In the world of business, change is something that never ends. As the market evolves, so does the business. And along with market and business evolution comes organisational change. However, organisational change, or any type of change for that matter, is often automatically met with resistance and a negative mindset. But it is not impossible to change this mindset and people’s notion of change. It can be done with proper communication strategies and methods. And the only way to pave the way for a successful change is to build a positive environment which has communication in the center of it.
Communication is the act of giving and receiving information. And in order to create a positive space for communication, leaders and individuals must be encouraged to listen as much as they are encouraged to speak to deliver information. Listening to the employees and the stakeholders, especially where change is involved, is crucial to the success of the organisational change. It is through this practice that change managers can genuinely cultivate and gain the trust of the people and stakeholders, within and outside the organisation.
What is the Right Way to Communicate Change?
This mainly depends on the needs of the organisaiton. Every organisation creates a communication strategy that is a combination of a number of communication elements to create the right strategy for their organisation. A communication strategy is a guide for the managers in terms of communication and the direction of the change. Communication strategy sets the tone and the ensures that every activity is done in at the right time and in the right pace.
Developing a communication strategy is looking at the current situation and the future state that the change is expected to bring. The strategy is what bridges the situation and the communication plan, in order to achieve the desired outcome.
While there are many intricate details that may be considered when creating a communication strategy, the basic elements include a situation analysis summary, stakeholder segmentation or audience segmentation, specifying objectives and goals, and the channels through which information will be deliverd and disseminated. There’s also the budget involved for running the project, a system of ways to measure the effectiveness of the communication strategy like gathering feedback from the audience, and implementation plan. Selecting the right change theory is important, and must be one that matches the characteristics and politics within the organisation, as well as the magnitude of the change whether it is on an individual or organisational level.
The communication and program managers are the ones that develop the communication strategy while working closely with the stakeholders and other important figures in the organisation who are involved in the project, as well as those who are affected by the change. Development is normally done after a situation analysis has been conducted, and it may take weeks, even months to complete.
Delivering the Message
The delivery of the message operates on a network of communication features. This includes directionality, role, content, and channel.
Directionality specifies the route of the message, or basically the direction from which the message is coming from and who is receivng it. There are two directions from which the message flows: top-down and down-top. When it comes to managing change and keeping the audience updated, the information normally flows top-down. When it comes to feedback, survey responses, and queries, the information normally flows down-top. This is also referred to as upward communication and is vital to the development and improvement of the program, to ensure a successful teamwork and outcome.
That said, change managers and the leaders involved in the program must also listen to the stakeholders and the people who are affected by the change, so that both sides can work together throughout the process.
Another direction of communication is for people of the same level, or individual contributors who communicate directly with leads and managers for example. The direction is referred to as lateral or horizontal communication.
Channels and content intersect with each other. Deciding what type of channels are to be used to communicate the information is just as important as the content that is being delivered. Delivery of information can be done using verbal or written methods.
Verbal methods include meetings, townhalls, focused group discussions, one-on-one, and can be done virtually through video conferencing as well. Written methods include hard copy or digital versions of newsletters, bulletins, and email messages.
Depending on the content/information and the channel through which it is going to be delivered through, the person to deliver it must also be considered. The audience, in terms of stakeholders for example, can be divided into 4 areas, using the stakeholder grid. Where stakeholders are prioritised based on their level and interest in the program. Each of the areas require different levels and frequency of information, as well as communication methods. Each area is handled by the same or different managers, who facilitate delivering and receiving information to and from the group.
The accuracy of information and the timeliness of its delivery hugely affect the confidence and trust of the people involved in the program. It is also important for the leaders whose roles involve communicating the message, to come fully prepared at all times, having the right information, delivered through the right channel, to the appropriate audience, at the correct time.
Factors that Affect Communication
Change is a significant event in any organisation, whether it is performed on an individual or an organisational level. So when employees and stakeholders receive information sporadically, it results to frustration, causing fears and misinformation to boot. This is known as orgainsational silence, and can be extremely detrimental to the success of the program. Same goes for the lack of upward communication where people affected by the change feel that their feedback and their voices aren’t valued, making them feel unheard and unseen by the folks from the top. This is why it is important to set proper expectations and keeping the audience updated in between meetings. If a certain phase in the program will take a much longer time to complete than the previous one, the audience must be informed of the gap from the current meeting to the next, to avoid the gap to be perceived as organisational silence which makes people feel like they are being kept in the dark.
