Organizational change is a common occurrence in today’s work environment. In your career, you will probably have to lead the organization through changes such as mergers and acquisition, restructuring and layoffs and new management and strategy implementation.
One of the key ingredients for successful leadership during periods of organizational change is a well-planned and executed communication strategy. The change will not be successful if it is not communicated effectively.
Carefully consider the following six steps when communicating an organizational change:
1. Consider the audience.
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| Gilda Bonanno |
As with any communication, first you have to consider your audience. Who will be on the receiving end of this communication? In most cases, you will have several groups, including the managers, individual contributors, support staff and others impacted by the change.
Each group has its own needs and you have to consider how the change affects each group. You need to be able to make it clear why the change is happening and answer their questions: “How will my work change? What is expected of me? How will I be measured?
2. Create a consistent message.
It is crucial to be clear and consistent about the message you are communicating. Why is the change happening? The message should be clear and concise – no more than a few sentences. The core of the message should be the same and then the impact should be tailored to each audience: "here is the reason for the change and here is how it impacts you."
Be careful with having an "official" message that is different from the "real" reason for the change. I once consulted with a utilities company that was planning to update its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which would have a significant impact on many employees’ daily tasks. The company planned to announce the upgrade as a response to the employees’ request to have more real-time information in the field, even though this feature would not be available for several years. And the real reason for the change was that the vendor was no longer going to support the current software version, something the company had known about, and hadn’t dealt with, for a long time.
I strongly recommended that they tell the employees the full truth now, because the real reason would trickle out into the organization anyway and undercut the environment of trust that the leadership needed to create. Honesty – especially upfront rather than after the truth is discovered - is the best policy.
3. Consider how the message will be communicated.
You should consider that how you communicate the message is just as important, if not more so, than what you communicate. There are many ways that you can communicate the change. You could use a special all-company meeting, one-on-one meetings with affected individuals, a mass email from the department head or a small paragraph on the company intranet.
For example, if you hold a special all-company meeting to announce the change, employees will get the sense that the change is a big deal. On the other hand, if you just slip it into the last line of an email that gets sent out on a Friday afternoon, people may either not see it or think you are trying to hide it.
Weigh the pros and cons of having everyone hear the announcement at the same time versus using small group or individual announcements. The method you choose depends on many factors, including the change you need to communicate, the people you need to communicate it to and the company culture in which you need to communicate it.
If you are communicating the message in person, be aware of your non-verbal communications, such as eye contact, facial expression and tone of voice. These non-verbal elements should convey sincerity, confidence and empathy: "I'm telling the truth, I know what I'm talking about and I care how it affects you." Also decide in advance how questions will be handled and by whom.
While it is essential to follow any regulatory and legal requirements about how and when you announce the change, remember to be empathetic and speak in plain English rather than in legalese.
4. Follow-up after the communication.
One communication about the change is not enough. It's important that there be frequent follow-up to ensure that people receive the message and to address any questions or concerns. This interaction will help you determine what/how to communicate next. Informal channels of communication are also valuable during the follow-up because people may be more open about their perceptions of the change when they're standing around the water cooler or in the parking lot than when they're in formal meetings.
You also want to be close enough to your employees that they share with you their real concerns and any rumors that might be floating around the organization. I once worked at a company going through major layoffs. The CEOs sent frequent emails to all employees, not just giving us updates, but also addressing rumors that had come to his attention. Some of these rumors were wild, but he was able to quash them and calm people down. His emails, which he wrote himself, made people feel like he was connected, in charge and knew what was going on at every level.
5. Understand the cycle of change.
Change management expert William Bridges has a Human Cycle of Change model with 3 stages:
· Endings: the initial stage when experiencing change, during which people may experience shock, denial, mistrust and paralysis
· The Neutral Zone, the in-between stage where the old way is gone but the change has not been fully implemented yet, during which people may express confusion, anger and negativity; and
· New Beginnings, the final stage where the change has been implemented, during which people are moving towards acceptance, optimism and increased productivity.
Bridges emphasizes that even positive and rational change can involves loss and uncertainty and that people go through transitions at different speeds and in different ways.
It’s important to note that you as the leader and the organization have to pass through these three stages. Your job as a leader is to provide not just the information about the change, but also the leadership and emotional support to help your employees through the transition so they can become familiar and comfortable with the new reality. Listen to your employees’ concerns and empathize with their emotions – and remember that listening and empathizing does not have to mean that you agree with them.
6. Be visible and committed to the change.
The worst actions you can take after announcing a change is to go on vacation or hide in your office. Your employees need to see you going about your work, with optimism and energy. Reinforce the change and manage by walking around. Your goal is to hear their questions and make it easy for them to approach you with concerns.
Be alert to people backsliding in their commitment to the change and address any resistance immediately. If they don’t understand what the change is or why it is happening, you need to communicate the why and what. If they don’t know how to do the new work, provide training. If they don’t believe in the change, you have to provide leadership to convince them. And if they just don’t want to change, then you have to move them out of the organization.
In your enthusiasm for the new beginnings, be careful not to demonize everything that happened in the past. Past organizational structures or managers may have been effective, even partially, and blaming them for all current issues is simplistic and risks alienating people who have a connection to the way things used to be done. Yes, the change should make work more efficient and productive, but that doesn’t have to mean that the old way was completely devoid of value (and remember that today’s “wonderful new way” will too often become tomorrow’s “horrible, unproductive old way”).
Change happens. Carefully and confidently communicating the change will help you implement it more successfully and make it easier for your employees to become comfortable with it.
Confidence. Influence. Success.
Gilda Bonanno LLC: Training, Speaking & Coaching focused on
Presentation Skills, Communication & Leadership
Founder, Mastering Management Communications Mentoring Program
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