University Project: Change Management and Resistance Report

This report delves into the critical aspects of change management within the context of project planning and organizational change. It begins by identifying the various reasons for resistance to change, drawing upon the Lewin-Schein model and highlighting factors such as fear of the unknown, job security concerns, and timing issues. The report then explores the importance of integrating change management activities into project plans, emphasizing the need for communication, resource integration, and employee training to achieve strategic goals. The report stresses the need for project management and change management to work in tandem to ensure project success and organizational effectiveness. It also discusses how managers can anticipate and address resistance from stakeholders effectively. The report references key literature, including Gaubatz & Ensminger (2017) and Rezaei & Haghani (2016), to support its analysis and recommendations.

Running Head: MANAGEMENT 0
change management

MANAGEMENT 1
1) There are various different reasons for which people may be resistant to
organisational change. In the Lewin-Schein model, managing resistance comes in the
second stage (unfrozen and moving to a new state) and some of the reasons to this
resistance include fear of unknown as without helping them through the process of
understanding what the change will include and how their job will be impacted, it can
cause individuals to push back against the change because of this fear. Loss of job
security is another big reason as employee may feel that their jobs can be moved into
other position deprived of their input. Bad timing is also one of the reason which I
experienced in the industry and resistance can be caused in the industry with piling
too much change on employees over a shorter time period.
2) Change management activities relying upon project plan requires a supportive culture
and leadership. Some of these significant activities include communication with users
and stakeholders to know and manage their expectations, integrating resources and
people to prepare for the work environment and at last offer training and coaching to
the affected employees with an objective to achieve strategic decisions. Both project
management and change management should work in tandem to ensure a project
proposed outcomes and complete organizational success. At last, change managers
can identify areas where they anticipate higher pushback and resistance from
stakeholders (Gaubatz & Ensminger, 2017). With integration of the two processes,
managers can plan more effectively in delivery and milestone.

MANAGEMENT 2
References
Gaubatz, J. A., & Ensminger, D. C. (2017). Department chairs as change agents: leading
change in resistant environments. Educational Management Administration &
Leadership, 45(1), 141-163.
Rezaei, H., & Haghani, F. (2016). The Causes of Resistance to Change and Solutions to
Overcome It: A Review of Literature. Iranian Journal of Medical Education, 16(1),
440-453.