Dealing With Resistance

Sometimes it might be easier if managers could assimilate their people as efficiently as The Borg did in Star Trek.  Alas, it doesn’t work that way, and if it did, it would probably violate some of those pesky employment laws.  Join the Wily Manager guys this week as they discuss how to Overcome Resistance.

Monday’s Tip: Know the symptoms of resistance. Resistance takes many forms such as procrastination, silence, excuses, and finger pointing.  What symptoms do you see?

Tuesday’s Tip: Call out resistance when you see it. It is necessary to confront people when you suspect they are resisting.  You need to structure this conversation carefully to address the resistance, and correct the performance.

Wednesday’s Tip: Listen carefully to people when they resist. You need to understand why people are resisting so you can address those reasons head-on.  In order to understand, you need to listen carefully.

Thursday’s Tip: Ask lots of questions. You learn much more, and will be able to win people over much faster if you ask more questions, as opposed to telling them in an attempt to win them over.

Friday’s Tip: Gain commitment on new behaviors. Once you have determined the way forward, confirm what you will do differently, and what your people will do differently.