Getting Your Communications Right During a Change

Change is the only constant in life, affecting individuals and organizations alike. From new strategies to mergers, layoffs or team restructuring, workplace changes are inevitable. Some changes impact several layers of employees and external stakeholders while others affect just a few. The larger and more impactful the change, the more critical it is to have a robust communication plan in place.

Let’s envision a situation: You are the communications lead for an international organization with over 2,000 employees across several countries. You are relatively new to the role and have been informed that your organization has purchased new software which will be rolled out across the organization soon. The new software will not only impact specific teams like IT and finance but also other employees across the organization. After receiving this news you think, “Do we need a formal change communication plan for this? Or maybe an email and a series of learning sessions about the new software will work instead?” Well, let’s evaluate that.

The fact that the new software will affect specific teams like IT and finance and other employees across the organization indicates a significant impact. Changes that affect multiple departments or functions often require coordinated communication efforts to ensure alignment, understanding and buy-in from all stakeholders.

Let's flip the scenario. Imagine you’ve recently learned that your department will upgrade its project management software to a newer version. This upgrade primarily affects your team members and a few stakeholders in closely related departments. Given the relatively small scale of the update and the limited impact on the broader organization, a formal change communication plan may not be required.

While not every change may necessitate a structured plan, effective communication is vital for navigating significant organizational changes. Some key factors to consider when deciding if a situation needs a formal plan or not include — but are not limited to — the magnitude of the change, the scope and complexity of the change.

In instances where changes could lead to confusion, resistance or uncertainty among employees or other stakeholders, it’s generally advisable to implement proactive communication strategies to mitigate these risks. Failure to address concerns or provide clarity can lead to increased resistance, productivity losses, a crisis or even total project failure.

With this in mind, how do we then get our communications right during a change, reducing resistance and increasing the likelihood of getting the buy-in of various stakeholders? Consider the following plan as a guide. 

Assess the Situation

While evaluating the initial information and determining whether it requires a formal change communication plan or not, it’s important to get as many details about the change as possible.

• What is this change about?
• What was the situation before the change?
• Why do we need the change?
• What is the vision and where do we see ourselves headed should this change be successful?
• What are the timelines outlined for this change to take place?

Armed with background details on the change situation, we are better prepared to create a corresponding change communication plan.

Identify Your Audience

The big questions you should ask to help identify your audience are:

• Who will be impacted by this change?
• Will it impact employees of a certain department or the entire organization?
• Do external stakeholders such as the board, partners or clients need to be carried along?

You may need to break down the categories of your internal and external audiences even further. Take some time to think through the various categories of audiences that you have. This will help ensure you are not missing anyone.

Analyze Your Audiences

Once we identify our target audiences, we’ll need to precisely discern the information they require and how they might react. What do they need to know and what are their potential emotional responses? By inspecting the various audiences, we can ascertain the specific messages necessary to empower them in navigating the change effectively, while proactively addressing their concerns. For example, what your internal audiences need to know will not be the same as what partners or clients need.

Define Your Communication Objectives

Armed with information about your audiences, you can now define your communication objectives. What would you like them to think, feel and do following your communication about this change? Write these objectives from the audience's perspective, not from yours. Not every communication piece will need to address all three of these objectives but you should ideally have at least one expected objective for each audience.

Determine Your Key Message Per Audience

Having determined what your audiences need to know and what you’d like them to think, feel and do after receiving your messages, outline the content of your messages and start to think about what these key messages will be.

Leverage Multiple Communication Channels to Deliver Your Message

To get a better result while communicating change, do not depend on one channel of communication alone. Work various communication channels into your plan, varying them per audience group. Depending on this audience group, some channels to consider include intranet, video recording, email, individual or group meetings, social media and town hall meetings. While considering your communication channels, also determine if the message needs to be delivered through two-way communication or if one-way communication will be sufficient.

Determine the Timing and Sequence of Your Messaging

As you think through your plan, the audiences, potential reactions, etc., determine the cadence of delivery of these messages. Will they be sent one month before the change begins, two weeks ahead, on the date of commencement or a week or two after? Consider whether follow-up messages are required as well. 

Decide the Most Appropriate Messenger

Although some messages can be sent by the head of the department on the impacted team, others may be best sent by the CEO. You must critically examine who will be most appropriate to communicate the change to ensure it carries the required weight. It’s also important that the person is properly equipped to communicate the change and answer questions that may ensue. This is where compiling a list of frequently asked questions and key messages can come in handy.

Having evaluated all the above and put your plan together, it’s necessary to revisit these steps intermittently to ensure it stays fresh and relevant to the specific change context. This involves working collaboratively with other teams, offering training, resources and support where appropriate to help your audiences adapt to the change and reduce resistance. Make sure you also communicate regularly about progress, milestones and available support services to maintain this momentum and engagement.

As we navigate our ever-present reality of change in the workplace, effective communication plans can help ensure clarity amidst uncertainty. By implementing the above, we can show up confidently in our roles as communicators and pave the way for successful change adoption in our organizations.