People | How to Identify Passive Resisters

Passive resisters are harmful to change management because they don't express their opinions but work against the change. Since they are not open to communicating, it's tough to understand their perspectives to build constructive consensus. ​​

Let me summarize several signals of passive resister: 

• They are busy. They have excuses that they don't have time to make the change.
• They learn slowly. They have many difficulties understanding even a simple change requirement.
• They don't commit to the change. They can always return the result that is far from the requirements.

How do we deal with passive resistors? Here are some suggestions. 

• Understand them. Have an open discussion to understand why they don't support the initiative. Try to persuade by explaining why the change is needed, removing their concerns, and working constructively to build the common ground and a solution they can accept.
• Bypass them. You can skip working with them but spend energy on those on board. After the new norm is set up, the passive resistor will urge to follow.

I'm sure you will meet passive resisters in your future change management project.

Editor's Note: Please also refer to another post Top Reason for People to Resist Changes to understand your audience.