Answer to Question #177203 in Management for SHILPI

Question

A two-year-old start-up company dealing in 3D Printing is undergoing a major overhaul due to COVID 19 and require your help

a. They are facing a lot of resistance to the changes being implemented and want to understand the reasons for this resistance?

b. Can you help them manage these resistances to change? 

Answer 1

a)Change is now the natural state of operation, due to the rapid growth of computer computing in this information era and its effect on an ever-evolving global economy. COVID 19 is a global pandemic affecting businesses and human migration. The 3D printing firm cannot afford to ignore changes to remain competitive. Despite the fact that progress is all around us, organizational change is difficult. Many companies, in fact, refuse to make the required adjustments to ensure their sustainability. Employee and middle manager reluctance to change is often blamed by senior sponsors of organizational change for implementation failures. This is valid at times. Senior leaders and administrators, on the other hand, often overestimate how much transition they can implement on the company. Some people are still unaware of how difficult it is to successfully lead and execute change. The firm is facing resistance to change because of;

The less knowledge your team members have about the transition and how it will affect them, the more fearful they will be. Leading transition also means not catching the company off guard! Your business must be ready for the transfer. Besides, there is a climate of mistrust in the firm. In an atmosphere of skepticism, meaningful organizational change is impossible. The concept of trust entails having confidence in the motives and actions of others. Mutual mistrust will sabotage an otherwise well-intentioned reform initiative. Moreover, some people oppose reform as a political tactic to "prove" that the decision was made incorrectly. They can even resist to demonstrate that the person in charge of the shift is unfit for the job. Others will object because they would lose some organizational control. In these cases, these people are dead set on seeing the reform initiative fail. Nonetheless, the 3D Printing company is fearing failure. Fear is a strong motivator that can harden people's resolve to fight your reform efforts. You'll need to help your team members overcome these fears if you want your change effort to succeed.

 b) Change management practitioners do not rely exclusively on reactive tactics to deal with opposition to change. There are a number of constructive measures that can be taken to overcome and reduce opposition that should be included in a project's change management strategy. Create expected points of resistance and special strategies to handle them during the development of the change management plan, based on readiness assessments.

When resistance is managed solely on the basis of symptoms, it is ineffective. Resistance manifests itself in a variety of ways, including moaning, missing important meetings, failing to provide requested information or services, or simply refusing to follow a new process or behavior. Although these symptoms are more visible, focusing on them will not produce results. You must look deeper at what is actually causing the resistance to be successful at handling resistance. Effective resistance management necessitates determining the root causes of resistance—that is, identifying why someone is resistant rather than just how the resistance manifests itself.

Change resistance can be reduced if successful change management is implemented from the start of the project. Although resistance to change is a natural human reaction, effective change management will help to alleviate much of this resistance. Change management is more effective as a method for activating and involving workers in a change than as a tool for handling opposition as it emerges. The strength of using organized change management from the start of a project is that it can capture and leverage the excitement and positive energy surrounding a change, which can also avoid resistance.