Someone on My Team Won’t Change – What Do I Do?

Category: Blog

June 22, 2022 | Mark Altman 

Category:

Managing down 

The Problem:

You’ve requested repeatedly that your employee better communicate project updates, but nothing has changed. 

Conversation Preparation Steps: 

Your role as a manager – and coach – is to: 

1. Identify potential root cause(s) of your employee’s resistance to change, and 
2. Set realistic outcomes for an initial conversation.

Identify The Root Cause: 

Get in a mindset of curiosity, not judgment, to understand what is driving your employee’s behavior. Ask questions to get to the real (not perceived) problem and empathize with the reason they haven’t yet been willing or able to change. 

Your employee may: 

• Lack self-awareness and not realize they are continuing the unwanted behavior. 
• Not see the value in changing their behavior. 
• Not be willing to accept help/feedback. 
• Not feel confident in or committed to implementing the new desired behavior. 

Set Realistic Outcomes for an Initial Conversation:

Change takes time. When we want someone to alter their behavior, we need to level-set our own expectations to be realistic. The following are the steps you must help your employee move through before any change can or will be made. 

Step 1: Employee gains awareness of and alignment on the problem. 

Step 2: Employee articulates that they see value in a different approach. 

Step 3: Employee identifies and articulates the benefits/rewards of making a change. 

Step 4: Employee creates incremental SMART goals and a follow-up plan. 

Step 5: Employee feels confident and committed regarding the goals and action plan.

Step 6: Employee plans to put new habits and behaviors into action. 

Takeaways: 

• Often, we want a change conversation to be straightforward: “You’re doing/not doing X, and I want you to do Y instead,” but this approach is often ineffective.
• To create change, we must first understand the root cause of an employee’s resistance to change, so that we can address it.
• When implementing change, we must remember that there are several steps to creating lasting change. If we expect change instantly, we are likely to be frustrated and disappointed. 

Content derived from MindsetGo Training Programs: Managing Yourself; Courageous Conversations; Assertiveness

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