Pay attention when people criticize your idea. Ask probing questions to get at the heart of their concerns.

If the criticism does not seem to be constructive, work with your sponsor or other advisers to evaluate the person's importance. Is the person opposing your idea essential to its successful implementation? Is he someone who can influence others or who controls resources you need to implement your idea? Do you need his support to continue? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you may need to devise a strategy to overcome the resistance. If the person is viewed as a chronic complainer, however, you may not need to win his support.

Consider why this person opposes your idea. Is the resistance due to some shortcoming of the idea itself or due to how it impacts this person? Is she feeling threatened? Is she apprehensive about the risks? Is she too busy to take on more responsibility and afraid that you may ask her to contribute to your project? Is she concerned that she will no longer be needed when the project is complete? You may want to ask your sponsor or someone who is removed from the project to help you identify the cause(s) of resistance.

Based on what you know about the person and the likely cause(s) of resistance, decide on an approach to manage resistance. If risk is his concern, consider trying to persuade him with facts and logic as to how you will mitigate or manage the elements of risk. If he seems threatened by the project, encourage his participation by asking for advice and inviting him to meetings. Other tactics you might consider include providing training to make the person feel less overwhelmed, offering the person something in exchange for his support, providing more data to support your proposal, or simply directing the person to complete the task at hand.

Recognize that you might not be able to convince everyone to support your project. However, the more people who support you, the more likely you are to overcome other opponents.