10 golden guidelines for communicating change
Volumes have been written about how to communicate change inside organizations. Scholars study it. Consultants (like me) build models to explain it. But it’s leaders who are on the hook to deliver it successfully.
The risks are high. Emotionally speaking, change – whether it involves a strategic shift, new technology or even an office move (especially an office move!) – is a trigger for feeling threatened. And when employees feel threatened, they’re less secure, engaged and productive.
More to the point, disgruntled employees talk. They use social media to share their experiences at work. Is your company equipped to deal with this kind of reputational risk? Here are 10 rules of the road for maintaining the trust and credibility that you’ll need to steer your organization through the shoals of change.
Start with why
This should be obvious. If you can’t make a clear, compelling case for why you’re changing, then perhaps you shouldn’t be. Not everyone has to agree with the reasoning, but they need to understand it.
Paint a picture
When you’ve established the “why,” sketch out exactly what’s changing and your game plan for implementing it. Put some scope around the likely impact; people can handle bad news – it’s ambiguity that’s most difficult to digest.
Make it personal
Getting your team on board with change means making it crystal clear what the specific impact will be for them. Will their job be different? Their manager? Their colleagues? Their office? Help them envision the “day after.”
Focus on face time
Email is easy, which is why we all use it. But for communicating change, face time (or at least real-time) is best. And employees most want to hear about a change from the leader who’s sponsoring it first, followed by their own manager.
Keep it simple
Our brains process emotions much faster than ideas and concepts – and change heightens emotion, making it more difficult to manage new information. Keep your messages as simple as possible – and remember that simplicity is in the eye of the beholder.
Be consistent
Consistency is always important, but especially when communicating change. Employees are wary and cynical. They’ll scour and compare messages, and cast even innocuous differences in the most negative light. So, keep your missives – and those from other leaders – synced up.
Give the gift of time
Successful change is a process. It involves letting go of old ways before accepting new ones. Since everyone absorbs change at different rates, what might seem like resistance may simply require a little more patience.
Rinse and repeat
Each day, we’re barraged by thousands of messages. Breaking through this clutter is difficult, especially when employees are stressed. To communicate any major change, you’ll need to talk about it repeatedly. (In fact, if you’re not tired of saying it, most likely employees haven’t heard it.)
Listen up!
Listening is a communications tool. It’s one that, all too often, is unappreciated and underutilized. Give employees ways to tell you what they think and feel about the changes you’re planning – and then respond to their feedback.
Set expectations
Finally, despite the understandable impulse to assuage your team’s concerns, don’t make promises you can’t keep. A changing environment can shift assumptions, so it’s better to set expectations than to retract commitments.
Successful leaders rightfully devote time and energy being thoughtful about how to manage change. By embedding techniques for good communications in the mix, they can maximize the impact they make, safeguarding and even enhancing their company’s reputation in times of change.