Another factor that pulls the communication process down is resistance to change based on fears and beliefs. This may be an individual or a collective sentiment, but when there is fear and uncertainty in the background, leaders and managers must step in to facilitate and support the members of their team, especially those who are greatly impacted by the change. Listening to their concerns, providing them with training (if the change involves the use of new technology), a meet and greet session (if it involves wokring with a new manager or leader), are just a few of the ways fear, uncertainty, and anxiety can be overcome. Beliefs are normally more challenging to deal with as it is often deeply rooted and experience based. This is substantiated by what is known as the organisational paradigm, which affects the way people receive, perceive, interpret, refuse or accept a situation such as change. This can be altered by providing helpful information and regular updates, as well as perfoming “heat checks”, continuous gathering of feedback, and holding focused group discussions to tackle issues that may prevent the ability of the organisation to recognise the benefits that change can bring.
There are instances where external information is integrated with internal information and delivered to the audience in a way that relates to what is familiar to them and what is normally available within the organisation. External information, due to its unfamaliarity, takes a certain amount of effort to integrate with internal information and require a different level of understanding in order to relate it to what the organisation and the members are used to.
Content can also be perceived in two ways: negative or positive. In a situation where change is being implemented, more often than not, pre-conceived notions affect the way content is received, interpreted, and understood. Leaving no room for interpretation, and a thorough explanation of the content that is being delivered will more likely result to better understanding and a more positive reaction from the audience. People understand information in different ways and can interpret information in different ways, depending on whether they see it as positive or negative news to them. Thus, it is very important to ensure that they are encouraged to ask questions and clarifications regarding anything that remains vague or unclear to them. Closing the gap is a crucial effort in ensuring that everyone is on the same page and share the same understanding at all times.
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The Different Roles in the Change Management Team
While the Change Management Team has leaders and managers from different parts of the organisation as its members, they all have varying leadership and managing roles and wear different hats for it. Their roles can be identified as any one of the following:
- Isolates – usually audience facing and often the last in the team to know about any changes or updates
- Boundary Spanners – they have the capacity to communicate internally, externally, or across the border with another organisation
- Gatekeepers – someone who controls the amount of information released to the audience
- Playmakers – they are the strategists, game changers, implementers, and polishers; they work together to orchestrate the activities at every phase that lead to change
Isolates are often less networked and their work is often focused in one area with less interaction with other members or teams in the organisation. A customer facing sales officer may be working with clients, but may not have regular face-to-face meetings or projects with other managers inside the organisation, therefore he’s least likely to be in the know.
Boundary spanners are the best examples of those who operate on various levels of interpersonal relationships. These people regularly communicate with various leaders and managers within the organisation, with external stakeholders, and even have peers and network from other organisations. They usually carry external information which they share with certain individuals and key people within the organisation, and these pieces of information can be useful to the organisation. While these people enjoy moving across boundaries and have the capacity to communicate with key people within the organisation, they may also control the amount of information they share based on their work and personal relationship with a colleage, a leader, or a stakeholder.
It is also important to consider the perception of fairness of a leader, when it comes to interpersonal relationship as this is the foundation of an invisible line of trust and the psychological contract which pertains to a mutual understanding between leaders and every member in the organisation, particularly when it comes to how these members are valued and regarded in the organisation.
Communication Goals and Organisational Goals
Communication is key in guiding everyone through the process of change. Change has to occur in order for an organisation to achieve its goal. There are certain ways to communicate different types of information, at different phases.
- Spray and Pray
Least effective as a great amount of information is delivered unfiltered and the employees are left on their own to sort what is and what is not significant or relevant to them
- Tell and Sell
A great amount of information is delivered but broken down into smaller parts or key issues, and then getting the buy in of the employees, as leaders sell them on their desired or preferred solution to every key issue
- Underscore and Explore
Information delivered is clearly linked to organisational success and make room for feedback and actively listening to the employees’ insight that may help identify potential issues or hurdles in the process
- Identify and Reply
A pretty straightforward approach where key employee concerns are identified by management and then respond to these concerns
- Withhold and Uphold
Information is limited and released only when absolutely necessary; this involves a high level of secrecy and strict control over any information
While it is easy to see which of these strategies will work best under normal circumstances, the most obviously effective method may not be the best option under more challenging circumstances. Effective leaders and change managers will know which strategy to apply and the appropriate delivery method to employ to provide employees the necessary information that they need at any given time.