The Change Resistors: Snipers

The Passive-Aggressive Behavior and Decision Avoidance posts demonstrated two types of hidden conflict. Now we’re going to turn to open conflict.

As frustrating as it might be to respectfully (and often, repeatedly!) listen to objections and work through them in a positive manner, remember that open conflict can be a good sign.  

Until people are willing to voice their concerns sustainable change will be nearly impossible.

The first open conflict resistor we’ll discuss is “the sniper”.  

Sniping is when someone repeatedly finds something wrong with the change approach or otherwise voices reasons the organization should not proceed. This person never offers any advice or assistance in combating the issues they raise. They shoot from a safe distance and then run.

Sometimes the issues they raise are vague and difficult to address. Other times they are quite specific and perhaps even based on knowledge uniquely available to the sniper (e.g. IT, product development).   

If you’re not careful, these people will keep you jumping through unproductive hoops as a deflection tactic.

What can you do about it? 

Deal with the sniper by pulling them into the solution. If their issue is vague, they need to either help define its specifics or acknowledge that it’s not an issue at all. If the issue is specific, convince them that their unique knowledge is needed to solve the problem.

If they’re not involved, they will keep finding one issue after another with diminishing returns to the change effort. 

In my personal experience, these people are usually feeling left out, ignored, or marginalized, pulling them in is half the battle. If you need to, get your executive sponsor to reinforce this approach.

Once involved, they may just prove to be your biggest ally. 

(Previous posts in this series: A Collaborative Series, Culture, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Passive-Aggressive Behavior, Decision Avoidance)

Technorati tags: Business, Change Resistors, Conflict, Change Management

Comments

[Liz Strauss]

I think I want to go to work for you. Yeah. That's it. Will you hire me?

[ann michael]

Anytime.

[Buzzoodle Ron]

Thank you for posting on our blog and I hope you stop back.

This post does not only apply to staff, but partnerships as well. My partner and I have been snipping for a while at each other, but luckily we know it is because of fast growth and we need to staff up. Stress can make any group start snipping. I think the best way to deal with it has been to be aware of it and have a set of goals to releave the pressure eventually.

[ann michael]

You're so right. I've also seen it within executive teams, boards, vendor relationships - anywhere there's people!