Communicating change

A Small introduction into Leading people through their change experience

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Z One success story of change managed right; a working framework http://www.slideshare.net/eklemola/a-working-change-management-framework-25158331

Z Testing readiness for change http://www.slideshare.net/eklemola/testing-organizational-readiness-for-change

THIS PRESENTATION IS PART OF A COLLECTION OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT RELATED PUBLICATIONS. THE PREVIOUS PARTS INCLUDE:

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THIS PRESENTATION IS ABOUT THE ISSUES YOU NEED TO ADDRESS WHILE COMMUNICATING IN A PROJECT OR A CHANGE PROGRAM.

It’s not about, which tool to use or what to say exactly, but more about how to identify and react to your target audiences’ needs.

Show your audience that you care and they’ll care as well!

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Communication in change

• Communication is a tricky issue,

because it’s affected by:

• Some project managers take it for

granted and don’t really think about it.

If you don’t pay attention to it, you’re not

allowed to complain when no ones listening

”Communication is the key ~everyone knows that. Of course I communicate all the time.”

”Can you describe your methods? ~To whom, how and how do you schedule it?”

”~huh?”

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• You • The target and

personal preferences • The environment • The mood

• The volume, channel and background noise

• What you say, how, when

~and what not

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Communication in change R

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• A change program or a development project can be

initiated by an outside force or an internal need.

• Regardless of the reason, the change affects peoples’

capabilities and (usually) ways of working or thinking.

• Regardless of the change theory there’s always

• A first part in which the change is initiated, people are given

a vision and explained why.

• A middle part, where the change is in action and you need

to keep peoples’ morale as high as possible.

• The finishing stage, where the change is embedded into

normal daily routines.

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Communication in change R

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• All of the stages require different kind of action or

simply listening from different people with different

interested in the program.

• Also the time it takes (or which is given) to get from the

start to the goal differs case by case.

• You need to speed things up or slow down depending on the

situation.

• You need to manage expectations.

There are no exact rules or templates, which would get you through

this. But there are guiding ideas, which will certainly help you out.

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Whose your target audience and what to you want them to do?

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To whom am I speaking?

• The first thing on your list must be: to whom am I

speaking. ~Really. That’s it.

”I’m currently speaking to:…”

…a professional or a student

who’s got a limited amount of time and doesn’t want to waste it

who’s been reading formal mumbo-jumbo all day

who’s currently having a relaxing break

or is looking for an idea or an inspiration!

”hence I…” speak in a non-formal manner, with pictures, frames and drawn arrows. I use breadcrumbs in he side, to help you navigate. I use soft tones and handwritten fonts to add to the lightness and friendliness. I want you to be able browse these through, but I also what you to be engaged enough to read.

Success? You tell me..

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To whom am I speaking? R

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Your target audiences may be anything from internal project customer to corporate shareholders

Reporting

Project Organization

Internal customers

End users

Financiers

External customers

Etc…

You need to figure out how your different stakeholders want to be spoken to; some of them may want electronic messages and some illustrated and visual instructions with a possibility to reply. Find out and act accordingly!

Management

Suppliers

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Which reaction do I want?

• I would never speak like this, if I wanted a reaction.

~I’m just speaking; not looking for a reply, hence an easy

flow of words should do just fine.

• In other scenarios:

If you want someone to

do something, responsible

or accountable, you need

to:

• Tell them why! • Tell them what exactly. • Give advice on how to

do and how everyone else is affected.

• Explain what if!

If you need someone to

give you advice on

something, consult, you

need to:

• Tell them why! • Tell them what you

need, when and in what format.

• Explain what if!

If you need to inform

someone (you just want them to

read),

you need to:

• Ask them to read ~in the title /topic preferably!

• Tell them what and why. • Explain how everyone /-

thing is affected.

Source: Leeuwen, Winkel,

Dijkstra; Vision, Mission,

Compassion 2007

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Notice how RACI was used?

• The easies way to figure out, what to say and to

whom, is to use RACI and divide your organization

into:

• Communicate this to everyone, so that people know

what to expect. ~sometimes people think they need more

information than is actually appropriate and get annoyed

when it’s not given to them.

• Responsible • Accountable

• Who you need to consult • Who need to be informed

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Don’t forget your channels

Source: C. Pritchard; The Project

Management Communications Toolkit

2004

Most of the time organizational communication has set channels:

…and what not.

Using the well known ways is comfortable and easy for all, but please make sure that they are the right ones for the occasion!

emails message boards intranets

community tools

• The function for calculating the

number of communication lines is:

• If you have 20 A,R or C people, you

have 190 communication lines to handle.

• Give each 30 min. ;let alone if you engage in

a real 2-hour conversation, and you will spend

appr. 13 days / month just

communicating!

I ’d recommend a community –tool…

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Don’t forget your channels

Remember your other communication channels as well:

KPI report

Project Plan

WBS

Presentations

Tests & measurements

Process Flowcharts

Project Progress report

Instructions

Etc…

These and every other communication channel are a part of your communications kit, which sets the tone for the whole project / change program. If you want a change to be positive and people engaged; all of these need to reflect that goal.

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What should you say? Does it matter how you say it? or when?

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What should I say?

• This is what we all think about, when we speak about

communication, isn’t it. ~management studies often

emphasize the Message over Source, Channel and the

Receiver.

S CR

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What should I say?

• The message should be clear, go to the point, have

only 1 instruction per message… ~that’s what each

communications book says, right?

Shouldn’t we be avoiding despair and leading towards integration? Giving short step-by-step instructions seems like poison to that goal.!

• But if we look at the change

curve… isn’t that kind of

communication the exact

wrong thing to do? ~giving

short sighted messages doesn’t

prepare for what’s coming.

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What,

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What should I say?

For the same reason, I don’t use a navigator in my car.. I

need to see the big picture, not just the next corner!

Hence, I declare that the most important thing isn’t the Message, it’s understanding the needs of the Receiver.

SMC

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How should I say it?

• The theory says that, if you want to achieve a certain

objective, you should speak in a certain manner. ~I

dare you to try these:

Engage or motivate

• APPRECIATE the target audience and their feelings.

• RELATE to them and their emotions.

Merge or create new

groups

• UNIFY people, give them a joint goal or an activity.

• Let them know you REALIZE what it means to them individually and as a group.

Embed or change ones

behavior

• MATERIALIZE the desired action or outcome –training, personal guidance, good instructions etc…

• PRODUCE the change yourself! -Show how it’s done. Lead by example!

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Source: Leeuwen, Winkel,

Dijkstra; Vision, Mission,

Compassion 2007

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Most importantly: when?

• Remember testing for organizational readiness for

change? ~here’s one application.

Read

iness

• It’s simple: The readier

your organization, the

later you communicate.

• Speak too soon and

they get bored; speak

late and they’ll hate

you.

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Most importantly: when?

• If you’re at the doctors, he/she will increase your

readiness by:

1. Telling you what’s

happening.

2. Giving you time to

adjust to the

information.

3. Only then injecting

you with a needle.

You’re not scared at all, are you? So why not treat everyone with the

same courtesy..

Read

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T h i s p r e s e n t a t i o n w a s w r i t t e n a n d c r e a t e d b y

E r j a K l e m o l a , w o r k i n g a s a n I C T A d v i s o r f o r S o f i g a t e O y

“

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Conclusions and last words

Communicating isn’t about forming the message, but a combination of you, the message, the channel, your capability to understand the needs of the receiver and then communicating at the right time.

Yes, it’s your responsibility to get to know your target audience. Would be selfish not to…