Communicating Change
Communicating organizational change has been identified as an essential component of successful change, whether it’s a change in chart order or a major organizational merger. Many attempts at change end in failure, and in many cases the failure is due to poor communication and lack of acceptance of the change by employees, (Richardson & Denton, 1996).
Important Messages Regarding Change
An effective leader communicates the following position:
Effective communication is necessary to ensure that employees at all level in the organization understand why change is needed, that their role in bringing about this change is vital, and to ensure that they have a clear picture about “how things will be better” as a result of the change effort. (Walker, ).
Prosci’s Communication Checklist (Prosci, 2006).
This tool can be used to help guide leaders to more effectively communicate with employees.
§Are you using the preferred senders to deliver communications in your organization?
Research shows that employees prefer to hear messages from two people in the organization - the person at the top of the change and their immediate supervisors.
§Are you answering the questions "why is this change happening" and "what is the risk of not changing"?
When individuals learn of a change, their first question is "why is this happening" Your first communications should be focused on why the change is happening. And don't forget to reinforce the 'why' throughout the entire project.
§ Are you answering the question "what's in it for me (WIIFM)"?
Making a change is a personal choice, no matter what senior leaders believe. To be effective, communications must get at what I, as an employee, care about and value. Answer WIIFM - "what's in it for me?" - early and often in your communications.
§Are you resisting the urge to have communications come from the project team or project leaders?
Employees prefer to hear messages from two people in the organization, and neither is the project leader. One of the biggest and most common mistakes you can make is to have a project team sending all of the communications.
§Are you using face-to-face communication?
Face-to-face communication was identified at the most effective form of communication.
§Are you repeating key messages 5 to 7 times?
Repeat key messages a number of times, more often then you think you need to.
§Are you creating opportunities for two-way communication?
Give employees the opportunity to share their concerns, provide their feedback and ask questions. Two-way communications create buy-in and provide answers in real-time.
§Are you preparing the communicators to deliver effective communications and have the necessary conversations?
This includes sharing with them the important messages that need to be delivered, creating alignment between different senders, and planning the delivery sequence. It also includes educating them on how to deliver key messages.
§Are you finding effective ways to reach your audience?
A holistic communication plan uses numerous channels to reach employees - for example meetings, one-on-one, newsletters, presentations, brainstorming workshops, lunch and learns, Intranet Q&A forums, CDs, screen saver messages, etc. Be creative in how you communicate and gather feedback from employees.
§Are you using assessment tools to evaluate the effectiveness of communication messages?
Communications cannot be viewed as an activity that is planned, delivered and then checked off the list of work to be done. You must find ways to ensure that employees are hearing and interpreting the messages you are trying to send. Assessment tools will help you identify when you haven't communicated effectively, or when the message is being misinterpreted so you can continue to correct and refine your communications.
Communicating organizational change has been identified as an essential component of successful change, whether it’s a change in chart order or a major organizational merger. Many attempts at change end in failure, and in many cases the failure is due to poor communication and lack of acceptance of the change by employees, (Richardson & Denton, 1996).
Important Messages Regarding Change
An effective leader communicates the following position:
- That you are personally committed to the change
- That you recognize that the change may negatively impact on some people
- That you are open to discussion of feelings of employees regarding the change.
- That you are confident that the team can make the change happen
- That you want and need input from the team to make the changes work.
Effective communication is necessary to ensure that employees at all level in the organization understand why change is needed, that their role in bringing about this change is vital, and to ensure that they have a clear picture about “how things will be better” as a result of the change effort. (Walker, ).
Prosci’s Communication Checklist (Prosci, 2006).
This tool can be used to help guide leaders to more effectively communicate with employees.
§Are you using the preferred senders to deliver communications in your organization?
Research shows that employees prefer to hear messages from two people in the organization - the person at the top of the change and their immediate supervisors.
§Are you answering the questions "why is this change happening" and "what is the risk of not changing"?
When individuals learn of a change, their first question is "why is this happening" Your first communications should be focused on why the change is happening. And don't forget to reinforce the 'why' throughout the entire project.
§ Are you answering the question "what's in it for me (WIIFM)"?
Making a change is a personal choice, no matter what senior leaders believe. To be effective, communications must get at what I, as an employee, care about and value. Answer WIIFM - "what's in it for me?" - early and often in your communications.
§Are you resisting the urge to have communications come from the project team or project leaders?
Employees prefer to hear messages from two people in the organization, and neither is the project leader. One of the biggest and most common mistakes you can make is to have a project team sending all of the communications.
§Are you using face-to-face communication?
Face-to-face communication was identified at the most effective form of communication.
§Are you repeating key messages 5 to 7 times?
Repeat key messages a number of times, more often then you think you need to.
§Are you creating opportunities for two-way communication?
Give employees the opportunity to share their concerns, provide their feedback and ask questions. Two-way communications create buy-in and provide answers in real-time.
§Are you preparing the communicators to deliver effective communications and have the necessary conversations?
This includes sharing with them the important messages that need to be delivered, creating alignment between different senders, and planning the delivery sequence. It also includes educating them on how to deliver key messages.
§Are you finding effective ways to reach your audience?
A holistic communication plan uses numerous channels to reach employees - for example meetings, one-on-one, newsletters, presentations, brainstorming workshops, lunch and learns, Intranet Q&A forums, CDs, screen saver messages, etc. Be creative in how you communicate and gather feedback from employees.
§Are you using assessment tools to evaluate the effectiveness of communication messages?
Communications cannot be viewed as an activity that is planned, delivered and then checked off the list of work to be done. You must find ways to ensure that employees are hearing and interpreting the messages you are trying to send. Assessment tools will help you identify when you haven't communicated effectively, or when the message is being misinterpreted so you can continue to correct and refine your communications.
