Question

Imagine Happy Time Toys has been making changes to both toy product lines and quality goals. You find yourself listening to a coworker exhibiting resistance to Happy Time Toys’ quality and production goals for a new product line. She complains about the changes and states that the product is tricky to assemble and the goals are unrealistic. Also, because of recent changes, the coworker believes that the company is too concerned about quality at the expense of productivity. The coworker feels that the company could make a lot more money if they let some of the team’s borderline products go through. The coworker is going to continue to tell the team to pass borderline products to help the team meet its production goals to earn the bonus. This would reduce the employees’ stress and, after all, the products are not that bad. What do you say or do? Having viewed this chapter's "You Make the Call" video, watch the challenge video, respond to the questions that follow.

a)What types of resistance to change did you see in the various situations?.
b)How did Alex unfreeze Allison’s perspective and what impact did that have?
c)Using concepts from the chapter, what would you have done to make the transition to the new product line go more smoothly?

Answer 1

Addressing resistance to change involves empathizing with concerns, demonstrating the importance of new goals through clear communication, and supporting employees through the transition with training and supportive incentive systems.

Step-by-step explanation:

When listening to a coworker exhibiting resistance to change regarding new quality and production goals, it's important to address their concerns while upholding the company's standards. The types of resistance displayed include complaints about change, fear of unrealistic goals, and a belief that the focus on quality compromises productivity. To unfreeze a person's perspective, similar to the example given where Alex successfully shifts Allison's view, it might involve empathizing with their concerns yet providing clear evidence on the importance of the new goals, potentially including examples of successful transitions like the fast-food restaurant improving its queue system for better customer service.

In using concepts from the chapter, the transition to the new product line could be made smoother by early communication of changes, involving employees in the change process, providing training on new procedures, offering support to address stress and adapting incentive systems to encourage both productivity and quality.