Change Communication Really Matters
(AND HOW TO DO IT WELL)
By Ethan Nash
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"Our only security is our ability to change." - John Lilly
Because we are living in an increasingly changing world, it has become more and more necessary for organizations to be flexible, nimble, and adaptable. Quick pivots and transformations of core processes, products, services, and operations are becoming a requirement for organizational survival. Yet, as we wrote in this blog post, people tend to resist change, even when it’s good for them and their organizations. It’s human nature. This presents a rather complex dilemma: consistent and substantial change is necessary, yet asking people to significantly change evokes fear, insecurity, and uncertainty. That is why change management is an art – we must help people work through the resistance so they can accept and embrace change.
This is no easy task.
Of all the critical leadership behaviors that can help employees embrace and support change, communication is by far the most powerful. Yet, in the change efforts we see in many of our client systems, this is often an underappreciated piece. When we ask employees what they need more of from their leadership, one of the most frequent responses is communication. But when we ask leaders about this, they tend to report that they are communicating well. This gap is largely due to a lack of understanding of what employees need and want in terms of communication.
So, let’s take it back to Change Management 101. During a major change effort, communication must be intentionally engineered in order to achieve true buy-in and support for the change. As you work to develop your change management communication plan, you can break your approach into two categories: what to communicate and how to communicate it.
WHAT are we communicating?
1. Communicate the “why” and the big picture.
“The person who moves us in new directions is the one who can present us a new vision – a new option – which seems noble and uplifting in character.” – George S. Odiorne
In order to be able to embrace change fully, people need to be told the “why,” and not just the “what.” Often employees are simply told that a change is coming, with no information about why it’s important, which creates a scary “black box.” And in the absence of information, what do humans tend to do? We make guesses! And because of our built-in negativity bias, we don’t usually go to our happy place, do we? Instead, lacking good information, we tend to horribilize. If people fail to grasp the connection between the change and the mission of the organization, they won’t see it as important and, because change is hard, will consciously or unconsciously resist.
Action Item! Remind people of the organization’s mission and values, and paint a positive picture of how the change aligns with and supports them.
Pro Tip! Here's some more food for thought: If you’re having trouble connecting the change to the mission and values, you may want to reconsider whether or not the change is even necessary, especially if your organization or workgroup has recently experienced a large volume of change. Change fatigue is a real thing – so save your finite organizational change energy for changes that are critical and necessary.
2. Get people to feel the change through emotional messaging and storytelling.
“Let’s not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it.” – Vincent van Gogh
Psychologist Jonathon Haidt likens our brains to that of an elephant and a rider. The rational part of our brain is the rider, which sits on top of our emotional brain – the elephant. The rider (the rational brain) feels as if it’s in control, but if it has a disagreement with the elephant (the emotional brain) on which direction to go, the six-ton beast wins. For better or worse, we are emotionally-driven creatures, so if you want people to understand the need for change, you have to help them feel the need for change.
Leaders tend to rely on data and numbers to communicate the need for change, and although that appeals to the left-brainers and our inner-elephant riders, people also need to feel the need for change in order to kick start their butts in gear. As change management expert John Kotter puts it, the process is see, feel, and change, as opposed to analyze, think, and change. For an excellent example of see, feel, and change in real life, read about “gloves on the boardroom table” in this article.
Action Item! Communicate using stories and imagery. Appeal to people’s emotions such as empathy, compassion, excitement, or desire. Be enthusiastic and engaging.
Pro Tip! Consider checking out the book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. It provides an abundance of real-world examples of people and organizations creating big changes through emotion-capturing storytelling that appeals to peoples' hearts and minds. Plus, it's just a fun and dandy read.
3. Involve employees in the change and communicate this intention.
“Change is easier to accept when it happens with you instead of to you.” – Diane Dormant
Can you think of a time when you were told you needed to change but had no say or involvement in how that change would be accomplished? I have – and it sucks. Not only will this most likely lead to resentment and resistance, but it also threatens the actual success of the change process, because no one better understands what it takes to make a change successful than those being asked to change. These are the people who have the ground-level perspective, who understand the barriers and challenges, and who will have practical insights into ways to make the desired change effective and sustainable.
Action Item! Include employees in the change process, listen to their concerns, seek their ideas and input, and provide them meaningful roles in the change management process whenever you can.
4. Communicate the advantages and address the disadvantages (WIIFM?).
“Never be so busy as to not think of others.” – Mother Theresa
So, what’s in it for me (WIIFM)? Sure, I want to know how this change benefits the organization, but my concerns start with me. How will I personally benefit from this change, and what will it require of me?
According to the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, people need to have their personal concerns addressed before they can invest cognitive energy into addressing or thinking about organizational concerns. One of the oopsies that I’ve seen over and over again is leaders communicating about a major change by only addressing the benefits to the organization. “This will increase our customer retention by this much, which will allow us to increase our profits.” Yeah, but WIIFM?
