I want to make some remarks on resistance to change:
1. A reason for many change-programs to fail is poor communication
or communication that is a one-way-street.^
2. The change-program may be improved by taking into account what
the underlying assumptions behind the resistance are.
It is often helpful to elaborate goals and issues whose symptoms are
the resistance to change. The following questions might be helpful:
What are the personal goals?
How do the relate to the staus quo?
How could the be related to the changed situation?
What are the fears, questions, uncertainties?
The idea is to coordinate personal and organizational goals.
An analysis of these points might lead to improvements in the change-
program by learning from the employee's point of view and to a greater
clarification of what will/might happen on the side of the employee.
It helps to reduce fear, uncertainty and resistance to change.
That worst thing that could happen is ignoring that resistance is a
symptom and not the problem itself.
Christoph Lenhartz
clenhar@clemson.clemson.edu