Change Communication

Change Communication: You can never be TOO good at this

Communication is an essential component in any change management plan. Change communication done well can drive a business initiative's success, done poorly it can undermine all your other hard work. During a change effort it is almost impossible to communicate too much, but it is possible to communicate the wrong way or give the wrong message. What follows are the five essentials of change communication:

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!

During a change, communicate early, often and with a purpose. Don’t wait for every “t” to be crossed and “i” to be dotted. If you do you will find yourself facing a room full of people who know as much as you do. Have a goal for each communication that occurs. It can be to inform or to excite or to get feedback. It is best to have one goal for each communication, but if you have more than one, make sure all are given ample time.

Not everyone is going to hear everything you say when you say it the first time. People’s attention will be drawn to one or two things you say, but not everything. Follow up each communication with a recap in a different medium. Follow up each town hall meeting with a written email summary. Follow up each written statement with talking points for managers to review with their staffs, or with a voice mail. During an organizational change it is almost impossible to communicate too much if the exchanges are well planned and executed. Plan to be in touch in different ways, but always remember that face-to-face, or face-to-many faces as the case may be, is best for fresh news.

Tell people more than they expect to hear

Most people expect to hear a lot of “double talk” and non-information. Non-information is defined as any communication where the recipients know nothing more than they did prior to the communication. Make it your policy and the policy of all change communication that these types of statements are unacceptable. Be as specific as possible, not only because you want to communicate the specifics but because people will need to hear as much information as you can give them. It is also OK to tell people you have nothing new to tell them, but you just wanted to keep them up to date on the progress of the business initiative.

Don’t wait too long to inform people of developments or progress. You will end up telling people what the rumor mill told them already – and you will become superfluous.

Never tell people things could be worse

I once sat in a room where downsizings had been announced and had an executive stand up and say “it could be worse, we could be laying off a lot more people”. Each person in that room already thought they were going to lose their job; they didn’t care whether the layoff was going to be 300 or 3000. Senior management looked callous and uncaring. Productivity plummeted. Another executive sent out a voice mail congratulating their team because the business initiative that had been announced was ahead of schedule. This would have been all right except that what that meant, and what people heard, was that the planned layoffs were ahead of schedule as well. No damage control could fix the negative business impact this voice mail caused.

Be sincere, be yourself but know your credibility level

Don’t try to be someone you aren’t. If you usually have a formal style, be formal. If you are usually casual, be casual. People will be confused and a bit mistrustful if your communication style changes all of a sudden. During a change it is the little things that can derail progress. Your employees will crave stability and your consistent behavior will provide some of that.

In addition, be honest with yourself. If you have a good history with the organization then you should have some credibility. This will help you and give the information you are sharing some weight. If you are new, or you have a rocky history with the organization, you have no credibility. Make your decisions accordingly. If you don’t know your credibility level, it would be best to find out before you start announcing any business transformation efforts.

Don’t lie – especially by omission

I always tell executives, you always know when your kids are lying to you – and your employees always know when you are lying to them. Every time you lie your credibility takes a hit and it is almost impossible to EVER regain it. The biggest lies executives tell are by omission. You know something is going to happen and you just don’t mention it. This is something else people will know. You have hired intelligent people to work for you. They’ll know if you are leaving information out. Sometimes there is information you can’t share. Find a way to share what you can, and find a way to let people know there is more information, and as soon as you can tell them you will. And then tell them.

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