Action Item! Highlight the advantages the change will have for people personally. And because a change will no doubt have varying degrees and types of benefits for different employees, ensure that everyone has an opportunity to dialogue and share their hopes and concerns. In other words, demonstrate that you truly care about them as individuals. (Or as a wise person once put it, treat others the way you want to be treated.)
Pro Tip! You also have to be real with people – don’t sugarcoat the disadvantages. While keeping the message positive, build trust and respect by being transparent about the downsides and challenges early on so people can see that the concerns aren’t being ignored. Be clear, transparent, and solution-oriented.
5. Communicate the process.
“There is no communication that is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood.” ― Luigina Sgarro
Early on, help people understand the process of making and sustaining the change: Who will be involved and when? When will people first have to take steps towards the change? When does the change need to be fully implemented? What does each person need to do to prepare for making the change? What will people be responsible for after the change is implemented?
Action Item! Create a clear roadmap for the change (while making sure to involve people in creating that plan). By fully informing employees of where we are going and how we will get there you will reduce the anxiety that comes with change.
6. Create a sense of urgency.
“True urgent leadership doesn’t drain people. It does the opposite. It energizes them. It makes them feel excited.” – John Kotter
Kotter writes that most change efforts fail in part because leaders fail to create a sense of urgency sufficient enough to get people moving. People need to experience and feel the urgency, and that’s best done through explaining the “why,” appealing to their emotions, and storytelling. (And providing some data to support the need for change doesn't hurt either.)
Action Item! Don’t exaggerate it, but clearly articulate the organizational problems and pains that are prompting the change, the risk of not changing, and why it’s critical to make this shift for the survival and success of the organization.
Pro Tip! If you’re having trouble articulating the urgency of a change, perhaps it’s not that urgent and maybe should be reconsidered. (Read more here on increasing urgency by John Kotter.)
7. Provide lead time.
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy
While communicating urgency is important, that doesn’t mean we should be requiring people to change TODAY. Allow time for people to dialogue about the change, ask questions, work through their concerns, and generally wrap their heads around what it will mean for them and the organization. Give people time to generate ideas and share them. Communication about change that starts with “effective immediately” will cause frustration, fear, and resentment, no matter how important you think the change is.
Action Item! Whenever possible, let people know about upcoming changes early on when there's still time to prepare people, seek input, and dialogue about the impact it may have on them personally. Basically, give yourself and others time to navigate through the initial resistance before they have to actually make the change.
Pro Tip! The amount of lead time you’ll want to provide, of course, will depend on the complexity of the change and level of urgency, but in general, the more lead time you can give (that doesn’t create an unacceptable cost to the organization) the better.
HOW will we communicate?
1. Overcommunicate
We tell change leaders this quite often: Unless you’re to the point where you’re slightly embarrassed to communicate the message yet again, then you haven’t communicated enough. There is an old marketing adage that says people need to hear a message five to seven times before they actually believe it and internalize it. We have found the same is true for communicating change, and we’re not the only ones. We consistently speak with surprised leaders who have to go back and repeat a message they thought was clearly communicated. No matter how clear the message is, people tend to be more focused on how the change will impact them personally and not on the nitty-gritty details, so they often miss key information. Keep communicating and find creative ways to do so (see number 4).
2. Use the preferred senders
Research shows that employees prefer to hear critical messages from both the sponsor of the change (ideally the person with the highest level of authority in the organization) and from their direct manager. And make sure the sponsor and the management team are on the same page with the whats, whens, and hows of the change process, because people won’t internalize the reality of the change if there is any daylight between the messages they are getting from their leaders.
3. Use face-to-face communication (or face-to-screen) and engage in a dialogue
Whether via video conferencing or in person, be sure to respect peoples’ humanity and allow for the opportunity to dialogue about the change to allow for processing, feedback, comments, and questions, and to demonstrate our care and respect for our team members. This bears repeating: If you want people to start rowing in a new direction, they need to feel cared for and respected. Yes, it takes more time to engage everyone in a dialogue, but, as they say, slow down to speed up. Skipping steps in the process for an important change can be costly, especially if the well-being of your organization depends on its success. Keep in mind that, in most cases, dialogue is best-done face-to-face, where facial and body cues enhance clarity and create connection.
4. Find creative ways to communicate.
Look, just because you have to keep communicating, communicating, and communicating the message doesn’t mean it has to be stale or repetitive. Find different avenues to communicate the message in new ways. Set up a Q&A “town hall” session, provide a workshop on it, put it in newsletters, and so forth. Communicate different aspects of it at different times. Just mix it up and imbed the messaging throughout the organizational system and, oh, the places you will go.
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We provide change management workshops and consulting to help leaders develop the strategies, skills, and behaviors for effectively facilitating organizational change. This includes helping teams develop their change management plan, general skill development, managing resistance, creating buy-in and engagement, communicating effectively, needs assessment, and more. Contact us to set up a call to learn more.