Overcoming Resistance to Change

[Music] [Applause] thank you most people realize that everything in life changes nothing stands still things grow and decay without change we would have no progress that's why I thought that when a change was clearly for the better people would welcome it well here at work I've learned that's not necessarily true let me show you what happened with three of my key people I knew it dry so I have some cocoa or some tea and stop griping wouldn't you know what no coffee the minute I put my money in there it's dry Bingo no coffee I'm beginning to think I'm a real jinx around here well looks like everybody's got problems huh I was going to talk to you about helping Earl out and the water bottle is empty no water no coffee what do they think we are down here camels well there's a couple of things they could change and they wouldn't have any complaints for me what's this about the new equipment oh bugs that's what either that or my coordination isn't what it used to be now I could come up with some improvements look man I don't like cracking the whip but something's got to be done the production figures are probably in my office right now and I don't have to look at them to know we're falling far behind I've done everything they've asked me to do including moving no equipment is perfect the minute you put it in it's bound to have a few bugs in it look they took all that into consideration on paper well they still expect you to use your head well I did it did what another half days work in the scrap pile Oh great boy that's all we need I think I know what's wrong now I'll see it doesn't happen again I don't think we can afford any more mistakes around here from anybody maybe I haven't given this enough personal attention wait a minute didn't you miss one of the supervisors meetings no but I I didn't say to see the slides I had to leave early well maybe I better show them to you before we go any further it might be helpful but look I I wanted to talk about this now Theory may be all right but I've got a practical problem to deal with all right are you having trouble with the new equipment the procedures the scheduling well somehow I I feel the core of the problem is with my men they're resisting the change my three key people the pacesetters for the others are bogging down more than the rest Charlie my assistant pop Davis and Earl they're all good men yeah no doubt about it I've been racking my brains to figure out what's bothering them just doesn't make sense well nobody can really understand why a person resists something until he can see the problem from the other person's point of view as a matter of fact that's the point of the slide film well maybe I better take a look at it fine fine very simple to operate we don't even have to darken the room sound and oil eh sound and all you see I'm presenting these slides at the management meetings next month and I've recorded my comments keyed to each slide in that way we can stop it or go backwards good then we can talk too yes indeed now I don't mean that this little film is the final answer to all your problems it simply gives you some general principles naturally you have to have a little Ingenuity in applying them some sensitivity and understanding of people well I think I know my people pretty well I've never had any trouble with them you probably know your men better than you realize but you might not have thought of some things you know as connected with their resistance well it's possible why don't we skip the introduction which is why we need this film because obviously we do and begin with handling the problem fine drop your chair [Applause] all right here we go the key to handling resistance to change is finding out what the change means to the employee from his point of view let's say this letter A represents something being done now the old way the new way represent by B the process of change then could be pictured like this at least from the boss's point of view but how does the employee see it well first he may not know how to get from A to B or he may not know clearly what is expected or he may have a wrong idea of when how quickly he must change until everyone understands what he is expected to do and how he is to do it and so on little progress can be made in clearing up confusion and uncertainty which breed resistance to change well I I don't think we ran into any of those problems everybody knew what he was supposed to do did something like this occur sometimes the boss may see the change one way while the employee sees it a more direct a better way if the boss fails to consult the employee about how he would do it and insist that his own way is right he may arouse resentment and resistance and he may also lose out on a good Improvement did anything like that happen well I I may have made that mistake when I call the men in to discuss the change I I asked them if they had any problems but I guess I didn't leave the door open very far Joe they may have some ideas which we don't know about some suggestions that could be helpful could be well let's go on the boss then sees the change like this the employee uses the old way if the boss communicates clearly he believes the employee will use the new way and that's all there is to it but the boss may fail to see that he himself is also a big part of the picture from the employee standpoint the employee views the change very differently his self-image may be threatened by the boss's actions does this apply to you in relationship to your men no no I don't think so possibly I've been a little abrupt but not like that well don't forget whenever you're in a position of authority you could be seen like this and when you propose a change it is sometimes taken as a criticism of what has been the general practice well anyway let's go on you notice that here the employee is pictured alone first using the old way and