TL;DR: Managing Change Detractors
They aren't just a blocker to change.
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Managing Change Detractors
We are going to use the definitions outlined in a previous TL;DR and from the main article in this TL;DR; so if there are any unfamiliar terms you can check these to find them.
There is one consistent part of any “Change Journey”, there will be “Change Detractors”; so how can you manage them?
The early “Change Actions” in your “Change Journey” should look to placate or assuage any doubts of the “Change Detractors”. They are also a valuable voice in the construction of the “Change Strategy” as they may see points that “Change Leaders”, “Change Champions”, and “Change Advocates” might be blind to in their enthusiasm for this change. At the end of the day as President Lyndon B. Johnson said about a known critic J. Edgar Hoover:
It's probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.
President Lyndon B. Johnson - The New York Times (31 October 1971) [2]
One way to handle “Change Detractors”, or at least prepare to do so, is to analyse each of your “Change Actions”, and your “Change Strategy” as a whole, looking critically for areas where people might be unhappy or raise points of “conflict”. You should then prepare counter arguments to these in advance so you are prepared to work through a solution with all the groups.
This is a good way of handling dissent in business, as if the “Change Detractors” are not willing to engage to help make the problem better or work together to find solutions, then it is clear that they have no interest in being productive members of the business.
It is important to remember “Change Detractors” can be right, and you need to adapt the “Change Strategy” and maybe even the “Change Goal” to reflect this situation. It is a poor leader who remains wedded to a plan in the face of contradictory evidence.
GTFYT
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Your Change Management Guide
Fair warning this is a long post with a lot of information within. The term Change Management scares many people when they hear it, and the length of this article may be intimidating; but once you are familiar with it you realise that done right, it shouldn’t be intimidating at all.