You
might think that overcoming
resistance to change with managers and supervisors is one of
your most important challenges during change. The first two
findings from the 2007 Best Practices in
Change Management benchmarking report actually support
this assumption:
Finding 1: Over half of
the participants in the latest change management study cited
mid-level mangers and front-line supervisors as
the most resistant groups
to change in the organization.
Finding 2: Poor support and
lack of alignment
with "middle management" was listed as one of the top
three obstacles to change.
But that is not the end of the story. Overcoming
resistance from managers is just the beginning of a
blueprint for successful change. Take a look at the next
four research results:
Finding 3: An employee's
immediate supervisor was a
preferred sender of change messages in terms
of communicating about change.
Finding 4: Engaging
managers and supervisors as effective
communicators was
number two on the list of what participants would do
differently next time in regards to communication.
Finding 5: Involving
supervisors as resistance
managers was the number two tactic for
managing resistance with employees.
Finding 6: An
employee's direct supervisor was cited as the most
effective provider of
reinforcement during change.
These last four findings cause us to take a step back and
consider how effectively we've engaged managers as leaders
of change. Managers are one of the most important
allies in making projects and initiatives come to life. They
interact constantly with the employees whose day-to-day work
is impacted by the particular solution, and their role is
crucial when it comes time for the change to be adopted
throughout the organization - i.e. when benefits are
actually realized.
Role of managers in times of change
The 2007 benchmarking study also looked deeper into the
role of managers in times of change. Participants were asked
to identify the most critical roles managers and supervisors
should play when changes are being introduced into the
organization. The top five responses were:
-
Communicate with direct
reports about the change (Communicator)
-
Demonstrate support for
the change (Advocate)
-
Coach employees through
the change process (Coach)
-
Engage with and provide
support to the project team (Liaison)
-
Identify and manage
resistance (Resistance manager)
Through their words and their actions, managers can
mobilize employees around a change to how they do work -
improving the level and speed of adoption. Or, conversely,
they can be a significant barrier and impediment to
your change.
The importance of managers in times of change is
clear, and there is a growing body of knowledge around the
role that mangers and supervisors play in times of change.
The critical question is: How
well are you preparing your managers and supervisors to be
great leaders of change?
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