People are not against change. Employees are sometimes more aware than leaders of the need for change, they are in the front-line dealing with poor product quality, unresponsive service, effective competitors, etc.

Why resistance to change?

This can arise from many causes, most are rational and addressable.

• Comfort with status quo
• Lost of control
• Threat of security
• Negative history
• Work pressure
• Concern about results
• Discomfort with learning new skills
• Lack of clarity
• Exhaustion

Why to support change? 

Here are some of the reasons for people to support, seek and celebrate change:

• Personal growth
• Ambition
• Personal gain
• Self preservation
• Involvement
• Adventure

Change management involves discovering beliefs, concerns and feelings; taking action to reinforce the positives and address the negatives, and bringing them into a favorable balance.

When there is resistance to change, it is very important to understand the reason for that resistance.

What to do when there is resistance to change?

• What looks like resistance is often lack of clarity
• Show people the problems with not changing
• Create a destination postcard than makes the change more attractive
• Simplify the problem
• Lower the bar to get people moving
• Use social pressure to encourage change
• Shrink the change so you can start today
• Find a bright spot that shows it can work
• Focus on building habits
• Motivate the team by reminding people how much they have already accomplished