By Caisa Alpsten and Ulla Mogestad

---

 

 

 

Caisa Alpsten is head of Vinco since the start seven years ago. She has extensive experience from strategic internal communication and communicating change, both as Communication Manager and as consultant/advisor for big Nordic and international companies within the oil and energy sector, banking, insurance, manufacturing, consumer trade and public sector.

 

 

 

Ulla Mogestad is Vinco`s specialist in communicating change.  Her background in big, global consultancies like Carta and Booz Allen & Hamilton, includes more than fifteen years of accomplishments in in many big Nordic and global companies, including Ericsson.

 

---

 

 

 

Practically all organisations are used to change. In fact, change has become part of the lifeblood for both management and communication teams. But the successful implementation of new strategies that will change mindsets, create new ways of working and build commitment is still rare.

 

 

Why is it so difficult to make change last?

 

 

We can see at least four reasons.

 

 

 

1. Lack of insight. If people do not understand why change is necessary they are not motivated. If there are no visible threats, why change?

    

 

2. Top Management giving up too fast. Top management often believe that change is a project implemented within a certain time frame. But it is a continous process requiring their full attention and commitment over years.

    

 

3. Managers are not mobilized as change advocates. As the immediate manager is the most trustworthy source of information when it comes to change of attitude and behavior, all managers and supervisors need to be engaged from start. If they do not understand the urgency for change, they send out the wrong signals and the message is blurred. In worst case, they ally with the resistance force. “If my boss does not support it, it´s no good for us and the company.”

    

 

4. The organisation culture does not support the new strategy. If no efforts are made to align culture and reward systems with the new strategy, employees will continue to behave as before. “Why change when it seems OK not to ?” Culture will defeat strategy at every time.

    

 

 

Professional communicators can support change initiatives in many ways. Change communication is also a great opportunity to prove the value of communication. To succeed you will need a communication strategy involving key stakeholders and a communication plan which is carefully monitored as you proceed. The following six-step process for successful change communication gives a structure for your planning.

 

 

fig. Alpsten 1 Six Steps

 

 

 

 

This article describes how communicators can support management in major business changes that involves most part of the organisation. Smaller changes follow the same logic, but actions can be simplified and merged to fit the needs.

 

 

Step 1: Prepare the organisation for change

 

 

Set the scene for change at an early stage and raise a feeling of urgency.

 

 

Many change projects are launched when Top Management is ready to present the news. Very often this information is met by negative reactions and resistance, because frontline managers and employees are not prepared.

 

 

Successful change projects begin much earlier, by creating a common knowledge of what must happen. For instance, by keeping people continuously informed of the company´s competitive situation, market position, financial performance and customer requirements, a common awareness of the situation is raised.

 

 

Actions

 

 

Raise awareness using different channels.

 

Craft your messages carefully. Facts and figures are necessary but not enough. Make something that catches people’s attention and use visible evidence. Ask trustworthy people within the company or external specialists, clients or suppliers to give their opinion about the current situation. These kinds of actions will raise a feeling of urgency and people will understand the need for a change.

 

 

Invite employees to take part in discussions

 

What actions support our business today and what will support it in future? What are the alternative future scenarios? Invite people to produce responses to important issues like these. Collect and use all good ideas and give people genuine feedback. Otherwise you risk a backlash – people will see the process as just another fun game or they will have a false sense of involvement.

 

 

Analyse the state of Change Readiness.

 

• Do people understand why change is necessary? If not, take actions as fast as possible.

   

• Do managers understand their important role in the communication process? If not, this will be the time for an extra reminder or training.

   

• Do you have the right channels in place? Will there be a need for new ones? Make necessary improvements.

   

• Do you have access to key stakeholders – Top Management, HR professionals, business unit heads and others? If not, start building these relationships.
• Does the culture support the change? If you do not know, make a culture analysis to find out what kind of resistance to expect.

   

 

 

fig. Alpsten 2 Reactions on Change

 

 

 

Tips & Tools

 

 

1. Formula for Change Motivation

 

 

 

This easy formula can help managers understand the challenge of change communication. Every change demands an extra effort. To be motivated for that, people need to understand:

 

· Why? – Background facts, “Present pains” made visible

 

· What? – A compelling vision for the future

 

· How? – Knowledge and information to cope with the new situation

 

If the sum of these three factors exceeds the necessary effort, people will buy in.

 

 

 

 

2. Seminars: “Let`s talk about the Future”

 

 

As a communicator you can help management arrange workshops and seminars that will engage people at en early stage. Here is an easy process to get people involved in building scenarios:

 

 

• Open up the discussion with one single, open question: “What are the most important things to do to make our business successful in future?... Put yourself five years ahead, what will our business be like?...What if…and then introduce a short scenario.”

