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How to Tailor your Message so that it Resonates across your Organization

Communication needs to be driven from the top-down AND the bottom up, ensuring your change initiative messages are clearly and properly conveyed.

In last week’s blog, we discussed how to create your communications plan, which answers the 5-W’s: who, when, why, where and what. However, you’re not done yet!

In their book, the Change Management Pocket Guide: Tools for Managing Change, Kate Nelson and Stacy Aaron* refer to two “levels” of communication needed to garner buy-in from across the company. Their point (and it’s a good one) is that messages need to be tailored to specific departments or individuals and that you need to get away from a “one-size fits all” plan.

Start by tailoring your messages (i.e., Level One and Level Two Communications) to those departments most affected by your change initiative. This methodology will ensure you’re addressing those issues most critical to the department and can also be used when targeting key stakeholders to support your initiative.

To help get you started, I’ve recreated their worksheet on my website so you can finalize your communication plan.

Meanwhile, keep in mind the following when speaking with line managers and employees:

Line managers are critical because they…

• Are directly responsible for the implementation of your initiative.
• Have a pulse on employee morale and can combat negativity.

Ensure line managers…

• Thoroughly understand the goals and are committed to accomplishing them.
• Understand they are a part of the solution to ensure the Company’s survival.
• Are trained on how to engage and obtain commitment from their employees.

Employees are critical because …

• They are responsible for executing your initiative.
• Their individual goals facilitate the success of overall organizational goals.

Help your employees to…

• Re-focus on achieving company goals and how the change initiative will help the company overcome the challenging economy.
• Make the link between achieving their individual goals and the company’s future success.

When attempting to overcome resistance from employees, keep in mind:

It’s all in what you say. Keep it short and chunk your messages. Eliminate the technical jargon. Don’t ignore setbacks or changes to the plan. Face them head-on and explain your decisions.

And HOW you say it. Ensure communications are a two-way street, so your employees feel heard. To gather feedback, consider using surveys or message boards on your intranet.

And HOW OFTEN you say it. Over-communicating your message stifles rumors and combats the natural fear of the unknown. You’ll re-iterate the need for change while keeping the pressure on your project team and employees to get the job done.

And saying it CONSISTENTLY, over time. Continually tout the initiative and employee successes. Communication is something you need to sustain throughout the course of the project and beyond, affirming change as a part of your corporate culture.

By crafting a solid plan that resonates with employees and communicating your message often and consistently over time, you’ll ensure that your sound project plan and well-managed team drive a successful change initiative within your organization.

*Reference: The Change Management Pocket Guide: Tools for Managing Change by Kate Nelson and Stacy Aaron, 2005.

How to Develop Your Written Communications Plan

To ensure success, you need to continually hone your communication strategy and anticipate questions throughout your change initiative. Download our Communications Planning Worksheet, which will walk you through the following 7 critical elements to consider when developing your written communications plan:

1. Why is it necessary?

Employees are often left in the dark when it comes to the business reasons behind major change. Showing employees where the business is heading will help them understand the value in your plan. Develop key statements that communicate this value. Your vision should be expressed in a way that allows all employees to understand, relate to and see their role in achieving it. Anticipate questions such as: “Why should we change the process when the current process works just fine?” “Why should I care when the change doesn’t affect me?”

2. What is the precise scope of the change?

Get straight to the point and don’t sugarcoat your message. Communicating the precise scope of your project will end speculation and rumors up front. Show your employees what the organization will look like following the implementation of this change (such as changes in departments or individual rolls.) Anticipate questions like:

“Is it true that my department will be downsized because of this project?”

“How many employees will be hired to create the new department?”

3. When will the change be rolled out?

Official start dates, end dates, key milestones and consequences for not meeting deadlines should be communicated early and continuously. Be clear whether the dates are ‘best guess goals’ or hard deadlines. This will help your employees anticipate when change will happen to them. You may hear questions like:

“What should we do if our department can’t commit to meeting your deadline?”

“What is the penalty for missing deadlines?”

4. Who will be involved and in what capacity?

Identify what responsibilities will be delegated to those directly and indirectly involved with the project, including senior executives and team members championing the project. Employees will know who to contact when have questions later, such as:

“Why should I care if I’m not directly involved?”

“If I’m on the team, how much time will it take from my schedule?”

5. How will the change affect the way employees currently work?

Expect employees to be immediately concerned with how the change affects their day-to-day work and longer-term circumstances. Alleviate employee fear by explaining how you expect the change to affect them. Then, listen up. Employees may have concerns that you haven’t addressed, such as: “How can I take on extra work when I’m already overwhelmed with my duties?” “How quickly will my duties change over time?”

6. How will this change initiative differ from previous ones within the organization?

Every organization has faced an initiative that didn’t get off the ground. Recognize this and show employees how your initiative differs by linking it to previous successes. Consider how perceptions of previous initiatives will affect the attitude toward yours, such as: “What were the results of project X?” “How will this differ from the project we worked on last year?”

7. What are the consequences of NOT implementing this change?

Explain why the risks of standing still are greater than those of moving forward. Don’t require employees to leap blindfolded into your plan: justify why the change was initiated in the first place. Communicate what alternatives were discussed and why they were rejected. Anticipate questions like:

Would our company survive without this change?”

