Resistance to Change

Resistance to change is normal and even beneficial. It must be expected and acknowledged, and people's concerns must be listened to and responded to.

Here is a handy little formula that we can refer to that will allow us to deal with resistance positively and effectively. (SOURCE?).

D x V x F = R, where:

D = Dissatisfaction
V= Vision
F = First (or next) steps
R = Resistance to change

This says that Dissatisfaction, Vision and First Steps are all necessary in order to overcome Resistance to change.

In order to overcome resistance to change in ITD, we have tried to help staff to be aware of all three factors D x V x F = R in ITD....

What was our Dissatisfaction (compelling reasons to change)

lower state appropriations for educational institutions, rising costs, caps on tuition increases
dissatisfaction with some ITD services
lack of coordination across ITD when trying to make a customer happy

What is our Vision (clear image of where we want to go -what we are changing to)

customer-focused rather than technology focused
process driven
integrated, efficient services to all University customers
staff empowered at all levels to make changes, innovate, serve the customers, "whole picture decision-making"
partnerships with customers to prepare for anticipated changes in technologies (networks, LAN's, client server, distributed computing)

What have been some of our First (Next) Steps (what changes have been identified that are expected now)?

attend Quality trainings
apply quality tools and principles in daily life
participate in/support Quality Improvement/Innovation teams
read articles, books on applying Quality in organizations
do work planning with employees and supervisors
develop quality indicators

In any organizational change activity there will be those that are strongly in favor of the change, those that strongly oppose the change, and a majority of people who may be somewhat interested, but have a "wait and see" - or "we've seen this before; just wait and it will pass" attitude.

It doesn't take too many committed people to help an organization make a positive change, if they have sponsorship from the leadership. In our case, the members of the ITD Steering committee and several of the senior managers have often acted in this "zealot" or "change agent" role.

Last updated 5 May by tbray@umich.edu