   

• Facilitate the discussion so that everyone is contributing. Let people have a few minutes for reflexion and jot down ideas on a piece of paper or on post-it-pads.

   

• Go around the table and collect all ideas, one at a time, on a flip-chart.

   

• Discuss the ideas, analyse consequences and agree on the best ones.

   

• Write scenarios: What will happen if we take this idea and put it into action? As a communicator you can help creating and put it into clear words.

   

• The outcome: One article from each discussion group that will be published, in print or on the intranet. Publication should be very quick, ideally the day after.

   

• Ideally, these group sessions take place in many small groups at the same time, so that 50-100 or even more persons can work together in the same room. That will raise engagement across functions and levels.

   

 

 

3. Communication workshops for Managers

 

 

Take an early initiative to train managers in change communication. Then you have the most important vehicle in place. This three-step process has successfully been developed by AstraZeneca, Sweden Operations. The base is three half-day seminars that gives theory, methods and tools.

 

 

Basic Communication Theory

 

• Why planned communication

   

• Communication basics and outcomes: Know – Feel – Do

   

• Stakeholder Mapping

   

 

Change Management and communication

 

• Road to Commitment: engagement and compliance

   

• Rhetoric versus coaching; when to use what

   

• Target setting

   

• Risk Analysis

   

 

Communication Tools

 

• Human brains and memory

   

• Use all senses to influence

   

• Messaging; Main message and supporting messages

   

• Communication strategy

   

 

 

 

 

Step 2 : Plan for the change

 

 

Plan communication as an integral part of the change project based on the business drivers.

 

 

In successful change projects the communicator is involved from the beginning to advice on strategies at an early stage. The business strategies are the overall guidelines for content and direction of the change communication. It is crucial to identify the business drivers for the change project and present them in simple and clear words. Otherwise people will not understand why change is necessary for the future success of the business.

 

 

The change readiness analysis from step one is the starting point for the communication planning.

 

 

 

Actions

 

.

 

Gather all relevant facts

 

• Go back to your change readiness analysis as a start. What insight and willingness for change exists? Are goals and strategies credible? Does the organisational culture support the change initiative? Which channels are the most credible? Are the managers fully prepared?

   

• What’s going on externally – customer, markets, society - that can affect the change process? What risks are at stake?

   

 

Be clear about responsibilities for communicating change

 

• Management has the overall responsibility. The communicators are there to support the process as professional advisors, crafting plans, messages and tools, create channels for different messages and facilitate face-to-face communication and regular feedback.

   

• Form a Change Communication Group with trustworthy persons across functions and business areas and make sure they have access to all necessary information. Preferably the group is headed by a communicator. Key stakeholders should be included like business unit heads, frontline managers, HR professionals and when applicable the unions.

   

 

Create key messages that can be consistent over time

 

• Create a clear and simple message that can engage people in the new vision and strategies. Ideally this is done in a workshop with the management team. The power of a united team sharing an overall vision is the most critical success factor for a change project.

   

• Shape the key messages, addressing why change is necessary, what shall be achieved and how to get there. Find supporting messages – arguments, facts and figures.

   

 

Make a communication plan

 

• Decide on the right communication channels for the change project: Intranet and prints for the regular information of facts and managers face-to-face communication for achieving motivation and engagement.

   

• Internal and external activities should be coordinated - messages and timing.

   

 

• Plan for the Launch and coach all managers and communicators involved in good time before. Prepare presentation materials and Q&A.

   

• Do not forget the long term planning to ensure successful and lasting change.

   

 

 

 

Tips & Tools

 

 

Vision Workshop

 

A half-day workshop that helps management translate vision and goals to key messages. Here is a step-by-step approach:

 

· What makes a vision easy to communicate? If people find it:

 

Meaningful – “My contribution is important”

 

Positive – “This feels right”

 

Clear - “I understand, I can tell others”

 

Engaging – “I believe in it”

 

Encourage action – “I want to contribute”

 

· Stakeholder Mapping: Agree on key stake holders and their expectations.

 

· Match the vision with stakeholder expectations: Agree on key arguments for the vision that meet most expectations. Agree on supporting arguments to use for different stakeholders.

 

· Check out the key message against initial criteria: Will this be easy to communicate?

