Change management: prevent failures by dissolving resistance

People don’t like to change. In fact, they react badly and sometimes destructively when forced to change. Statistics tell us that 70% of change strategies within organizations do not bring the desired result and often cause a great deal of discontent. It is interesting to note that this also applies to large-scale organizations, such as the entire population of Australia. The people of Australia have NEVER passed a referendum to change the constitution, no matter how small the proposed change. So resistance to change permeates entire societies. What possibilities do you think you can get your organization to accept the change?

So what do we do about it when it is sometimes critical for an organization to change in order to survive? This can be a complete culture change or a procedural change, but if you don’t implement the right methodology, you will fail.

There is a lot of complex psychology behind why people behave this way and resist anything they are uncomfortable with. Perhaps it is more of a problem now that the world seems to be changing so rapidly that few people feel any sense of security. Developing a change program, the scope of the change, your relationship with your people, and HOW you explain the requirements for the change will all impact the response and effectiveness of your change plan and management procedures.

A key determinant in the success profile is how well you understand the values ​​and beliefs of each individual and of the organization as a whole. If you don’t have a clear understanding of these elements, don’t even think about trying to introduce a major change. You MUST understand how organization and individual values ​​conflict or support each other and HOW you can make the two congruent. This is not the realm of a Project Manager, as it is not a simple planning process by any means. The larger the organization, the more complex the management scheme must be.

A second key determinant is the skill with which the change requirement is communicated. A hastily prepared email or letter to staff and management is more likely to cause a conflict than to solve the problem. People in an organization are first individuals and then members of a group. It is very likely that this group will also divide into subgroups or cliques, each with its own natural value system. All of this must be understood and, in some cases, unique communication methods must be prepared for each group, so that the language and images provided to each group are unconsciously perceived as congruent with their value system.

Change in an organization is often seen as negative management, introducing changes that will negatively impact groups or individuals. As a manager it is critical to try to let this negative perception pass by by having an outside specialist do a complete and confidential assessment of guaranteed resistance points in the organization (and there will be many). And when I say “confidential” I mean that members of your company or organization should feel that their privacy is protected from management. Hence the need for external resources to undertake this part of the change project.

The good news is that we know how to do it and improve productivity at the same time!