Delivering effective change communications

Change comms isn’t just about pressing send and hoping that everyone reads and understands what’s being communicated! Knowing what channels to use, which messages to tailor and when to send them will improve change acceptance and support the smooth delivery of ​projects and programmes.

Having a dedicated communications role embedded within a delivery team helps to coordinate this, as well as ensuring that the vision, benefits and impacts are articulated from the very start to those who need to adapt to the change.

They can also provide counsel, facilitate feedback and develop “people-centric” storytelling, as well as support employee engagement.

Understanding who key stakeholders are in a project or programme, as well as their “stakes”, will be one of the first steps for a truly people-centred project team. For the communicator, this stakeholder planning will help to map out the ways that communications are delivered to different audience groups.

From this analysis, identify people managers that can champion the case for change and cascade information to their teams. This will improve buy-in. Managers are key to communicating and sustaining a change, so first and foremost they will need to buy-into the change themselves. Managers and leaders should therefore be a key target for your communication and engagement activity right from the get-go.

People managers can also provide feedback on how staff are feeling about the change, which will help steer further communication activity. Understanding the rhythm and techniques that managers use to engage with their teams will help communications to be adapted for their requirements. For example, do they have team bulletins, do they have regular face to face meetings or is there a team intranet site that can be utilised to share updates?. Don’t reinvent the wheel – utilise existing ways of working that stakeholders are familiar with to send and receive messages.

The role of a people manager is a vital aspect of delivering successful change because they will be directly interacting with affected individuals. Therefore, they will need to have the right resources to feel supported when having conversations, delivering messages, responding to feedback or communicating the goals and vision. These resources could be in the form of briefing packs, FAQs, presentation packs, video demos, intranet pages, training material, email announcements or newsletter bulletins. It is the role of the communications expert to offer this support.

For large transformation programmes that involve an entire organisation, multiple stakeholders and formal governance, it is prudent to develop a communications strategy. This ensures that a framework and agreement is in place so that communications will be a core focus to facilitate successful change. The strategy should define communications objectives, set goals, include the stakeholder analysis and define roles and responsibilities.

Having specific communications plans and schedules of activities when delivering change or transformation is vital. It will ensure message accuracy and consistency, timing, cadence, channels and key messages.

Key messages should address:

• What’s in it for me
• How will it affect my job
• How the business is going to support me through the change
• How can I contribute and feel heard
• Why does it need to happen
• What’s the goal and how it will support the overall company vision

Repeat messages about the benefits of the change frequently and share progress updates to show that the change is moving forward.

Plans should also identify feedback loops for employees to comment or ask questions at each stage of the journey. This can be through workshops or briefings, or as simple as a dedicated email address. Not only will this help employees feel heard, but also highlight if messages aren’t being understood.

Demonstrate success through human-centric stories, giving examples of how colleagues or customers are starting to experience positive outcomes of the change or transformation.

On completion of the project or programme, summarise what’s been achieved. Celebrate those who have helped to deliver it and use testimonials from those who are experiencing a better service or way of life as a result. This will help colleagues feel valued and trust in future change programmes.