Taylor Andrews
January 9, 2017
Lessening Resistance to Change
Contents
What Constitutes Change……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…... 2
Why do People Resist Change…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..…..…... 2
Why Organizations need Change…………………………………………………………………………………………………………....…..….. 2
Barriers……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…..…..… 3
How to Reduce Resistance………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Technique 1: Three Step Process……………………………………………………………………………………………….…..…..…….... 3
Technique 2: Eight Step Process………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..… 5
Summary………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…..…..…… 6
References………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….... 6
1 | P a g e
What Constutes Change
Change can be very subtle, small differences in what we do. In any organization, change can
be as simple as moving offices or as large as restructuring and letting go of excess
employees. By definition, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it means to become
something else. And according to our textbook, change can range from small changes in
routing tasks or procedures, or could be large changes like an entire reorganization of their
organization (e.g. letting go of employees, moving facilities, changing their mission).
Changes can be physical such as moving offices, getting new equipment, or changing a
workforce. Policy related changes would also be another kind of change that many people
in an organization will often be familiar with.
Changes can also be categorized into a couple of categories. Our textbook labels these as
technical change and adaptive change. Technical change is a change that is able to be
implemented with enough information and technical knowledge and has a very specific end
