Resistance to change
Why a user resists a new tool: causes, forms, the change curve, adoption profiles and communication responses.
- 28 cards
- 5 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- Questions
- Sort and link
- Scenarios
- Understand
A few cards from the deck
Resistance to change: what is it?
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All the reactions, open or discreet, by which people slow the arrival of a novelty that affects them.
It is information rather than a flaw: it signals a loss (of mastery, habits, status) or a lack of explanation. Listening to it lets you correct the rollout.
A user says: “On Fridays I used to do all my data entry in one go; now everything has to be entered as it comes.” Which cause of resistance is he expressing?
- A loss of habits
- A loss of status
- An imposed change
- A fear for his job
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A loss of habits
He loses neither his standing nor his job, and does not complain about not being consulted: it is his work routine that is upset. The answer is to help him build a new routine, not to deny what he loses.
The four forms of resistance are …, …, … and ….
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The four forms of resistance are inertia, argumentation, revolt and sabotage.
They run from the most discreet to the gravest. A list of objections is already a dialogue; inertia and sabotage are not spoken.
Inertia: what is it?
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A form of resistance with no open opposition: people carry on as before and set the new tool aside.
It is the hardest to spot because it says nothing. A spreadsheet kept in parallel or ignored instructions are the signs.
Three weeks after go-live, the front desk re-enters everything on paper “just in case”. What is the likely cause and response?
- Ill will: ban paper and monitor entries closely
- Tool too complex: ask the vendor for a simplified version for front-desk workstations
- Loss of mastery: an on-site champion, an announced right to make mistakes, a sheet of common tasks
- Late information: resend the management memo to everyone and hold another general presentation
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Loss of mastery: an on-site champion, an announced right to make mistakes, a sheet of common tasks
Paper acts as a safety net: these staff are not sure they know how. Banning removes the net without reassuring. They need presence, permission to err and a memory aid for the most frequent tasks.