This document discusses strategies for minimizing resistance to organizational change. It outlines six key strategies: communication, training, employee involvement, stress management, negotiation, and coercion. Communication, training, and employee involvement are presented as the most effective initial strategies as they increase knowledge, skills, ownership and reduce uncertainty without being too costly or time-consuming. Stress management and negotiation are suggested when these initial approaches do not fully address resistance, while coercion is a last resort that risks reducing trust and creating new resistance.

1. Minimizing Resistance to Change
Organizational Development

2. Prepared By
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Manu Melwin Joy
Assistant Professor
Ilahia School of Management Studies
Kerala, India.
Phone – 9744551114
Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com

3. Communication • Highest priority and first
strategy for change
• Improves urgency to
change
• Reduces uncertainty
(fear of unknown)
• Problems -- time
consuming and costly
Minimizing Resistance to Change

4. Communication • Provides new knowledge
and skills
• Includes coaching and
action learning
• Helps break old routines
and adopt new roles
• Problems -- potentially
time consuming and
costly
Minimizing Resistance to Change
Training

5. Communication • Increases ownership of
change
• Helps saving face and
reducing fear of unknown
• Includes task forces, search
conferences
• Problems -- time-
consuming, potential
conflict
Minimizing Resistance to Change
Training
Employee
Involvement

6. Communication • When communication,
training, and involvement
do not resolve stress
• Potential benefits
–More motivation to change
–Less fear of unknown
–Fewer direct costs
• Problems -- time-
consuming, expensive,
doesn’t help everyone
Minimizing Resistance to Change
Training
Employee
Involvement
Stress
Management

7. Communication
• When people clearly lose
something and won’t
otherwise support change
• Influence by exchange--
reduces direct costs
• Problems
–Expensive
–Increases compliance, not
commitment
Minimizing Resistance to Change
Training
Employee
Involvement
Stress
Management
Negotiation

8. Communication
• When all else fails
• Assertive influence
• Firing people -- radical
form of “unlearning”
• Problems
–Reduces trust
–May create more subtle
resistance
Minimizing Resistance to Change
Training
Employee
Involvement
Stress
Management
Negotiation
Coercion