Communicating Change

Carefully planned communication can help in:

overcoming fear
ensuring understanding
encouraging ownership or employee "buy-in’

Often, just as much time needs to be spent in preparing the groundwork for people to accept change as is spent in implementing it. The following are two useful checklists:

Communication tools

Typical tools used by companies for their internal communications include:

teams
For example, by building cross-functional teams. Can encourage sharing of information and an understanding of other sections.
face-to-face
Meetings and forums are fine for the initial announcement or delivery, but with those workers whose commitment you need most, little can beat a one-to-one exchange.
use the line
Particularly if people are concerned about their future. Their line manager is the person they mainly expect to help them and comment on rumours. Make sure the line is kept up to date.
technology
Particularly e-mail. It is fast, breaks down barriers of time and place, and gives staff a straight line to top management. However it’s impersonal and too informal to convey communications of a sensitive type e.g. departmental mergers or downsizing
paper
Memos, handbooks, ‘team briefing’ sheets, notice boards, are all more traditional tools used by management to reach employees. Unfortunately, the reality is that they rarely get read.
the grapevine
Probably the most powerful and effective tool of them all, this invariably tells you what employees really think, and which messages are really getting through. The difficulty comes in trying to manipulate it - just remember that your actions will end up on the grapevine long before your words do.

Communication tactics

Best practice communication. Some key points are:

tailor the message
Aim it at your audience. For example are you talking to creatives or computer specialists from the IT department?
Exactly which employees are we trying to reach & how will they react?
adopt the appropriate approach
Choose the right degree of formality, humour, tone - to be dictated by the kind of message you need to get across, and to whom. Is the aim to pass on instructions, to canvass opinion or to galvanise the troops?
What style should we adopt to ensure the message is interpreted in the way we intend?
create ‘two-way’ traffic
Newsletters etc. are one-way. Create channels to ensure you receive feedback from to make sure the message has been understood.
How can we measure if the message has been received, believed, & accepted?
practise what you preach
Align actions with words. Be seen to be adopting the kind of behaviour or actions you’re trying to promote.
What are they saying about this on the grapevine, and what rumours, if any, need to be dispelled?
keep communicating continuously
Keep communication consistent and continuous. Make people responsible for passing on information; reinforce ‘question time’ meetings with the senior management with lower level discussion and focus groups.
How are we getting the message to every part of the organisation, and how often does it need to be repeated?
be open
Transparency creates trust. Give as much information as you can - you’ll gain peoples' respect if nothing else. Answer questions that can be answered, and explain why others cannot he answered. Focus on areas of concern to the workforce; for example, in restructuring programmes, focus first on their fears.
What information are they likely to want, how will it impact them, and how can I find it out?