Change Communications

I recently had the opportunity to put into practice some crisis communication principles and I thought I’d share my experience with you.

“Crisis” communication is not just limited to big corporations facing a major incident, such as the recent Dell product recall or the Enron bankruptcy. These basic communication principles can be applied to any situation of any scale. Here, they are applied to project management in the IT sector.

Context

Complex fixed-price IT integration project; the timeline is very tight and delivery an imperative. Delay or mis-management of costs will directly impact the project’s profitability.

Half way through a project phase, financial imperatives cause our client to review the overall project timeline and postpone many activities we are currently working on to 2007. The team management and myself learn this news during a conference call.

Situation one hour after client’s announcement

The news has already spread amongst our teams by word of mouth. Many are talking of an immediate halt to all activities.

Communication objectives

• Correct and prevent rumours and false information from spreading.
• Reassure the teams and maintain focus and motivation on activities underway and upcoming delivery priorities.
• Inform of client’s new strategy

Impact analysis for the different populations concerned

Communication needs are not the same across the team. Teams located in the central project offices will be heavily impacted by the changes. An uncertain number will need to leave the project. Those in remote locations are less impacted as they are in the final phase of their work.

Immediate action planned

Meeting with all team members as soon as possible. Conference call for managers not in central locations. Key messages (communication brief) provided to those managers for relaying locally.

Summary of key messages

1. “The facts” Factual elements relating to the client’s change of strategy

• Strategy change for budgetary reasons: Capex / cash flow
• Completion of roll-outs currently underway
• Roll-out of next version (currently status: development finished, tests underway) postponed to July 2007
• Deployment next version +1 postponed to January 2008

Decision taken for budgetary reasons, not unhappy with our services. Read client feedback received by email.

2. “What is going to happen for me?” The impact of this change for the teams.

The team members are looking for some clear information about their personal future. For me, this is the most important part of the communication. It is currently too soon to communicate on what will change as a result of this decision. There is much uncertainty. Announce that the situation is very complex and not yet clear. We have contractual commitments that are still valid and require discussion and modification with client.

Be precise about what the Team management expects from the team members. This can be summarised as: “Do not change anything for the moment. Continue to work on what is underway. We will share more information as soon as the appropriate decisions have been taken.”

• Much uncertainty.
• Any change to planned activities will depend on the modification of our contract.
• Prepare yourself for change but do not pack your bags to go home tomorrow.
• We will keep you informed.

Moving forward

• Associate key team members in workshops taking place (defining the change).
• Accelerate communication: make available decisions as their are taken.
• Make messages very simple and very clear.

(Translated from French.)

Quotation: Crisis Communication

On the same topic as the post above…

Here is one company’s approach to communicating on a major business crisis. Skim-read the post (it’s long!) and form your own opinion and then confront it with the customer feedback at the bottom.

DreamHost blog

What I noted is a considerable amount of admiration, praise and understanding. OK there are disgruntled customers but the balance is broadly positive. Most of us common mortels are incapable of judging the technical aspects of such problems. Accidents happen. No-one is perfect. However, it seems to me that our opinion of the company in question is heavily influenced by our perception of how the crisis is being handled, or not.

By the sound of it, this may even be a factor that distinguishes DreamHost from its competitors.

A crisis doesn’t always damage your reputation – responding badly does.

What is the right way to communicate with employees during unpredictable times? We can all be subject to disruption ranging from terrorist attacks to natural disasters and organizational change, so it pays to know how best to act during difficult times.
by Al Siebert, director, The Resiliency Center

When facilitating meetings at times when people have heightened emotions, always remember to:

1. Deal with your own feelings first
To facilitate well, you must first deal with your own feelings. Remember not to impose them or your values on others.

2. Conduct a group “check in”
If people are feeling emotional about organizational or world events, focus on their feelings first before trying to cover agenda items. Ask each person to comment on how they feel about the events, express any concerns they have and comment on how they feel about being at the meeting. Look at each person closely while they are speaking to judge for yourself how “present” or emotionally distracted they are.

If people are feeling emotional about organizational or world events, focus on their feelings first before trying to cover agenda items.

3. Discuss the agenda
Ask each person to say if they feel they can be involved in discussions about the agenda items. Make it safe for them to say no if they can’t. Acknowledge their feelings, don’t suppress them, then focus the group on the things that must get done.

4. Reschedule some items on the agenda if necessary
If the majority of the group says they don’t feel that they can focus on the meeting, then save all agenda items that require open discussion until a later date. Limit the meeting to essential information items that are very time relevant.
Limit the meeting to essential information items that are very time relevant.

5. Be prepared to postpone to a later date
Meetings usually require a relaxed atmosphere conducive to open discussion — this may be difficult in times of stress. Resiliency research shows that feelings of distress, anguish, anger and anxiety will constrict and narrow cognitive processes. Postponing a meeting is a rational course of action when involved group discussion, analysis, problem-solving and goal-setting is required.