Resistance to change is a predictable reaction to a loss of control, competence or certainty about the future — not a sign of bad faith or sabotage. A manager who treats it as an obstacle to push through usually strengthens it; one who understands its source can work with it from day one.
Quick Overview
What you’ll learn from this article:
- The four most common sources of resistance to change in IT and business teams
- How the ADKAR model helps diagnose which stage of change resistance is actually showing up at
- A practical plan for working with resistance before it turns into open conflict
- The mistakes that most often deepen resistance instead of easing it
Who this article is for: managers running transformation projects, IT team leads rolling out new tools or processes, HR business partners supporting organisational change.
Reading time: 6 minutes
Resistance to change: how to work with it, not against it
Resistance to change rarely has a single source. Most often it’s a combination of fear of losing competence (a new tool requires learning from scratch, and existing expertise loses value), uncertainty about one’s own role after the change, a lack of trust in the decision-making process (why this solution specifically, who decided it), and plain fatigue from yet another initiative if previous changes were never properly closed out. Recognising which of these sources dominates in a specific team changes the entire communication strategy — you talk differently to a team afraid of losing competence than to a team exhausted by another reorganisation.
Four sources of resistance and how to recognise them
| Source of resistance | Typical signal in the team | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Loss of competence | Questions like “why does what I used to do stop mattering” | A clear growth path in the new system, not just technical training |
| Role uncertainty | Questions about team structure rather than the tool itself | An early, concrete conversation about what stays the same |
| Lack of trust in the decision | Questioning the selection process, not the solution itself | A transparent rationale for the decision, team input on some choices |
| Change fatigue | Cynical comments about “another initiative” | An honest recap of the previous change — what worked, what didn’t |
The ADKAR model (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement), developed by Prosci, helps diagnose which stage of change resistance is showing up at, instead of treating symptoms with a one-size-fits-all “it’s good for the company” message. Resistance at the Awareness stage means people simply don’t understand why the change is needed — more communication about the tool won’t fix that, because the problem sits earlier, in the rationale. Resistance at the Ability stage looks similar from the outside but calls for a completely different response — training and time to practise, not another strategy presentation.
How to work with resistance step by step
- Diagnose the ADKAR stage the resistance is showing up at before designing your response — a message justifying the change won’t help a team that already understands “why” but doesn’t yet have the skill to act differently.
- Name the resistance directly in conversation, instead of pretending it isn’t there — a team that feels its concerns are being ignored stops raising them openly and starts working against the change quietly instead.
- Find the informal opinion leaders on the team and involve them early in the rollout — their support (or lack of it) spreads through the team faster than any official communication.
- Make room for questions without immediately defending the decision — the question “why this solution specifically” isn’t an attack, it’s an attempt to understand, and responding defensively shuts down the communication channel for the rest of the project.
- Reinforce the change after it’s rolled out (the ADKAR Reinforcement stage), instead of treating the project as finished on launch day — resistance often comes back a few weeks later, once the initial enthusiasm fades and old habits are still easier.
Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change puts weight on building a so-called guiding coalition — a group of people from different levels of the organisation who jointly communicate the reason for the change, instead of leaving that entirely to a single project sponsor. In practice, that means resistance is easier to ease when the voice supporting change is heard not only from leadership, but also from respected people inside the team itself.
Read Also
- The ADKAR Model for Organisational Change Management: Where to Start From Zero
- Empathetic Leadership: Balancing Results with Care for the Team
Develop Your Skills
Want to learn how to lead a team effectively through organisational change? Check out our training led by experienced EITT instructors.
➡️ Adaptation in the Project: Strategies for Effective Change Management — EITT training ➡️ Change Management: Effective Implementation — EITT training
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Does resistance to change always mean there’s a problem with the team?
No — resistance is a natural, predictable reaction to a loss of control or certainty, not a sign of bad faith on the team’s part. How a manager responds to it determines whether it turns into open conflict or gets eased at an early stage of the change.
How do you tell which ADKAR stage resistance is showing up at?
The simplest way is through conversation: resistance at the Awareness stage sounds like “I don’t understand why we’re doing this,” while resistance at the Ability stage sounds like “I understand why, but I don’t know how to do it well.” These two signals call for completely different manager responses.
What if resistance comes from an informal opinion leader on the team?
That’s a situation worth addressing first — an informal leader has more influence on team sentiment than any official communication. Involving them early in the rollout and hearing out their concerns usually works better than leaving them out of the communication process.
Does resistance come back after a change has been rolled out?
Yes, that’s a common pattern — resistance comes back a few weeks after launch, once the initial enthusiasm fades and old habits are still more comfortable than the new way of working. That’s why the ADKAR model treats the Reinforcement stage as a separate step, not an automatic effect of rollout.