re clear on what’s happening. A few even volunteer to try things out. But later on, in private, these same employees joke disparagingly with their co-workers. “She’s crazy,” they’re overheard saying. “She won’t get far with this. You’ll see.”

Or, a training manager checks in with employees to see how a new process change is going for them. Her trainees assure her things are great; they just haven’t had time yet to try out the new procedures they were trained on. For now, they’re still doing things the old way. “I’ll do it soon,” ...