admin Change can never be ‘cascaded’ from the top. Informal channels are mostly used for organizational communication.
All of us acknowledge that a lot of initiatives in organizational change fail or do not deliver the results desired. But yet we attempt with the same approach time and again expecting different outcomes – the very definition of madness, according to Albert Einstein. But bad communication results in a failure during times of change more often than not.
So what is the best way to effectively communicate the change to achieve acceptance, buy-in and continued performance? Particularly, if without the involvement of the whole organization or frontline employees the change has been defined.
According to a study, 90 percent of the organizational conversations is driven about by 3 percent of the employees.
The key ingredients:
- The core change story, an elevator pitch, and three key messages – telling the story of the change journey and destination; with the flexibility to add team/local context. This change journey needs to be clearly mapped: starting point, destination, milestone markers, clear timelines, clear definition of success.
- Having a thorough understanding of who your audiences and stakeholders are, and being aware of what they require.
- One on one communication: Humans remain, humans, even if the world may be going digital. A requirement of leaders and managers who have the skills to communicate engagingly, honestly and in a timely way – fostering listening, dialogue, and involvement. Also, those who can transcribe the change story to team and individual context and guide by example.
- A relevant amalgamate of communication tools and other channels for the organization: digital, analog– to reflect employee needs and preferences.
- An understanding and good judgment of human behavior.
- Keep in mind that your organization would not survive without your people.
Being unable to over-communicate during periods of change is just a myth. The truth is that you can. And if you do then you threat building ‘noise’ which will outvote what’s significant.
Stating to the employees that they need to change or adapt and swap one set of attitudes and behaviors for a new set will not lead to flourishing transformation. Helping people make reason of the modification and make a prosperous changeover means assuring that their needs for honesty, support and involvement are fulfilled.
In fact, we may flatten the change curve and accelerate the change accordingly if we communicate effectively. Nevertheless, it is crucial to comprehend that reaction to change is not one dimensional but people may bounce around the change curve until they reach full acceptance.
It is important to think about what you want people to know and understand in any communication efforts, to sense for instance attitudes like acceptance, buy-in, etc and what action should be taken for example focus on day after the day job, assist to the transformation, speak favorably about the organization.
It is the one thinking about the big picture who defines the change and desired outcome. But one needs to be mindful that everything is about ‘me’ (what does it mean to every individual in an organization) to deliver successful change. Why is there a need to change has to be understood by everybody. The knowledge and understanding of the change story are necessary for every individual. And it is important for them to understand their individual contribution as well as the impact this change may have on them.
The Communications team, HR, emails or posters cannot deliver the individual context from top-down. The leaders and frontline managers in every division, geography, and team need to translate it into context. And face-to-face communication even in today’s digital world remains essential. Thus it is necessary for leaders and managers to be fully trained and equipped to communicate, to grasp what individuals want from communication, how to strengthen trust, how to superintend themselves and others through change.
Internal communication practices that are based on outcomes and are people focused led by Internal Communications professionals are key to success. This is the way to achieve organizational alignment, the glue that holds the organization together, and a shared direction. Acknowledging that we are human and will always behave accordingly will make a major contribution towards shaping effective change communications.
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