It is likely that change will be met with resistance. Change resistance should be measured for all stakeholders as changes are announced along with ongoing sampling at key points to monitor the potential resistance. Sample items that can be included in a change resistance survey include:
• Do you believe that this change is really needed?
• How involved have you been in the planning for this change?
• How clear has communication been about this change?
• How has the sponsor enabled the change to overcome organizational barriers?
• Do you believe that adequate rewards are being provided to accomplish this change?
• How compatible do you believe this change is with existing organizational values?
• How does this change align, support, or change other organization processes?
• To what degree have you been engaged in the change management steps, tools, and processes throughout the entire life cycle of the change?
• Do you believe that your supervisor or other members of the leadership team are genuinely supportive of this change?
Potential barriers for a change can be:
Lack of Good Sponsorship
o Lack of a sponsor
o Lack of commitment to funding and/or resources
Cultural Resistance to Change
o Culture that resists change: Inertia, Trust, Competencies, Bureaucracy
Failure to Build Change Readiness
o Lack of recognition for the need to continuously change
o Lack of knowledge/learning in a change process
Insufficient Time Allocated to Change
o Lack of time
o Poor follow through
Poor Vision of the Future
o Lack of a clear vision of the future
Poor Access to Technology by All Stakeholders
o Lack of access to technology
Poor Measures and/or Measurement Process
o Lack of performance metrics
Lack of Synergy within Groups
Relationships among key sponsors, recipients, and agents may be self-destructive, static, or synergistic. Self-distructive ones require significant energy to sustain and they produce few results. They are full of miscommunication, defensiveness, and blaming. Static relationships have an even mix of negative, backstabbing behavior, and productive, team-oriented behavior. In this situation people are as effective working together as they are working alone. And synergetic relationships create a sum that is greater than its parts. Each individual willingly contributes their expertise and as a result, change is brought about quickly, and the team’s productivity is much higher than each individual could have done alone.
Mobilizing stakeholders is a difficult task. The best method to mobilize stakeholders is to empower them through distributed control. This requires a cultural approach that organization leadership is often reluctant to consider. This approach could also have issues for coordination to ensure that there are no gaps. In order to empower employees, they need to be aware of the objectives and purpose of the change. Then they can make decisions within their function’s responsibility and actively participate in decision processes.
People resist change for a number of reasons: self-interest, denial, fear of the unknown, or other perceptions. The root of possible resistance needs to be understood, in order to overcome potential obstacles. Through stakeholder analysis, groups and their relationships to the change can be determined, current attitudes toward the change and level of influence can be identified, communication needs and any risks associated with not meeting these needs can be identified, and mechanisms and timing for delivering change messages to meet the needs can be determined.
With a better understanding of feelings and attitudes toward the change effort, the project team is better able to define the appropriate communication for each audience. A stakeholder analysis and evaluation of the risk involved, allows the team to communicate appropriately and avoid stakeholder conflicts and uncertainty.
Capabilities of Sponsors
Today’s new business environment requires agile leaders who can sense and respond to changes fast, focused, and flexible. A tool that organizations can use to select qualified sponsors is the leadership 360-degree assessment, which measures the following capabilities:
• Anticipates change
• Generates confidence
• Initiates action
• Liberates thinking
• Evaluates results
Since change is unsettling for people, when it occurs, all eyes turn to the organization’s leaders for support and direction. Leaders play a key role by promoting the change and coaching employees. Leaders need to change first, motivate the rest of the organization, and set the example by displaying the desired behavior. They have to be able to delegate responsibility, empower others to make decisions, and communicate and support the benefits of the change. Change needs to cascade through the organization and occur at each level. Leaders need to take ownership and responsibility for making this happen in all areas that they influence and manage.
Sponsors need to continuously ensure involvement and engage with stakeholders. Key responsibilities for an organization’s leaders throughout the change process are to:
• Assess readiness and make adjustments. The state of readiness for change shifts over time. Change is dynamic and requires continuous adjustments.
• Take action and resolve issues. Issues may arise throughout the change process and require the leaders to intervene and take action.