 

1.      Vision Workshop 

 

A half-day workshop that helps management translate vision and goals to key messages.  Here is a step-by-step approach:

 

·         What makes a vision easy to communicate? If people find it:

 

Meaningful – “My contribution is important”

 

Positive – “This feels right”

 

Clear - “I understand, I can tell others”

 

Engaging – “I believe in it”

 

Encourage action – “I want to contribute”

 

·         Stakeholder Mapping: Agree on key stake holders and their expectations.

 

·         Match the vision with stakeholder expectations: Agree on key arguments for the vision that meet most expectations. Agree on supporting arguments to use for different stakeholders.

 

·         Check out the key message against initial criteria: Will this be easy to communicate?

 

 

 

2.      Communication Plan for Change

 

We suggest you go through the following headings:

 

·         Business drivers and desired outcomes

 

·         Communication goals

 

·         Communication responsibility

 

·         Key messages (why?-what?-how?)

 

·         Communciation strategy plus channel strategy

 

·         Risk analysis (and contingency plan)

 

·         Measuring and monitoring

 

·         Quarterly action plans, to be changed according to measurment outcomes

 

·         Weekly detailed action plans

 

 

 

3. Q&A - Role Playing Sessions

 

 

Q&A is an effective communication tool to make people to understand complex information. In times of change you can use it in all communication channels.

 

 

Q&A sessions, where managers is forced to handle “real-life” situations, is an effective way of preparing management.  As a result managers can handle tough questions with confidence.

 

 

Preparations

 

• Collect every possible tough question and ask specialists to answer them correctly with proper facts. Create a draft Q&A document.

   

• Invite management and other key stakeholders who are supposed to answer questions about the change to a half-day seminar. 

   

• Let the management team act as themselves and the rest of the people as the workforce. Give the management the Q&A document and prepare the “workforce” to put as tough questions as possible.

   

Facilitation

 

• Set the scene and start the play by asking the “workforce” to put questions to management 

   

• Facilitate the Q&A process by helping managers to give the correct answers. Don’t give up until every single question has a clear, simple and accurate answer, given in a trustworthy way. Finally, make sure that everybody agrees on this.

   

Results

 

• This process provides an effective Q&A document, that all managers and other key stakeholders can use in their communication. You can also publish it on the intranet.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3: Communicate the change

 

 

Use managers as the most important communicators.

 

 

If the two first steps of the process has been carried out successfully, the actual launch of the change is fairly easy. The most effective way to influence people´s attitudes and behavior is via managers at all levels. What managers say and do every day have a huge impact on the success of a change project.

 

 

As a professional communicator you can support the managers in many ways.

 

 

Actions

 

 

Secure a continuous flow of communication

 

· Check that all communication is simple, clear and honest. That it appeals both to minds and hearts. Facts and figures are not enough. People have to be emotionally involved in order to change behaviors.

 

 

· Verify what the managers say using other channels. Repeat key messages over and over again. Help people see the context and meaning.

 

 

· Communicate regularly at agreed times and places – at least once a week, even if there seems to be nothing new to say. The consistency creates trust and minimizes time for speculations.

 

 

· Stimulate feedback and use it to improve communication results.

 

 

· Cooperate with the unions and use the same facts and information material in all communication.

 

 

· Include mass media as an internal channel and provide them with as much information as possible. Comment internally every day on what is true and what is not in the external media.

 

 

Advice and coach the managers

 

· Deeds are more important than words. Symbols speak loudly. What Top Management does sets the direction for everyone.

 

 

· Stimulate openness and dialog and keep as much as possible of the discussions within the company. Beware of too much talk and rumours, which take time from constructive work with business and customers.

 

 

· Give managers special information – facts and figures that are easy to use in their own communication. Give them hands-on support, face-to-face or via intranet. Coach them before big presentations and give them feedback afterwards.

 

 

fig. Alpsten 3 Everyone reacts

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4: Monitor the change process

 

 

Monitor communication regularly to secure desired outcomes in change of behavior and mindset.

 

 

 

It is necessary to monitor effects of communication activities regularly during a change implementation process. Otherwise management would not know if the process is going in the right direction and communicators have no base for necessary improvements. As the saying goes: What is measured will be done.

 

 

This is what we need to know:

 

 

• Have different target groups properly understood the messages?

   

• To what degree are different groups engaged and committed to the new vision and strategies?

   

• What do we need to communicate right now to continue moving in the right direction?

   

• How effective are the different communication channels and the feedback system?

   

 

With proper analysis and quick feedback for everyone involved, monitoring becomes an excellent vehicle for managing the change communication process and secure desired outcomes.

 

 

 

Tips & Tools

 

 

There are different methods to use for keeping track of the process:

 

 

1. Employee Advisory Committee

 

Appoint a group of employees representing different functions, levels, professions, ages and sexes and let them follow the process regularly in different ways:

 

• Initially they are interviewed to find out the state of change readiness.

