How to Overcome Resistance to Change

BREAKING HABITUAL RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

 Cannot see the potential created by effective change management To break the habits that are holding you back, you first need to discover the underlying reasons for those habits, and tackle managing change on a personal level. After all, if you can’t change your own habits, how can you change the habits of others and lead your organization through a period of change? Three steps to managing change on a personal level Making effective change management decisions for your own account is not so different from managing change of a department, division, or whole organization. Here are three steps that will make a direct impact to your life and workplace productivity by managing personal change: Step 1: Understand that change is disruptive, even when made on a personal level. Step 2: Commit to the change by considering the benefits to you and those around you (for example, quitting smoking is good for your health and the environment of those around you). Changing a work practice may free-up more time, make it easier to complete tasks, or improve sales figures. When you solidify the rewards in such a manner, managing change takes on a whole new perspective. Step 3: Highlight the benefits and reinforce them. Stay on top of change by continually reminding yourself of the benefits. Over time, these benefits replace previously-hidden fears and reticence that had become the foundation on which previous habits were built. Reference to the risks of the status quo should also be considered: what will be the consequences of reverting to old habits?

“Any new thing we start ends up fizzling out.” The owner of an organization that we worked with – let’s call him Andy – had spent years on growing his company to a decent level of sales and profits. He wanted to shift the organization to the next level, but couldn’t make that breakthrough move and get on top of managing change. If this sounds like you, then it could be that you’ve got an issue of habitual resistance to change. In other words, your ingrained reflex actions are holding you back from reaching your full potential; your natural behaviors are overriding logical courses of action that could propel you and your business forward through effective change management. This isn’t a new phenomenon, nor one limited to the business world. You’ve only got to look at how difficult it is when managing personal change: to quit smoking, or lose those excess holiday pounds put on through overindulgence, for example. Often, we don’t even realize that it is our habits holding us back from achieving the potential we once promised. It is our habits that cause us to revert to our old ways. This is when change fizzles out. Effective change management made personal Habits are reinforced by several factors, many of which remain invisible because they are subconscious behavioral triggers. For instance, it may be that you:  Fear financial (or other) loss should things go wrong  Are satisfied with the status quo

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