Negotiation and Change Management Wrap Up

Over the past two months we identified resistance as a major factor hindering the success of change management projects. With this in mind, we set out to find new techniques, skills and strategies that would help us plan for resistance, in anticipation thereof.

With that, we discovered, and unpacked The Art of Negotiation, popular learnings from a former FBI Hostage Negotiator, and looked at how we could adapt his techniques and adopt his strategies to combat resistance experienced during People Change Management.

One key learning has been to anticipate resistance and have an informed, educated plan to deal with it as it arises. As humans, people will have emotional reactions to change. Although not ideal, resistance may stem from a place of genuine fear and concern, in other instances it can be a serious act of rebellion. As a change leader, it is your job to identify what you’re dealing with and work to stamp out resistance by providing safe spaces and opportunities for people to discuss their concerns and fears openly.

So how do we approach and plan for these tough discussions? We looked at how we could introduce Negotiation Skills into these conversations to create a dialog that would lead to a mutually beneficial outcome for all parties. Our aim is never to create a heightened sense of hostility, but to walk away with constructive solutions. 

In a nutshell, some of the Techniques we looked at were: 

1. Using the voice 
2. Mirroring
3. Labelling

Further to this, we unpacked a few strategies for employing these techniques within our communications plans by,

1. Conducting an Accusations Audit;
2. Defining and Defeating Fear of Loss; and,
3. Decoding Body Language and Speech Patterns

By introducing these techniques and strategies into our communication strategies we hope to find ways in which to diffuse resistance by gaining as much insight, opinion and information as possible during discussions with employees to gain a better understanding of their fears and insecurities. The idea is to focus on positive negotiation, creating a safe space for people to come forward and earnestly share their feedback on the change project. 

One of our main goals at Harmonising Change is to work with clients who are building intentionally better businesses. This means, putting their people at the heart of transformation.

Reach out to us on info@harmonisingchange.co.za or Contact Us for more information on how we can help your business along a change journey.