Our Practical Steps for Overcoming Resistance to Change 

Resistance can feel like a brick wall, blocking your path to the new ways of working that will achieve desired transformation. In this recent HBR article, resistance is described as meaningful data, helping us understand what people care about, what they value and what they think is worth preserving. If we know this, we can reduce resistance and increase participation in change. Of course, that is easier said than done because when we hear resistance, we immediately feel defensive. We want to get this change implemented, and any form of resistance makes us feel as if we are being prevented from achieving our objectives. For me, viewing push-back as helpful insight into what is stopping someone adopting new ways of working takes generosity of spirit. I have to step into the resistors shoes to understand their perspective, and of course, this takes time and energy, often when I am under pressure to deliver.

What are the 4 types of resistance to change? 

Resistance is defined as a refusal to accept or comply with something. It sounds negative, but I’ve found that a lot of the time resistance is not driven by rejection – it’s actually created by a desire to protect.

This need for protection impacts resistance to change in four ways: 

• Protect principles – individuals resist the change because they do not believe the change is the right one. Their subject expertise and experience creates a belief that the change is wrong and should not take place. I have written about resistance to change before so if you are concerned that people are rejecting your change because they don’t think it will work and want to stay as they are, look at the ideas about overcoming the fixed mindset.  

• Protect efficiency – individuals resist the change to protect themselves from losing the efficiencies from relying on existing routines. Habits are time and energy efficient, whilst transitioning to new ways of working creates dips in productivity and efficiency. 

• Protect power – individuals resist change to protect their power within their organisation and within their profession. This power comes from their authority to direct current ways of working, their existing knowledge, experience and technical skills and their political power in the current organisation structure.  

• Protect well-being – individuals resist change because they are already too stretched, and they believe one more change is one too many to process. This can be driven from poor experience of change where they gave effort and energy to something that failed or was abandoned. This protection of well-being can be described as change fatigue. In a recent Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends survey, 68% of senior leaders believe change fatigue has decreased employee well-being. 

In the Agile Change Coach course, we teach 43 techniques to persuade, encourage and motivate people to change how they work. For a table of these techniques against each of the 4 protections described above, download this resource from the ChangeabilityPro® platform TECHNIQUES

If you are not already registered as a ChangeabilityPro® member, you can create a free membership. The free Starter plan includes search, three Neurohacks, premium resources, practical pathways, free events, and full access to reports and insights, with Master Classes and courses available separately. Create your ChangeabilityPro®free starter plan by clicking here or if you are already a ChangeabilityPro® member, simply login to your account to access the techniques resource.

Practical steps to reduce resistance to change 

Too often strategies to overcome resistance focus on describing the benefits, importance and attractiveness of the new ways of working. However, making the case for the change is not enough. To truly dismantle resistance, the advantages offered by the change must be combined with evidence that shows making the change will be easy.  

We need to explain that the time and effort put into the change will be respected and used effectively. We need to show that the change has been carefully and thoughtfully planned, there is agreement on the approach to transitioning to new ways of working and a support package will be provided. 

Make a strong case for the change to secure buy-in.

Generating buy-in to a change is a combination of good and evil! We need to explain the benefits of the change, so that people want to move towards a new way of working. But we also need to create a strong desire to move away from the current approach.  

Highlight the good stuff – what are the benefits of this change? 

To create the case for good, describe the benefits of your change, using a mixture of emotional triggers and rational drivers for change. 

Emotional triggers include stories, metaphors and examples, where those impacted by the change can recognise themselves in what you are saying. In a recent coaching session, I used a metaphor of a relay race where the runner with the baton could easily pass the baton to their colleague – and how that colleague could then speed up and easily pass their baton to the next runner until all of the team got over the finishing line. The person I was coaching loves athletics, and they began talking about themselves as the runner. This objectivity helped them to describe all their excitements about how easily the work could flow once the change was made because they were talking as this unnamed runner and not as themselves. This helped us maximise their excitement and find ways they could get involved in the change.   

To appeal to as wide a group as possible, these emotional triggers have to be supported by rational arguments based on facts, data and evidence. Using data about the elapsed time of the current relay race and the number of times work has to be redone because of errors (aligned to how many times they dropped the baton) demonstrated the measurable benefits of the change – along with the positive feelings that the relay race story had uncovered.  

Showcase the good by highlighting the evil! Why is this change needed? 

Back up these benefits with a review of how the current ways of working are broken. First, highlight the limitations. For example, describe the number of workarounds that have been created to overcome failures with existing processes or systems. Find data to describe mistakes, delays and waste. I have a client that has asked a team of administrators to count the number of times they have had to explain to colleagues where the information is on their servers, because the file structure they have is so confusing, they know time is wasted looking for things. We decided it was too controlling and too complicated to ask people to track how long they spent looking for information, but counting the number of times the admin team had to explain where to find things reflected the same problem, but was easier to track. 

Describe how the current ways of working are no longer fit for purpose, because customers now have demands that did not exist when current procedures were designed. Highlight how customers expect more, want simpler, faster and more transparent processes. Show how competitors have risen to meet these demands and how the current ways of working looked dated and out of touch in comparison. I have been working with a client who responds via formal proposals of next steps and creates multi-page “statements of work” whenever a customer requests additional information. Other competitors just answer the customer! My client is working from an old assumption about formality equals quality, but their customers are working from the criteria that speed equals usefulness. Once my client recognised this, they have started to streamline how they work. 

Make the change feel easy for everyone involved 

Involve those who must change in creating the change plan. The deadlines for the change might have been set by senior leaders, but involving those who have to change their ways of working will ensure their local knowledge of how work is carried out is included and that they are clear about what needs to happen and when it needs to happen.  

Let them know about all the ways in which they will be helped to change what they do and how they do it: 

• Coaching and training programmes 

• Early and frequent demonstrations and walk-throughs of the structural changes they must adopt 

• Opportunities to practice on their own and with others in risk-free practice areas 

• How their workloads will be amended to enable them the time to change – after all, 80% of respondents in the global Change Capability Survey do not believe the level of change in their organisation is manageable.    

• How their contribution to the change will be reflected in their performance assessment 

• There are other ideas in my earlier blog that give you links to materials that build resilience and help celebrate achievements of change. 

Key takeaway: You need to address resistance to change 

Resistance is a significant blocker to change, and without change we cannot innovate. In the 2026 state of organisations report from McKinsey, they found that 70% of change programmes fail due to employee resistance and lack of management support. If you recognise that resistance can sometimes be a way for people to protect things they value, you have a greater chance of persuading them to change, because you can address their real concerns. Instead of taking what they say at face value, you can understand why they want to preserve what already exists, so your arguments can provide specific reassurance.  

Do you have a resistance to change strategy? Is it full of practical techniques that make it easy to adopt change at work? If you want ideas about how to strengthen your approach, join me on my next Agile Change Coach course for 2 days of dedicated technique practice on this vital subject.

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