“Shouldn’t our company maintain status quo while the market is bad?”

Tune in next week for a bonus change initiative blog! We’ll explore how to tailor a message that will resonate across every level of your organization.

How to Recruit, Define and Manage a High-Performing Team

You understand that you can’t implement a change initiative on your own, and need to surround yourself with people who can help. Enlisting a few trusted colleagues may be the easy solution; however, the more critical question is what skill sets do you need to tackle the tasks outlined in your Project Plan. And once your team is formed, how do you ensure everyone works together effectively?

Spearheading successful change initiatives starts with a well-defined team comprised of complimentary skill sets needed to accomplish the project. To do this, focus your recruitment goals. When you initially scoped the project, you detailed individual tasks that needed to occur for a change initiative to be successful.

Now it’s time to identify the skills required to accomplish each task and match those skills with available employees. The chart to the right illustrates how to do this*. You’ll likely be actively recruiting throughout your project as strategies are adjusted and different skill sets are needed.

Once you’ve recruited the right mix of skills, clearly define their roles. Team members need to understand why they were selected, EXACTLY what they are responsible for and the timeframes they need to hit (including weekly participation expectations). Members armed with clear responsibilities will appreciate the value they bring to the team and will be motivated to share their expertise.

Once you’ve compiled your team, it’s critical to understand the 4-stages of team development** as it will require adjustments in your leadership style to grow individual performers into a high performing team.  We’ve given you a 35,000-foot view below; click here for a more in-depth look at team behavior at each stage and your corresponding leadership style.

As your team is forming, members typically are polite and listen to each other, appearing to accept everyone’s ideas without question. During this stage, facilitate open discussions on expectations, highlight individual strengths of each team member, identify end goals and break down the project into assignable tasks.

Once team members have become comfortable with one another, the team moves into the storming stage where meetings are more about arguing rather than discussing. Active listening is out the window and interrupting one another is typical. As the Team Leader, you should provide clear direction and encourage open discussions; however, step in to ensure everyone is heard. Continually refocus the discussions on project goals vs. who is winning arguments. This can be an uncomfortable phase and one Leaders’ typically like to rush. Fight that temptation hard and don’t rush this phase – if a member doesn’t feel heard, storming will likely resurface later in the project.

Once you’re past this challenge, your team enters the norming phase. They begin to accept team member strengths and everyone can calmly discuss differences of opinion. The team’s priority becomes solving problems and everyone’s input is valued when tackling tough issues. It’s time to take a small step aside while re-confirming individual roles, focusing on positive accomplishments thus far and highlighting the end game.

When your team reaches the performing stage, they are pretty much self-sufficient, actively listening to each other and working together to determine solutions. In this phase, it’s typically hard to determine who the official “leader” is as active leadership is no longer required. That said, let them know you’re still available if needed and periodically check in to ensure the continued success of the team.

Setting your team up for success signals the next critical phase of managing change: developing your communications plan. Tune in next week as we review how to communicate what matters most to employees.

* Project Management Jumpstart, 2^nd Edition, Kim Heldman, PMP, 2005, Jossey Bass.
** Tuckman’s Group Development Model, Bruce Tuchman, 1965.

Shaping your Vision and Defining your Project Plan

The chart* to the right provides an overview of how to effectively lead change, ensuring the sustainability of a change initiative into the future.

As the chart illustrates, successful change initiatives begin by defining the need for change and shaping the vision for the future state of the company. This vision needs to be delivered in such a way that it mobilizes commitment amongst employees as well as your customers. ALL employees need to understand what value this change brings to the organization or conversely, the impact to the company if this change is not implemented.

From there, leading a successful change management initiative involves three factors:

1. Capable Project Planning
2. Clearly Defined Roles and Responsibilities
3. Exceptional Communications Planning

Capable Project Leaders start by defining the Project Plan in terms of:

Goals and Objectives

Establishing SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) goals and objectives narrows the focus for the project and clearly delineates what’s IN and what’s NOT IN for your change management initiative.

Project Deliverables/Requirements

Consider creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to help organize deliverables.  The WBS starts at the top with Project Initiation and then defines (in excruciating detail) the specific tasks that need to occur for a project to be completed.

Capturing the Voice of the Customer

Many times a customer’s requirements are not at a level that can easily be measured from a business perspective.  Therefore, it’s up to the business to collect Customer’s Needs, translate them into Customer Expectations, which in turn are translated into Customer Requirements that are useable by the business.

Establishing a Realistic Timeline

Using the WBS, construct a Network Diagram to show dependencies of the tasks (i.e., does one task have to be completed before the next task can begin or can they be done in parallel?).  In addition to how long the project will take, the Network Diagram will show you the critical path (i.e., those tasks that define the project length).

Identifying the Project Team

As the Project Leader, it’s critical to ensure:

• The right resources are available at the right time.
• Clear priorities have been defined between your project and current responsibilities for each team member.
• Each team member has the available time to put towards the project.

Once your Project Plan has been defined, it’s then critical to clearly define roles and responsibilities within your company to support the Change Initiative.  Tune in next week for this discussion.

*Chart: Becker, B., Huselid, M., and Ulrich, D. (2001), The HR Scorecard; Linking People, Strategy, and Performance. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.