Resistance to change is the negative energy or reaction of a group of people who perceive change as a threat to them. At the same time, communication is the act of transferring information from a group, person, or place to another. These two aspects bear a close relationship to one another. Communication becomes paramount when a change has been initiated in an organization, for example, and resistance is inevitable. In such cases, managers ought to create an effective communication plan to address the matter to reach an amicable solution. This approach can help employees quickly adapt to the change and carry on with the organizational affairs smoothly. The premise of this essay will be to address resistance to change at depth and how communication plays a role in effectively overcoming resistance to change.
Different people have different reasons for resisting change in whatever setup. Below is a listing of various reasons people will resist change.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Some people will resist change because of the fear of loss of power. When change occurs, some groups or departments get empowered more than others. Some victim groups will even be deprived of their power and authority. This occurrence will undoubtedly initiate resistance to the changes taking place.
Change may concurrently impact the economic status of some people. For instance, a change program may be targeted to reducing the salary of some employees. The reaction to such an occurrence will automatically be resistance because losing economic privileges impacts people's lives, even outside work.
Change may also negatively impact the personal plans of people. For example, someone may be planning to take leave or embark on a personal project (Sutevski, 2020). When change is implemented, such an individual will feel strained and react negatively to the change.
Noticeable weaknesses of proposed changes can also be a cause of resistance. A particular group may question the outcome of the change and judge it as an unpractical move. Once they identify this weakness, there is no doubt resistance will ensue as a protest as an indication of resistance to change.
A change plan within an organization may also meet resistance for various reasons.
Loss of job security or status will initiate a chain of resistance among employees that are directly affected. Peers, employees, or managers in an organization setting will resist technological or administrative changes if they have the reason to believe that their duties will be reduced or eliminated. When the changes are forcefully implemented, employees will find indirect or direct ways to resist and impact the organization negatively in the long-term.
The fear of the unknown and mistrust is also a factor that will initiate resistance among employees (Tanner, n.d.). When employees know little about the impacts of a change plan, they will tend to distance themselves from the change idea. Besides, when the change plan comes out as a surprise, no one will want to be caught unawares. If there is no prior plan or knowledge of implementing change, resistance to the change plan is inevitable.
Poor timing and lack of tact will undoubtedly initiate resistance to change plans. When the implementation approach is faulty, employees will disagree with the objective of change, even when the management and goals are worthwhile. This cause of resistance to change goes down to inadequate strategy and timing.
Managing resistance to change is easier said than done. It requires a dedicated management team to walk other employees through a change process while keeping their adverse reactions in check. Below is a strategic approach that can be adopted in managing change.
Firstly, an effective manager should be patient enough to prioritize listening to employees before commenting. A manager should allow the employees to initiate a conversation on the same topic and air their views. People have the innate desire to be heard, and when they are given that chance, they let out their frustrations, thus alleviate tensions. Employees' thoughts play a critical role in determining the direction that a change plan will take. Finally, a good manager should understand the root of resistance from employees' views.
A communication plan should then follow to help understand why and how. This step entails telling employees what the change plan is all about and why it is being implemented. Besides, this step helps inform employees how they are going to benefit from the change plan.
A good manager should go further to communicate the change plan to the employees with the right conviction (Wagner, 2019). Consequently, the impact of effective communication will transcend down to all employees and click them to action.
Employees should be directly involved in the change plan. For example, if new technology is incorporated into an organization's activities, the focus should be on how employees will adapt to the change rather than the technology itself.
The change should be delegated through other people. Rather than having one party implementing change, good management will train natural leaders within a group to influence other employees in embracing change.
Finally, it is worthwhile to implement change in stages to ensure that employees are not overwhelmed by adapting to various changes overnight. Phased implementation is a more practical approach to initiating change.
Communication and resistance to change are almost dependent on each other. When initiating any change plan within an organization, communication comes in handy. Strategizing on a proper communication process influence the employees' attitude and behavior toward change. (Rick, 2014) A group that is adequately informed about the objectives of the proposed changes always embraces changes without a hitch. However, when employees are poorly addressed about the goals and impact of change to their roles, they will undoubtedly revoke the transformation or resist the new plan.
Communication is a critical aspect within any organization because it determines the degree of understanding from top management down to regular employees. There are different communication strategies, and this section will discuss three of them. These strategies include open communication, inclusive communication, and two-way communication.
Open communication is a model that involves both employees and managers being free to share their criticism, ideas, and feedback at any level within the organization. This model is most useful for an organization that values trust among its members.
Inclusive communication is a strategy that ensures all employees are involved in the decision-making process within an organization (Richards, 2017). When employees are engaged in vital decision-making processes, they feel appreciated and satisfied by the organization. They even own the objectives of an organization.
A two-way communication strategy is a bilinear approach where the receiver of information has the chance to respond and offer their views about the information they received. This approach is often useful in a hierarchical model of an organization.
The communication strategies mentioned above are worthwhile for adoption, but the best of them all is the open communication strategy. The reason to back this claim is that open communication fosters transparency, innovation, sufficient conflict resolution (Richards, 2017). When organization heads engage in open communication with employees, especially when implementing change, they will quickly learn about their grievances and reactions to change and resolves the issue from the point of understanding.
A communication plan should be developed before initiating change within an organization to avoid the mishaps that accompany change (Schultz, 2011). The best approach is highlighted below.
Firstly, all stakeholders within an organization should be informed about the objectives and impacts of change within an organization.
Secondly, credible leaders should be selected and trained on how they will deliver the information entailing change to the rest of the organization's members.
A face-to-face communication model should be adopted because body language and other non-verbal cues play an important role in relaying the weight of the message being passed.
The information being passed should cascade down consistently, and feedback should follow suit up the hierarchy too.
Ensure that communication is frequent to ensure that everybody stays abreast of every step or arrangement.
In conclusion, communication determines how an organization effects change. When proper communication that enables employees to air their opinions is adopted, the organization is assured of a smooth transition through change. However, if a discriminate communication model is used, strains arise, and resistance is unavoidable. Reliable management will consider creating a communication plan before implementing change to ensure that there are no communication breakdowns, as highlighted in the essay's body above.
References
Rick, T. (2014, October 11). Communication is paramount when it comes to change . Torben
Rick. https://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/communication-is-paramountwhen-it-comes-to-change-management/
Richards, L. (2017, November 21). Communication Strategies in an Effective Organization .
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/communication-strategies-effective-organization-826.html .
Schultz, N. (2011, June 30). Communicating Change: How to Create a Communication Plan .
Business Communications. https://managementhelp.org/blogs/communications/2011/06/30/communicating-change-how-to-create-a-communication-plan/
Sutevski, D. (2020, February 27). 28 Factors or Causes of Resistance to Change .
Entrepreneurship In A Box. https://www.entrepreneurshipinabox.com/223/factors-that-causes-resistance-to-organizational-change/ .
Tanner, R. (0AD). Organizational Change: 8 Reasons Why People Resist Change . Management
is a Journey®. https://managementisajourney.com/organizational-change-8-reasons-why-people-resist-change/ .
Wagner, M. (2019, May 5). Top 6 Strategies to Overcome Resistance to Change . WalkMe Blog.
https://blog.walkme.com/change-6-strategies-overcome-resistance/ .
