Understanding and Coping with Change

Introduction Change is one of the most difficult processes for a human being to go through. Most people avoid it at all costs. So long as they can get by doing the same thing over and over, they will because ultimately people are creatures of habit. Thus, when change is implemented in the workplace, employees often resist—particularly if the manager in charge of implementing the change has not taken the time to prepare the way for the change, using Kotter’s 8-step model.

As Kotter (2012) notes, resistance can be overcome by following a few very basic steps: the reason is that the internal and external factors that contribute to resistance are generally well-known and universal. This paper will analyze those factors, describe resistance that stems from lack of understanding (an internal factor that proceeds from the lack of an external support), and show how Kotter’s theory for change could help create a plan for overcoming that resistance.

Internal and External Factors External factors that can lead to resistance to change include: 1) poor leadership, 2) miscommunication, 3) lack of involvement on the part of followers in assisting with the change, and 4) no vision. Internal factors that can lead to resistance are: 1) familiarity with the old way is too strong and the individual does not want to learn a new way; 2) the individual does not trust the leader; 3) the individual feels hurt because he was not consulted, and 4) the individual does not understand the need for change.

The external factors stem from forces outside the worker. These typically hail from leadership. For example, a good leadership style to have in change management is transformational leadership. This style allows the leader to supply a vision of the change, provide individuals with the necessary understanding of change, and communicate the need for the change. The leader bears a lot of the responsibility in eliminating obstacles in the change, as Kotter (2012) indicates.

Likewise if the leader does not attend to the needs of the individuals in the workplace, there will be no way for the individual workers to feel satisfied. Workers want to be included in the decision making, even if it just means having an opportunity to give feedback about a proposed idea. That way they feel validated and their need for esteem is not crushed.

As Maslow (1943) showed in his hierarchy of needs model, individuals will not reach a level of self-actualization until their lower needs for emotional support and esteem are met. Thus, the manager who leads effectively will address all the external factors that could lead to resistance and the internal factors that block change.

Situation Where I Resisted Change Due to Lack of Understanding A situation where I resisted change due to a lack of understanding was in my first job in the movie theater, when a new method of cleaning out the auditoriums was given to the ushers. I did not understand why the new method was given as I thought the old method worked fine.

I refused to clean using the new method and the managers became upset with me because they thought I was causing a bad example to others and that the change was not being implemented because of me. This was completely an internal factor on my part: I lacked understanding for why the change was necessary and so I resisted, and it caused problems between me and management. In fact, there was a good reason for the change.

Upper management had tested out the new method in a trial theater and it showed that improvements were made in cleaning times within two weeks. Had that reason been given me I would have been happy to try out the new method; but no reason or justification was given. I am a logical person and if something is requested of me I want to know the reason. It helps me to understand why I am doing something.

If I do not understand the reason behind an action, I usually will not do it. Management could have prevented the whole change by simply communicating the logic and rationale more clearly. Overcoming Resistance As George (2000) notes, leaders should possess some degree of emotional intelligence in order to understand what issues the workers are having and to see how they can help them. It is not always the case that workers know how to express themselves or their thoughts and feelings, so a manager must be sensitive to that fact.

Workers can quickly become upset and flustered and frustrated without even knowing why—the reason is that they lack interpersonal skills and communication experience. Managers should be aware of this so that they can prevent frustration. Having emotional intelligence is one way that they can do this without causing the worker to become upset and to lose his cool. A plan for overcoming resistance should thus start with the development of emotional intelligence.

This is a good foundation for a leader to have because it can really help in any communication situations where information is not getting through and people are wondering why. It is typically a problem of the information not being conveyed in an emotionally sensitive way. When workers are emotional (as they are bound to be when a change is implemented), managers need to be sensitive and understanding and able to navigate their way through the change.

Beyond that foundation, the steps that should be take to overcome resistance are to prevent it. The 8 steps that Kotter gives are: 1) Create a sense of urgency—this means instill in the workers a sense of why the change is urgently needed; in my case, the managers should have showed that our clean times were bad and that upper management wanted us to implement a new method that.