Overcoming Staff Resistance to Change

We all talk about how we must innovate and change, but let’s face it, change is difficult. And when you look around the office and see busy colleagues barely managing to get their work done, change seems downright impossible. But what if you must ask your colleagues to change their work habits or add something to their plate?

• Your association implemented a new AMS but staff aren’t following the new business rules needed to ensure its effectiveness.
• You’ve asked staff to upload content and participate in online community discussions but no one’s cooperating.
• You’re about to launch an association blog that will only work if several staff commit to a monthly blog post.

The purpose of your new AMS, community or blog is to help your association fulfill its mission, achieve its goals and provide value to members. What could be more important? Yet, your colleagues aren’t budging. What do you do to get their buy-in and cooperation?

Don’t take on resisters alone. Gather a team.
New technology is often “siloed” to the department perceived as owning it: “the membership database” or “the education blog.” Technology, properly implemented and used, empowers all departments to achieve association goals. You need a cross-departmental and cross-level team to help get this message across. Ask for assistance from staff who are well-liked, respected and good communicators.

Change is past due.
Not everyone is aware of our changing environment. They get caught up in work and don’t understand how dramatically the marketplace, member expectations and the way members communicate, learn and build relationships has changed over the past ten years and will continue to change. Data and concrete examples can help get this point across. They need to see the urgency behind the strategic decision to fully implement new technology.

Remove obstacles.
Why aren’t people adopting new practices? Habit? Stubbornness? A full plate? Associations are great at adding new initiatives, but terrible at sunsetting old ones. It could take time to shift work responsibilities or terminate programs, plan for that.

Talk to colleagues about their concerns so you can uncover the real reasons for their resistance. Once you know what you’re up against, your team and leadership can find ways to overcome those obstacles.

Strategize and communicate.
Develop a plan to communicate your message and to train staff in new practices. Make sure staff leadership participates in training and understands the need to model the behavior you want to see. Provide resources to support those who are learning new ways of working. Host meetings where staff can ask questions and raise concerns. Provide food and drink — bribery never hurts!

Paint a picture showing the impact of change.
In your communications and training, help staff understand the reasons behind the change and how it will benefit the association and its members. For example, an online community provides many benefits:

• Members have 24/7 access to a community that helps them do their jobs better by allowing them to tap into peer-to-peer discussions and resources uploaded by staff and peers.
• When many members can’t or won’t attend face-to-face events, a community provides an alternative way to develop relationships.
• Members answer each others’ questions, saving staff time. Tom Morrison says the Metal Treating Institute’s community “solves problems like crazy. A member asks a question and within two minutes, he has four to five answers shot to him by other members. We’re engaging members in a way that creates solutions. That’s a powerful benefit.”
• Members make new connections through familiar social networking tools available in the community.

Celebrate early successes.
Establish a few short-term goals and let everyone know when you reach them. Look for ways your community impacts members. To combat the nay-sayers, share success stories showing how everyone’s efforts are worth it. Give recognition (and perhaps rewards) to your team and early adopters.

Don’t let your guard down.
Some will relapse to old ways once the initial buzz wears off. Continue to communicate and educate. Review your team’s accomplishments — what’s worked, what hasn’t. Ask those who use the AMS, write for the blog or participate in your community to share tips for managing the work.

Change takes time because most people don’t want to change. They must see the need for change and how it will impact their world — their job, their employer and their members. And you must remove obstacles that make it harder for them to change.

Deirdre Reid, CAE is a freelance writer who writes about change a lot, thinks she handles change well, but wonders if she handles it as well as she thinks she does.