then the new way the boss frequently views each employee in this way as a single individual he may fail to see that the employee's relationships to other workers are important to him and that the employee might see the change as affecting his standing with others in his group or the employee may see the change as essentially isolating him either physically or in a social sense you know it's beginning to ring a bell yeah well I was wondering if Charlie you know my assistant well he used to have the office next to mine in this building well now the change meant that he had to move over to the plant when I did Ah that's not very likely the move didn't bother me why would it bother him did he say anything yeah as a matter of fact he did he he called the new building Tombstone Gulch so we're going to be moved over to Tombstone Gulch huh that's what the boys are calling the officers in the new plant we're not going to bury you Charlie or take you out of your cubby hole and move you over in a place of your own well I'll be leaving here too but we'll keep the work coordinated over there I suppose it should help the guys do lose a lot of time in running back and forth well so do we just how big of the changes in my operation oh they're not so bad here's Emanuel explaining the revised setup gives you a complete rundown on Yo noiri and the no equipment if you have any questions we'll go over them together I'll let you know after I've looked them over about this moving is that area over there really going to be adequate well there's more than you need more than you have now let me know if you have any problems well if that's what's causing his resistance I sure missed it he must have felt that the change was separating him from the friends he'd made over here it's funny I always thought of his old office as a as a cubby hole myself I thought the change was obviously good for him I thought he was just being stubborn and of course he began to react to your own attitude yeah I'm beginning to see that I sort of added fuel to the fire didn't I well you did fan it a little well I'm beginning to see what you mean about the other fellas point of view if you don't understand it then your own feelings can spark further resistance right would you would you mind going back to the last one no yeah yeah what is it well you know in a way this could be pop Davis how well he's an older man he's highly skilled he's earned a certain respect from his fellow workers over the years and and he knew our old equipment better than anyone else trying to think of what he said get one thing mastered and Along Comes something and make that out of date looks like 20 years right down the drain I'll be just a button Pusher around here before long well that's not likely you'll have a lot to do on this but you'll handle it all right oh I suppose so that's what makes life interesting I guess you know to pop Davis that the changeover could very well have looked like that he he could have viewed it as threatening to himself as a highly skilled worker and he might actually be concerned about being displaced altogether yeah could be you know I'm sure that that's the way Davis viewed the change could we go on yeah again viewed objectively from the boss's standpoint the change may seem simple enough for the employee to handle but the employee may see it only as an added burden to his other problems on and off the job say no more that's Earl he has so many problems anything new might look like more than he could handle how did he put it you mean we're going to have problems with this change oh these endings are the best though at first only I understand they are a little bit tricky and dines huh well they say they're the best no doubt about it what's the matter oh nothing is with all the problems I've got when you hear about something new coming along you know oh you're gonna be all right now just stop worrying well that ending is a fine piece of equipment a couple of months from now you'll forget we haven't had any other Maybe well uh I'll give it a try okay Earl do the best you can you know as far as I'm concerned if nobody ever changed anything I'd be very happy well not really but it sure feels that way sometimes to Earl the change must have seemed like well like one more burden the straw that would surely break his aching back yeah it's beginning to make sense to me but now that I know why each of my men resisted the change what can I do about it well first of all we've spoken about the importance of communication making sure the change is clearly understood in the second place you can do the same thing for your men that I've tried to do for you you mean let me come up here and get things off my chest why not you can provide an atmosphere where your men can ventilate their feelings give them a chance to release some of their tensions and whenever you've been wrong it's no crime to admit your own shortcomings no I suppose not but is that enough how can I get them really interested well would you like to see what the film strip has to say about that I think that's next sure let's have a look people identify with existing ways of doing things ways they know at which they're most skilled in which they feel are part of themselves the unfamiliar the unknown or untried is foreign to them it may be seen as a threat an arouse anxiety these are some of the reasons why attempts to make people change often meet with resistance on the other hand a man is most closely identified with what he creates himself if a man has had a hand in shaping something or improving it he makes it in a sense his own and if he feels his opinions are taken seriously he gets a sense of participation I see then he's likely to feel that that he has a part in the success or failure of the change exactly providing an opportunity for participation is one of the most important ways of helping people to accept a change without