I took over the business my father founded a year ago. It's a thirty-year-old firm with twelve employees, most of whom are older than me.
I see resistance with every innovation I bring. No one openly objects, but they don't implement it either. They stick to the old methods, and I'm tired of constantly repeating the same thing.
Has anyone experienced the same situation? How did you solve it?
I work in change management, this is exactly my field. Let me give you the bad news first: the resistance isn't personal, it's systemic.
For someone who has worked the same way for thirty years, a new method means three things: slowing down, risk of making mistakes, and losing their expertise in that area. All three are real losses. You're talking about gains, they're experiencing losses.
The method that works is this: design the change together with the most experienced person, don't just announce it to them. If that person turns from resistor to advocate, the rest of the team will follow within two weeks. In our projects, this alone was the most decisive factor.
Second: don't shut down the old method immediately, but make the new method easier. People choose what's easier. You win by making it easy, not by banning things.
Let me speak from the other side, because I was one of those older employees.
When the young manager came, our fear wasn't the new system. Our fear was that what we learned over thirty years would be deemed worthless. I once saw a manager ask, "how did you do it, why did you do it this way," and that guy got every change he wanted implemented.
It's a respect issue, not a technology issue.
Also, let me add this: don't change everything at once.
The most common mistake I see in SMEs is the new manager trying to change five things at once in the first six months. The team resists all five, and you think "nothing is working."
Pick one thing, fully implement it, and generate a visible gain. Then move to the second. It looks slow but is faster in total.
Thank you all so much, honestly, Burhan's post stopped me in my tracks, because I really never asked, I just explained directly.
I'll sit down with our foreman this week and ask him, I'll post an update here on how it goes.
I completely agree. When you try to change everything at once, nothing settles.
Good luck with that.
Don't miss this: Everything goes well for the first three months; problems arise in the fourth.
Correct me if Im wrong.
The discussion got scattered, let me summarize. Everything goes well for the first three months; problems arise in the fourth.
Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more. If you post the result here, it will help others too.
We've heard this a lot, but it never happened like that for us. Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late.
I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.
I'll argue the opposite, don't get mad. If it's your first time, start small; scaling comes later.
If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.
I completely agree. I mean taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.
Correct me if Im wrong.
im in the same situation, thats why Im asking. the moment you depend on a single client, you no longer set the price.
prvoen by experience.
i partly agree partly disagree.. and if the gap between accounts receivable and accounts payable turnnover days is widening revenue wont save you.
hope this helps.
Three different views emerged, they all complement each other. Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more.
Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late. If you post the result here, it will help others too.
I'm writing this so you don't make the same mistake. When we decide without measuring, we always end up in the same place.
Any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently. If I were you, I'd go this route.
Doki · Mobile app · 2024
You're right, I've been down that road too. The harder it is to reverse a decision, the slower you should make it.
Hope this helps.