One of the questions that is often asked by new instructors during workshops is how to get the people in their organizations to change to be more consistent with The Mandt System principles. Considering how resistant people can be to change, this can be difficult. While I am by no means an expert on organizational change, I think that many of the core concepts for supporting change in our organizations are found in the first three chapters of The Mandt System material.
Relationships that are safe. The better the relationships that employees have with their supervisors and other leadership in a company and the more those employees trust the leaders to support them, the more they are likely to be willing to make changes that are asked of them.
Communication that is clear. Clearly explaining the changes that are being made and the reasons behind them as well as listening to and understanding the concerns of the employees who will be implementing the changes will go a long way to getting buy in.
Respectful collaboration. When there is resistance, taking the time to understand the needs of those who are resisting and trying to work with them in a way that their needs are met to the best of our ability as we work through the change process together.
It is difficult to make significant changes in our organizations. It can be helpful to understand why people resist change in the first place and an effective change plan must be developed. The links below connect to free resources online that can help in these areas, but whatever plan that is used, if we implement it in a way that helps people feel safe, is clear, and respects their concerns we will likely be more successful.
Doug ZehrVogt, Mandt System Faculty
Top 12 reasons why people resist change- https://www.torbenrick.eu/t/r/hwj
How to manage change in an organization- http://www.oursouthwest.com/SusBus/mggchange.pdf