having it feel threatening you know I got some ideas from this that I'd like to try well that session with Mr Albertson really got me thinking I went back to the plant eager to tackle the problem but in my enthusiasm I picked the wrong time as well as the wrong place to start here's what I walked in on Charlie how am I ever going to fill this water figure it out for yourself you can read the manual as well as I can how about you giving me a hand I'm sorry kid I got my own headaches all these newfangled ideas boy if it asked me in the beginning I could have sure told him let management find out for themselves they always know what's best if Keith comes in here and sees this mess he'll really blow his stack well where is he he hasn't been around all day he's upstairs with Albertson trying to get himself in good with a boss and save his own Nick and we'll be The Fall Guys yeah and I'll probably be the first one to get canned I just took on those extra payments if I'd known this was coming up I would have started looking for a new job two weeks ago well I wish I'd known all this was going to happen I certainly wouldn't have put out like I did all these years why don't you two knock it off you'll both give me a pain say I look friend you can't talk to me like that something go wrong man I'm sorry I didn't get down here any earlier but I've been tied up with Mr Albertson well I I know this changeover's been pretty rough on all of you I may have been at fault some one way or another if I have I'd like to know about it well my door's open anytime you want Davis you seemed upset about something when I came in what was it well just a personal matter Charlie you fellas have a falling out nothing important well I hope not well now about this whole changeover you know there may be some things that that I don't understand I mean from your points of view that well I haven't taken into consideration simple enough the new plans look good on paper but our old ways were much better in practice that's right too many bugs they've overlooked but look this plan should work now it has other places we're showing there are bugs in it no plan is perfect except on paper but well I'm open to suggestions and if any of you have anything you want to get off your chests well I'm going back to my office right now and I'll give you as much time as you want hey Pop you better get your tools put away if you want to beat that late traffic Rush that's right it is getting late pop mind if I ride with you tonight of course not come on I'll see you all tomorrow I struck out but good in that first attempt I couldn't have picked a poor at time and I shouldn't have tackled him as a group worse I felt myself getting impatient after my initial good intentions weren't appreciated I saw the problem as just plain stubbornness on their part I realized then that this was going to take some time to work out and more than just talk I'd have to prove myself in actions as well as words and that couldn't be done overnight the next morning I went to my new office as usual Charlie was there to get squared away for the day hi Charlie uh before we uh before we get started I think there's something we ought to talk about all right everybody and his brother knows the production figures in our department are weighed down but that's no fault of mine have a seat you don't have any chairs on here so uh have a packing case and uh do me a favor and uh relax what's the matter you going batty or something well it may seem that way to you I don't get it Charlie uh you know I don't want to blame you for the drop in production figures just the opposite it's my responsibility well how do you like the place not much bigger than mine in fact I think it's about the same size well the square footage is the same oh mine just looks smaller it's all load of download stuff you know you got a store room back there that we haven't even opened up yet all that space going to waste what's on your mind wow I was thinking if we could get a sliding door in there and back of my office I could put a showroom out there and get more product out in the open when customers come through good idea you really think so sliding door and lights it would cost some money well I'll check the budget maybe I can authorize it I could make a great showroom out of that right you know Charlie you've been upset about this changeover for some reason if there's anything on your mind you can talk to me about it I'll really make an effort to do something there's nothing you can do what do you mean well to be perfectly honest I didn't like this whole move I was beginning to make friends up in the front office and uh then this feels like a come down eh well not that exactly well what then this may sound kind of silly but I was beginning to feel like one of the boys up there and now they uh buried you in Tombstone Gulch huh yeah well didn't it bother you after all you were in pretty solid up there well sure it did at first well then you know what I mean yes I do I wouldn't brought it up if you hadn't asked me I suppose it all sounds kind of foolish nah no it doesn't hey look let's give Al and Dick a ring and we'll all go out and we'll have lunch together huh maybe it's not so far over there as it seems foreign I made a little progress with Charlie which was important since his attitude had a great deal of influence on how the other men felt well that wasn't out of the woods yet that same morning Earl came in late for the first time in months on the job he'd ruined some material and bruised his thumb later he complained of not feeling well and Charlie sent him home then Davis showed up at my office unexpectedly he wanted to transfer pop we don't want to lose you you're my most experienced man oh looks like I've outworn my usefulness so far as this new setup goes ah not by a long shot in fact right now we're faced with a problem I'm just going to call you