Change Communications

Harvard Business School Professor, John Kotter, is considered the number one leadership guru in the United States. In his books, he offers eight steps for successful change:

1. create a sense of urgency;
2. build guiding teams;
3. get the vision right;
4. communicate for buy-in;
5. empower action;
6. produce short-term wins;
7. never let up;
8. and make change stick.

In a recent interview with Management Consulting News, Kotter highlights the need to pay “more attention [...] to the front end of the change process.” For me, this interview provides two very interesting points that got me thinking about what can be done in practice.

Lack of urgency

Firstly, Kotter states that many organisations vastly underestimate building sufficient urgency when preparing change programmes. Managers often say to him, “Our people understand how important it is to solve this problem. We’re beyond that.” They are keen to move on to communicating about the team or, more likely, they want to talk about communicating the vision for the future.

So what can we do to build urgency? Here are a few ideas from my past experiences. What has worked for you?

1. Honest and factual communication between management and staff about the current situation. Facts, figures and industry comparisons can help to explain the thinking behind the change of strategy.
2. Workshops based on a co-development model help teams to get to grips with the issues, understand and feel the need for change themselves.
3. Listening and take the temperature regularly: don’t just assume that everyone understands and agrees with the need to change. A short survey, poll or a conversation over coffee can shed a lot of light.
4. A clear switch or cut-off point. I have heard of IT system changes where the management are reluctant to switch off the old system and the possibility of maintaining parrallel systems is actively considered. This is crazy. You can’t build urgency around something that itself is not clear.
5. Lastly, something a bit more fun: a clock that counts down to the change can help make the urgency visible. You would be surpised by the reaction and discussion something this simple can generate.

Fear and a lack of credibility

At the heart of any change is, of course, fear. However, the problem is that words, images, arguments and promises on their own cannot alay fear.

As Kotter says, “The ultimate way to help people believe in what you are doing is not words, but deeds. Every time you do something well, fear goes down because credibility goes up.”

Effective change communication can support a competent team in building this credibility. It can provide a reliable source of information and serve to build trust around the team and initiative.

And this is where I have a problem with the idea of “marketing” change internally. By making un-attainable promises or appearing to “over-sell” the change, fearful staff will often smell a rat. If messages don’t correspond with everyday reality, if the promises made are hard to believe, then your credibility goes down and fear is increased.

If communication serves to reinforce daily reality or illustrate something has gone right, then trust can be progressively built. As Kotter says, people start to think “Maybe there’s a chance that they can pull this off and I’m not going to be pushed off a cliff after all.”

Here are a few tips for change communications that can inspire credibility:

• Provide impartial and balanced reporting of the facts.
• Communicate regularly and always at the date/time promised.
• Proof-read thoroughly to remove any spelling or grammar mistakes.
• Provide information in a professional format adapted to the context.
• Illustrate and explain the achievements, small or large, that constitute milestones to the change.
• Reply promptly to all feedback.
• Don’t be afraid to state that change is difficult.

This last point is frequently problematic on IT system changes where the first month following a major implementation is usually the hardest. By preparing users for this reality, explaining that it will be hard at first but that team is here to help, you create a message that can be believed. Promising full benefits or return on investment right from the outset is delusional. Of course promising support when the team cannot follow through would be equally catastrophic!

Read also: Kotter’s 8 reasons why change fails

Nicholas Ranken