   

• Key messages, Q/A:s and key channels are tested with them.

   

• They are interviewed after important presentations and asked to forward views from fellow workers.

   

• They participate as test audience when managers presentations are rehearsed.

   

• They are consulted whenever a change or improvement are called for.

   

 

2. Network of Informal Leaders (Change Agents)

 

Form another group of informal leaders and key target groups who can keep a track of the process from the leadership point of view.

 

 

3. A ”Rumour Committee”

 

with people from different parts of the company meets to discuss what is going on the Grapevine. The committee presents a report where rumours are described together with actual facts.

 

 

4. Individual interviews and Focus Group interviews

 

Select key stakeholders for individual interviews regularly and sample different target groups for focus group interviews.

 

 

5. Quick online surveys to check desired outcomes regularly

 

Draw a sample of 10% of the staff at a time, so that the same people do not have to answer every time.

 

 

6. Employee Survey

 

If your company have a yearly employee survey change outcomes can be measured there. Make a change index so that you can draw the right conclusions and make sure that you can track local results as well as general.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 5: Verify the change

 

 

Continuous feedback and success stories verify that the change is on the right track.

 

 

Real change of behavior takes time. But proof that we are on the right track must come quickly. It is easy to kick-start a change and raise an initial engagement. After that people start reflecting: “Are the managers really doing what they said they should do? As I hoped they should do? And do I really share the new values?” Not until people have answers to these questions are they ready to buy the new vision and strategies.

 

 

Top Management must model proper behavior continuously. They have to show their personal belief in the change by being visible and “walk the talk”. Deeds speak louder than words!

 

 

 

Actions

 

 

Help Management to set examples that drive desired change

 

• If there is a strategy of openness, management has to be open for discussion and invite people to talk and respect different views.

   

• If there is a vision of innovations, management has to encourage knowledge sharing and make people who come up with the best ideas the new heroes.

   

• If globalization is the message, management can appoint two foreigners to senior management.

   

• If there is a great talk about cost cutting, management sets an example by putting an end to executive staffs extravagant expense account.

   

 

Communicate evidence of how change is progressing.

 

Many small steps stimulates further change.

 

• Establish systematic “good news programmes”. Make people see that their own contribution is working well.

   

 

• Produce and communicate short-term wins that are visible to as many people as possible. The wins are critical. They provide credibility, resources and momentum.

   

 

• Reward people who do the right things – make them heroes and let them be visible in different communication channels. Celebrate successes, even the small ones.

   

 

• Build a culture of best practice that model desired behavior and publish them continuously.

   

 

fig. Alpsten 4 Words mean nothing

 

 

 

 

Step 6: Make change stick

 

 

Go on communicating in words and actions until the new way is “business as usual”.

 

 

 

A major business change normally involves sustained activities for several years. Successful change leaders have that patience. They keep repeating the key messages in words and actions – with Top Management as role models - until the new way of doing things is an integral part of the company soul.

 

 

Successful change leaders also make sure the changes are embedded in the organizational culture. They secure that the systems for reward, recruiting, leadership and communication are in line with the new strategy and culture. If not, it will be necessary to develop both new systems and a new culture that can support the new vision and strategy.

 

 

 

Actions

 

 

Declare victory

 

There may still be some remaining gaps between objectives and outcomes, but it is important to come to a completion, so that major successes can be highlighted.

 

• Declare that the stated objectives of the change project have been achieved, acknowledge everyone´s role in achieving them and reinforce the benefits of having achieved them.

   

• Keep repeating the vision and the new strategies and tell the story of the new successful organisation over and over again.

   

 

Room for improvements

 

Follow up lessons learned and build improvements into all processes.

 

• Evaluate the change communication process – what can we do better?

   

• Develop the communication function and its skills to support the company’s new strategy.

   

• Build new competencies within the company for processes where external resources were used during the change project.

   

• Develop a system for information and feedback that helps the company keep continual change on the business agenda.

   

 

If necessary start a new project to develop the culture

 

• Make a culture analysis. What is the state? What is supporting the business goals? What is not?

   

• Start a process to find or renew core values

   

• Start a process to encourage people to live the values

   

 

Tips & Tools

 

 

1. Model for developing company culture

fig. Alpsten 5 Models for developing

 

 

 

 

 

2. Encourage people to live the values

fig Alpsten 6 Process

 

 

---

 Create your own business wiki!Support CommunityPublic, not yet premium Privacy Policy RSS