Resistance to Change Mapping

Projects related to change are almost inevitable to receive resistance from some of the people who will be affected by the change (Olsson et al., 2018). Dent and Goldberg (1999) argues that people don’t resist the change itself but the unknown. To accommodate the resistance, it’s important to shed light on the uncertainties the affected employees might have and the project managers rationale behind the changes (Kreye, 2020). To enhance the employees’ readiness for change and thereby reduce their resistance, project managers must help to make sense of the changing situation (Kreye, 2020). Resistance to Change Mapping is a tool which can help to facilitate the communication between the stakeholders with low influence and high interest and the project managers and owners to involve the people affected by the change (Olsson et al., 2018).

The purpose of this article is to introduce the tool ‘Resistance to change Mapping’ as a change management tool to assess various stakeholders’ oppositions. The objective is to create a space for stakeholders to address their concerns and give rise to project managers to make initiatives to accommodate the disadvantage and uncertainties related to the change. Thus, reducing the resistance and increasing the likelihood of the project’s success (Olsson et al., 2018).

Big idea: Introduction - Why are employees often resistant towards change? - How might change managers enhance readiness?

Resistance to Change Mapping - What is the purpose of the tool and who should be involved? - Current situation - Future situation

Application: - How to know who should be involved? - The importance of an open environment where all kind of feedback is welcome

Limitations - The tool is only as good as the people who utilize it - The tool doesn’t provide initiatives to accommodate the concerns