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Prosci and the Change Management Learning Centerare proud to present a tutorial series focused on

resistance management. This is the second tutorial inthe series. The first tutorial presented compellingreasons to manage resistance with data from the 2005Best Practices Report as well as created thefoundation for how to manage resistance successfully.This tutorial shares the top five reasons employeesresist change and provides action steps to proactivelymanage resistance.

Resistance to change

The natural and normal reaction to change isresistance. Every individual has a threshold forhow much change they can absorb; however,

the number one reason front line employeesresist change often surprises many project

teams. 

The 2005 Best Practices Report identifies thetop five reasons front line employees resistchange as:

1. Employees were not aware of theunderlying business need for change.

2. Lay-offs were announced or feared as

part of the change.

3. Employees were unsure if they had theneeded skills for success in the futurestate.

4. Individuals were comfortable with thecurrent state; they wanted to maintainthe personal rewards and sense ofaccomplishment and fulfillmentprovided by the status quo.

5. Employees felt they were beingrequired to do more with less, or domore for the same pay.

Providing the needed information to increaseemployees' awareness of the business need forchange is the first and most important proactivestep in successful resistance management.

*** The completed 2005 Best Practice Report inChange Management will be available in twoweeks. Call 970-203-9332 to pre-order yourcopy and be one of the first to receive the newreport.

Proactive and reactive resistancemanagement  

Managing resistance during any businesschange should include both proactive planningand reactive interventions. All too often, teamsrely exclusively on reactive measures whenresistance has already resulted in productivityloss and wasted time and resources.

Proactive resistance management involvessystematically identifying where resistancemight come from and what it might look like.The team identifies critical gaps and possiblepoints of resistance, and addresses them beforethey even emerge. Proactive resistance

management requires planning by the team andintervention from sponsors, managers andsupervisors.

Reactive resistance management is inresponse to specific points of resistance. In thereactive situation, the team must listen toemployees and identify the source of theresistance. Specific action steps should bedeveloped, communicated and implemented.

Resistance management plan 

 A resistance management plan is a proactive

approach to managing resistance. During thefirst phase of your change management plan itis important to identify potential resistancepoints. As your project implementationprogresses, additional areas of resistance maysurface. Below are the four action steps tocreating your resistance management plan:

1. Define what resistance may look like foryour change and how it may be identified.

a. Brainstorm with the changemanagement team and projectteam

b. Brainstorm with the stakeholdersand sponsors

2. For each level with the impactedorganization, define a strategy formanaging resistance to the change andprepare job aides. Refer to the resistancemanagement process (this will be providedin the next tutorial or can be found in theChange Management Pilot).  In most

Top five reasonsemployees resist

change 

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cases resistance is best managed by thedirect supervisor or highest level managerin the chain of command for that employee.

a. Managing resistance is not thesole responsibility of the changemanagement team or changemanagement lead

b. Be sure to include a strategy forthose impacted audiences such asinternal and external customers

c. Your strategy should include theWIIFM (what's in it for me) foreach level

3. Prepare and review the resistancemanagement approach with the primarysponsor.

4. Communicate this resistance managementplan to managers and coaches in theirchange management training sessions.

Scale your resistance management plan 

Resistance will come in all different shapes andsizes, depending on your specific change. Thegrid on the next page highlights criticalconsiderations regarding the customization ofyour resistance management activities based onthe size of the change and the attributes of theimpacted organization.

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• speed in dealing withresistance = slow

• severity of consequences =initially minor with growingseverity

• resistance managementstrategy = proactive

• primary coach = supervisor

• speed in dealing with resistance

= quick and decisive• severity of consequences =

severe

• resistance managementstrategy = anticipate resistance,proactively manage resistance

• primary coach = directsupervisor, highest level inchain of command

resistant

Organizationalattributes 

ready 

• speed in dealing withresistance = slow

• severity of consequences =minor

• resistance managementstrategy = reactive

• primary coach = supervisor orproject team

• speed in dealing with resistance= moderate

• severity of consequences =initially moderate, ultimatelysevere

• resistance managementstrategy = reactive

• primary coach = directsupervisor, highest level inchain of command

small large Change

Characteristics 

Resistance management customization grid 

Summary  

 As a project team or change management team you should expect resistance, but proactively manage andminimize that resistance to the best of your ability - you will not be able to eliminate resistance. This tutorialprovides you the knowledge about the top five reasons employees resist change and gives you a startingpoint to proactively manage resistance on your project and customize your resistance management plan toyour change and your organization. Upcoming tutorials in this series will describe the different types ofresistant employees and provide key steps in the resistance management process including a resistanceassessment worksheet using the ADKAR model.

For a complete set of change management templates, assessments and tools including resistancemanagement, see the Change Management Pilot. 

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Resource guide 

Benchmarking Reports and Toolkits 

Best Practices in Change Management: 288 companies share experiences in managingchange and lessons on how to build greatexecutive sponsorship. Includes successfactors, methodology, role of top management,communications, team structure and more. Thereport makes it easy to learn changemanagement best practices and discover themistakes to avoid when creating executivesponsorship. 

Change Management Toolkit: a comprehensive change management process,including templates, worksheets, assessments,checklists and guidelines - a must have forchange management team members andconsultants.

Change Management Guide for Managers and Supervisors: a guide specifically designedfor managers and supervisors dealing withchange - complete with team and individualcoaching activities, best practices findings andfrequently asked questions.

Online tools 

Change Management Pilot: a fully electronicversion of Prosci's popular change managementtoolkit with templates, worksheets,assessments, checklists, eLearning modules,

ready-to-use presentations and guidelines. 

Change Management Pilot Professional: a fully electronic version that combines theChange Management Pilot with the ChangeManagement Guide for Managers andSupervisors and Employee’s Survival Guide - acombination that allows you to reach each level of the organization.

Books and Resources to distribute 

Change Management: the people side of  change: a solid foundation in changemanagement perspectives, theories, activities

and practices. 

Employee's Survival Guide to Change: answers questions most employees areunwilling to ask and uncovers what it takes tosurvive and thrive in today’s changingworkplace. Employees will learn the ADKARmodel and become effective change agents,instead of difficult change barriers.