over I know you've got some ideas about why this new equipment isn't working out the design isn't right for our operation or would it be much of a job to modify it well who's going to do that it's what the plans call for on the changeover it's the way Ian dines engineered it I have the cell phone number the end on Company please yes the engineer that installed our new equipment okay fine it's Keith Miner but Davis I really need your help on this could we uh could we postpone the discussion about the transfer for a while yeah I guess so I'd like you to make this your project I'll get i'll get endine's engineer out here and and you tell them what you want work with them on any redesigns and help him install the modifications so you're sure they're right I'll back you up all the way and so Mr Albertson is it a deal well if you put it that way sure fortunately I was able to get Davis involved in making the modifications it began to feel that his ideas and opinions were recognized and respected and working him out he he developed a real feeling of participation though the actual changes turned out to be minor he saw that his skills would still be needed by that time Earl had returned to work his physical condition hadn't been too serious just the result of too much tension Earl was a good worker and I didn't want to lose him I know he felt pressured by the changeover and saw no let up in the future so things just aren't working out for me that's all oh look girl I I know it's been rough changeover like this always is it's pretty hard to break old habits and start new ways of doing things overnight yeah but uh I'm not doing so good wasting stuff making mistakes oh look that's that's bound to happen you know I've been a little impatient Maybe I've expected too much too soon but production is supposed to pick up isn't it I mean better quality and faster and so forth that's why they wanted this changeover wasn't it yeah that's right and I'm gonna have to be even faster and better in the future and if I've been working as hard as I can I well look girl it's well it's a little hotter on you now because well because you have to think unconsciously every step you make anybody's liable to take longer at first do things wrong occasionally yeah the old setup was a lot easier yeah but because you got used to it and by with time the the new ways will become more or less automatic too and I suppose that could be only yeah well when they all start I might be one of them what layoffs well some of the fellas have been talking yeah and it stands to reason that if the new equipment is supposed to cut down on the workload why some of us won't be needed I'll be but girl I thought we got that squared away in the beginning now the idea of a changeover is to increase production not to cut down on people every man in the plant is needed now and will be needed in the future really I can guarantee you that I mean if I weather this rough period I'll still have my job not if Earl when now look you've always done your work and well so stick with it huh and stop worrying thanks Keith I feel a lot better well after that I made sure that Earl got support when he needed it I asked Charlie to help him out and use every opportunity to make him feel part of the team also I I began holding sessions with my whole group these helped clear the air straighten out misunderstandings and improve Communications in both directions gradually things began to straighten out one day almost a month later I met Earl at the coffee machine oh yeah mind if I join you not at all I suppose you're wondering what's the occasion how come little old Earl suddenly has time to relax yeah you uh you were kind of floored by the changeover weren't you oh that's the understatement of the week for a while there I thought I was going to flip my lid but now I'm beginning to see a little blue sky you mean uh somebody up there really likes you after all right you know it's funny I used to study the directions in that manual and breed them over and over again study the drawings and still nothing then then Charlie comes over watches what I'm doing like a golf pro spots what I'm doing wrong a couple of days later I'm really swinging swinging yeah the stuff's coming off without a hitch uh you're always credited Charlie for everything you want to know why it's such a breeze now well you can thank me for that too Pals what do you mean well uh Keith here invited the electrical engineer from endives over to have a talk with me so so we modified the equipment according to my ideas that's right and we've got a water fountain and a coffee machine that really works for a change now don't you start crying about this water fountain it's brand new you know every time Davis here has a problem never comes right out and says anything about it just starts grumbling about the water cooler I can read him like a book oh cut it out Charlie I got news for you I haven't had a drink of water in years I never touched the stuff you know I believe it say Keith how are those production reports coming out now oh not too bad a couple of weeks and uh we'll be really swinging hahaha well things have changed around here maybe the greatest change has been in me I've learned that I can prevent or overcome resistance to change by others until I'm able to see how the situation appears to him I've learned I can't expect people to change until I've established good two-way communication and I found out I can't impose change it has to be accepted and will be accepted only when it isn't threatening when it fits in with a person's self-image and I found out also that I can help this process along best by getting people to participate in the change to contribute to it and help shape it themselves only in this way will change be feared less only in this way can change mean real progress for everyone [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music]