In any improvement process within a quality system managed according to ISO 9001, managing the influence of change and the culture that opposes it will be one of the most arduous tasks. When you want to implement a change, it is necessary to identify and understand its different phases to understand how to deal with them. Let's look at them one by one.
Refusal of Change
Often this is the first reaction that is encountered in human beings who are faced with a sudden change. It is a response that has to do with the spirit of self-preservation even if it is absolutely irrational. This first phase is characterized by minimizing the awareness of the ongoing change and by stubbornly trying to convince oneself that this thing is not actually happening. To best manage the refusal, it is good to explain in an open and clear manner how you want to proceed. Present the situation exactly as it is and give people time to ask questions and get the relative answers. The next step will be to organize a training session on change management to make your managers understand how to manage people in this precarious situation that can generate fear and closure.
Resistance
In this phase, you will clearly see the signs of sabotage from the people you have not been able to convince of the goodness of the change project. These could be passive signals such as, for example, continuous complaints about the changed situation and comparisons with the past, or you may find yourself facing open obstruction, depending on the character of the person you will be facing. For the most part, those who fall into this category of people who resist change with all their might will show a complete lack of interest in the new and will spend much of their time finding reasons why the new way of working will not work. These are bad situations to manage but quite inevitable, unfortunately. Try to listen to what your collaborators who are opposing the change are telling you and study not only their words but also their tone, body language, and expressions. People in most cases just want to be listened to, if they have valid suggestions, and reassured. To convince them to contribute to the result you want to achieve, you will have to quell their fears and accompany them to face what they consider "unknown," making them understand that the risks are there, as in any change project, but they have been carefully taken into consideration and, in any case, are certainly not greater than those of remaining still in a situation that can no longer be defined as "ideal."
Exploration
If you have worked well in the first two phases, in the third phase, which we can define as exploration, people will begin to see some of the good that could occur with the change and will begin to oscillate between thinking that it could be a good idea and wanting to remain in the current situation. The positive side is that you are starting to have them on your side and that they will commit, albeit with little conviction, to implementing the desired changes. In this phase, people are more open, and you need to take advantage of this by rewarding those who are most committed and those who have the best ideas to get the most out of this transition phase. Praise desired behaviors and work on the morale of your collaborators.
Commitment
In this last phase, you will finally have the complete conviction from your men of the goodness of the change, and you will be able to see them fully involved in the work. People have the opportunity to see the changes in progress and the opportunities offered by the change. When dealing with change from a management point of view, it is important to remember that all the feelings experienced by collaborators during the different phases from refusal to commitment are very real and happen at different times for the different areas of the organization and for the different individuals. Therefore, do not expect the entire company to move from one phase to another at the same time because each person has personal times and methods of adapting to change. You can simply commit to facilitating the process, understanding it, and helping others through it.
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