You're facing resistance to change in your business. How can you navigate through it successfully?

Neuroscience explain that our brain is geared towards resisting change. Therefore resistance is a natural reaction that we have to expect. When dealing with change, it is possible to use the ADKAR model to assess where people impacted by the change are in their journey. Empower individuals and ask them to express the reasons for their resistance. Sometimes, it stems from a lack of awareness of why the company is changing; sometimes, it is unclear what's in it for the individual; sometimes, it is linked to a lack of training or time to practice. In other instances, it is linked to the lack of rewards to sustain the change. There is no such thing as one size fits all.

There is a saying, " Change is difficult in the beginning, Messy in the middle, and Beautiful in the end". And I say " Change is extremely difficult if done alone". Lots of practical tips are available but from my experience, change or sometimes called disruptions can be managed if we: 1. Start slowly. 2. Take all who are impacted along with us in the journey. 3. Celebrate wins as we progress.

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Your biggest objectors often become your biggest champions if you get them on board. Put in the time to understand the cause of their resistance and chip away it using real world examples and data. Once they see the benefits and get past the fear or resistance, they'll often become the most outspoken on a team level and convince others to give the change a chance.

Understanding and awareness that resistance to change is a common human response when they feel threatened by potential outcomes of changes occurring around them. Identifying the reasons for resistance in business and addressing its root causes can help in reducing the resistance effectively.

Most important part is to keep the dialogue open. Remember that communication is a 2-way street so as much information you are passing across about the change initiatives, you should be taking back feedback on how people are embracing it, or any challenges being faced that prevents them from being so receptive. It would be good to also breakdown the change initiatives into milestones that can be gradually accomplished at the right pace for the team.

Una buena alternativa, dentro de nuestro plan de comunicación del cambio, puede ser el compartir casos de éxito de empresas similares del sector. Muchas veces los miedos se vencen sabiendo que otros, lo han implantado con buenos resultados.

Before you start communicating a message, please identify your audience. One of the most common mistakes I see in communication is the assumption that the same message (horror, conveyed by the same email!!) will work for everyone. You need to craft the message considering how the audience will be impacted. Avoid jargon - very few care about EBIDTA or ROI! Focus on what's in it for the organisation and, most of all, for the impacted employees. The trick is to motivate without being unrealistic. I remember a CEO telling the employees after an acquisition that amazing opportunities were around the corner. They did not materialise at all, and many people left the organisation feeling betrayed. Be honest and transparent.

Ensuring everyone understands what is being communicated is key, change is daunting for most people & the simple effort of explaining things clearly is vital to success.

Ensuring everyone understands what is being communicated is key, change is daunting for most people & the simple effort of explaining things clearly is vital to success.

One of the top reasons for resistance is lack of inclusion in the change. Many people are the recipient of someone else's decision. They feel like passive passengers, which does not help engage them in the change. Try to involve employees in co-designing the change wherever possible, such as via pilots or tests. The intention to involve them has to be real, not just a facade—let's pretend and say no to everything they propose. This will end in a boomerang effect. Take into consideration personalities and neurodivergence—not everyone likes to be in the limelight or share their ideas and opinions very openly. If an idea is not taken on board, explain why: use objective criteria and avoid playing favourites.

Remember that individuals generally make good decisions, but when they’re in cribs that stupid monkeys. So be careful asking groups to participate in change-making processes. It’s often better to have an individual changemaker.

To keep your team talking and involved, you need to have actionable outcomes from the feedback. If you get the team to trust you enough to share ideas, don't let them fall flat and not go anywhere. Even if you unable to implement an idea, you need to go back to your team with the reason why so they feel valued and heard.

People listen to people they trust. So get team members who are influencer within the team and get their buy-in. Once you have this, it makes it much easier for the others to embrace the change. They are also able to speak-the-language that will easily get others to begin to trust the process. If you don’t do this, it’s possible that these same influencers, if not sold on the initiative, can convince the team not to embrace the change and make it more difficult for the change to happen.

This is indeed the most typical question in the change management field. And, here is the most typical answer to that: Find out the underlying reason(s) for the resistance! Is it related to employee's job security? to their comfort zone, they don't want to lose? to their habitual way of working, they don't want to change? Any risks or ambiguities? Misunderstandings or misinterpretations? Anyways, the ADKAR model is a great approach to address such concerns and roadblocks!

Listen, listen, listen! But also speak and advocate clearly why change is needed. The change management framework from John Kotter stands the test of time on how to handle change successfully. Learn it and apply. The best minds in the change management constellation have you covered.

Resistance is something you should expect since The first time, accept it, swallow it, face it. You can never make everyone happy. Manage the risk and carry on. And yes the ADKAR model is a framework that we can use to tackle this.