Answer to Question #185129 in Management for Shriyansh Gupta

Question

3. A two-year-old start-up company dealing in 3D Printing is undergoing a major overhaul

due to COVID 19 and requires 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) The company is experiencing resistance because the employees have less knowledge about the transition and they feel scared of the outcome of the change. Most of them feel that they will be affected negatively by the transition.

The company is experiencing resistance because 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.

The company is experiencing resistance because some employees 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.

The company is experiencing resistance to change because some employees believe they will loose some organizational control. In these cases, these people are dead set on seeing the reform initiative fail.

b) 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.