23 most popular excuses to not change something in the job
Here are some of the most common excuses we use for refusing to change:
1. “But this is the way that I’ve done it since I started in this job.”
2. “The other employees will not like a change in how things are done here.”
3. “If we do things differently than they have always been done, that will create a lot of extra work in the office.”
4. “That is not how we have always done it around here; I don’t like change.”
5. “It won’t work if we change what we’re doing now.”
6. “We tried that before, and it didn’t work well. Let’s not do that again.”
7. “I don’t like change; things are working well for me right now.”
8. “Change takes too long to implement it here. Let’s just leave things as they are.”
9. “What if things go wrong when we make a change?”
10. “Get used to doing things the way you are doing them now; don’t entertain any thoughts about change.”
11. “We can’t afford to make any changes right now.”
12. “I learned the way I do things in school (or on the job). Why should I change?”
13. “The employees will not like a change in how things are done.”
14. “If we do things differently than they have always been done, that will create a lot of extra work in the office.”
15. “It won’t work if we change what we’re doing now.”
16. “We tried that before and it didn’t work well; let’s not try that again.”
17. “I don’t like change; things are working well for me right now.”
18. “Change takes too long to implement it here. Let’s just leave things as they are.”
19. “Things have always worked this way around here, why should we change?”
20. “Change takes time to implement it here. Let’s just leave things as they are.”
21. “What if things go wrong when we make a change?”
22. “Get used to doing things the way you are doing them now; don’t entertain any thoughts about change.”
23. “The employees will not like a change in how things are done.”
My friend’s wife is a teacher at a university, and this time of year is always the toughest for her. Students come back from summer vacation and expect her to be just like she was before they left. They look around after only one week of classes and tell her that everything she did last semester was wrong because the new students were confused when they came in late. “If you just start with stuff from the first class, they’ll be fine,” they say.
If that were true, she would have been fired 10 years ago because her new students have always hated the beginning of her classes and have told her so every year.
Her response is a simple one: “I don’t want to kill your enthusiasm for learning and make you think that it is boring, but we have to take a step-by-step approach.
We can’t just jump into the advanced topics right from the start; trust me.”
Rebellion from within
If you try new things in your business, your family or any other place where people work together, there can be a lot of resistance from people who are comfortable with the way things are now.
And there is one more problem: Your several ego-states are not always working together.
The reason is simple: Change affects people emotionally and often causes them to feel uncomfortable when they have to give up the status quo.
According to experts, change in an organization can cause emotional reactions such as fear, uncertainty or doubt, frustration, anger or bitterness, and apathy. Change can also cause people to worry about loss of power, prestige or status; loss of security through job elimination; damage to relationships with customers, peers or supervisors; and loss of a sense of control over their lives.
Sometimes the resistance is passive-aggressive in nature. Other times it is overt. But either way, it can have a profound influence on how you implement new things in your company.
Don’t let the resistance deter you from making change, but be aware of it and understand why it is there. Identify its causes so that you can address them adequately when they arise.
Here are several suggestions for dealing with this type of resistance:
1. Don’t assume that resistance doesn’t exist.
If you are trying to implement a change, take the time to talk with employees about why they think the change won’t work or will cost too much money.
2. Involve everyone in the organization in coming up with solutions. Find ways to have a healthy dialogue so that people feel like they have a voice in the change.
3. Develop mutually agreed upon goals that everyone can work toward once you implement your plan for change. All of your employees should feel like they are part of the team that is moving forward and not left behind in the dust.
4. Keep people informed with regular updates throughout the process so that they don’t feel left out.
5. Let people know exactly what the impact will be on them and how it will affect their jobs.
6. Make sure that your team members understand why the change is happening in order to help minimize resistance. The more they know about the reasons behind your decision to make a change, the easier it will be for them to accept it and move forward.
7. Develop a plan for dealing with resistance through well-defined channels of communication where people can feel free to express their thoughts without fear of reprisal. This is especially important if any employees feel like they are being coerced into going along with the change in order to keep their jobs or because they have no other option.
8. Conduct regular reviews with your team members to chart the progress that you are making on the change initiative. This will help keep all of your employees engaged from beginning to end and allow everyone to understand what is needed to create a smooth transition into this new way of doing business.
9. Involve your employees in brainstorming sessions to look for ways to improve things within their current framework. For example, if some parts of your business are moving forward in leaps and bounds with new technologies, while others aren’t keeping up at all, consider holding a meeting with your employees that allows them to give you input on why this is happening and what you can do about it.
Change can be difficult for a lot of people to accept. By creating an environment where your team members feel like they have a voice in making sure that change is implemented properly, you will be able to avoid some of the resistance that has been holding them back from working with you.
We’re not talking about radical or disruptive changes here; we are talking about changes that are manageable and reasonable. If you make sure that everyone has a chance to be heard and understands why these new things are happening, you will find that your team is much more likely to go along with the plan for change than if you try to force them into it from the top down.
The key is how well you handle resistance.
Never try to break resistance. Always ask for the good reasons behind.
If someone refuses to change something, it might tell you a lot of his loyalty.
You should understand that resistance often is no sign of laziness – people often just frightened about an uncertain future.
Maybe it sounds absurd, but:
The certain unlucky state is even more security than the high risk of optimization.
Pain may content a lot of security, even if it hurts.
In the workplace, resistance is often manifested in the form of complaints and unwillingness to get involved.
The most common reasons for this resistance are:
1. Lack of knowledge – employees do not understand why they have to go through major changes; lack of a clear strategy for change; failure to explain to other participants what exactly will be changing.
2. Fear of losing their jobs – people are afraid that they will be fired if don’t agree with the changes. If you treat your employees like adults, then try to find out what they are concerned about.
3. Career uncertainty – some employees may feel as if moving forward means accepting a pay cut and spending less time at work with family.
4. Fear of getting in trouble – some employees are afraid of making mistakes, so they don’t do anything until the last minute – and then it is too late. Double-check with your team members to make sure that they understand exactly what is expected from them and how their roles will change as a result of these changes.
5. Refusal to change – some people don’t want to change at all, and will resist any effort that is made to help them move forward. In this case, you have no choice but to fire these individuals and replace them with team members who are willing to embrace the changes that you are making in your company.
Words of caution:
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. There is no such thing as a total failure; what’s important is how well you deal with the mistakes that you make along the way and learn from them for future success. Not only can change be an essential part of keeping up with changing times, but it leaves room for potential growth in your business and helps you to build new and stronger relationships with your clients.
Don’t try to tackle change from the top down; it’s too risky. Instead, treat your employees as if they are adults who have a vested interest in making sure that things work out for everyone at work and beyond. Involve them in brainstorming sessions where they can help you to come up with solutions for change.
You may not always be able to convert every member of your team, but if you make a serious effort to find out why people are resisting change and then treat them as though they are responsible adults who deserve to be heard, you will have much more luck at implementing the necessary changes in your company to help your team members grow and succeed.
Section summary information: Finally, if you really want to change cultural aspects in your organization, try implementing some changes that will help them see how much you value their business.
You may not always be able to convert every member of your team. But you may win quite everyone for some co-working agreement.
