Your kickoff meeting is scheduled and you have carefully put together your change management communication strategy and plan. You have spoken to the CEO and he is happy to speak at the kickoff and has given you his commitment to provide ongoing support. You have been diligent, meeting with him several times to go over the key points that you would like included in his messages. You have even begun to have informal discussions on the CM strategy and plan with key impacted stakeholders, and are gaining their support. This all sounds great doesn’t it? So why are you, getting resistance from your mid-level managers every time you speak with them?
CEO and stakeholder support does not guarantee that mid-level managers are on board. Mid-level managers are identified as the number one resister during change initiatives as they feel that they have the most to lose in times of change. To back this up in a recent survey conducted by Prosci, a leading provider of research on Change Management, participants identified middle managers as their most resistant group during their change initiatives by more than 35 %, front-line supervisors where not far behind at over 15%. The survey was taken in 2007 with 426 organizations participated, including many of the largest companies and government organizations worldwide. In the current economic conditions, it’s unlikely these percentages have decreased.
Therefore, taking time to build your middle management support structure is a critical factor in effectively dealing with staff resistance, as mid-level managers are the day-to-day front line agents for change. What we have found is that manager resistance can take on several forms: lack of open endorsement; less than firm support and even skepticism expressed in front of staff members; missing important meetings at which key managers are not present and unwilling to provide information or to provide resources when requested.
Regardless of how well planned communications are they can become sources of conflict. One way to help avoid this danger is to provide mid-level managers with honest and open communications from the very start of the change initiative. Always prepare mid-level managers for possible staff responses before the information is shared with the broader organization or has a chance to circulate through the grapevine.
Recognize that middle management plays a crucial role in gaining overall support for your change initiative. Include management dialogue forums when putting together your plan. They provide a safe place for managers to ask questions and prepare themselves for answering the difficult questions their staff will inevitably ask. These forums also provide a venue for you to observe each manager’s behavior and estimate the level of support that will be necessary to make the managers successful.
The effects of conflict and resistance are costly to a change initiative. Building the manager’s capacity to handle these problems is important to staff performance and a smooth transition. Having the title of “manager” does not automatically mean “skilled” at dealing with the day-to-day challenges associated with change initiatives. Many managers are coping with their own responses to change at the same time they are under pressure to deal with the responses of others. Given this, it is critical to provide education that helps increase the manager’s ability to respond appropriately to resistance by recognizing different types of resistance, their indicators and how to assess the best strategies for handling each situation.
Building change management competencies in managers may be your biggest return on investment. Engage managers early in the process to communicate, educate and address specific areas of resistance and to give managers the tools they need to be successful. This approach reduces their resistance, builds lasting trust, and increases manager commitment to your change management program.
