Change Management Strategies: How to Overcome Resistance To Change

Introducing an innovation can be really exciting, especially for those spearheading the change. However, it’s easy to get caught up in this excitement and forget that there might be some challenges along the way. Those on the receiving end of the change usually fall into a few different camps. Let’s say you are introducing a new IT system. You will always have three types of people who would be involved in the change process. They are: 

• The really excited: These are the ones eager and willing to embrace this new step forwards
• The indifferent: These are the ones with no preference for the old or new system. They are just looking to follow the path of least resistance (as they know the old system well, they would rather lean in this direction)
• Actively against the system: These are the ones who use the old system every day and will find it a nightmare to change all the processes now.

It’s essential to be aware of and adapt to these individual responses. If you ignore one camp, your whole innovation drive can fall apart.

Change Management Strategies to Overcome Resistance

You can run a smooth change management strategy by using these learning principles to your advantage.

• Give your team the knowledge and the confidence they need to successfully apply the new system or process in the very beginning stages. This removes some of the anxiety and emotional responses to withdrawing from change.
• Use gamification to create positive associations with the change and motivate your team to embrace it.
• A huge advantage of introducing a brand new concept is that everyone starts from the same place, with zero knowledge level! Monitor knowledge growth over time, create leaderboards and use knowledge increases as a basis to reward individuals.
• Demonstrate the real business impact this innovation is having. Give your employees easy access to this information to see the positive change that is happening.

All of these techniques should help shift the employee’s mindset from a negative or anxious place to a positive, excited one. Having the right technology platform in place to support change management can make all the difference. Giving your people access to the information they need, when they need it, will help them to feel confident in understanding and applying the innovation. 

It is important to address the stages of concern and respond with strategies to increase involvement and influence at each stage of the change process and build the capacity for future change. This would help you successfully initiate, implement, and sustain change. 

Find out more about how we can help you develop the leadership skills required for successfully navigating change