Why Might People Not Cooperate with Your Project?

Overview

The success of your Six Sigma project depends in good part on cooperation from people on your team and across the larger organization. So what do you do when you can’t get cooperation, when people resist?

Let us be very clear: the best way to deal with resistance is to prevent it, which means planning in advance (see Chapter 10). But not all resistance can be prevented, so when you do encounter what you think is resistance, take this general approach:

1. Learn to recognize whether what’s happening really is resistance (see checklist in Tool 16-1).

Checklist: Recognizing Resistance to Your Six Sigma Project

Tool 16-1.

2. Understand possible reasons why people would resist your project (see Tool 16-2).

Checklist: Identifying Reasons People May Resist Your Six Sigma Project

Tool 16-2.

3. Learn and apply steps to minimizing the resistance (see Tool 16-3).

Checklist: Do’s and Don’ts for Dealing with Resistance to Your Six Sigma Project

Tool 16-3.