I've been reading a lot about change recently. And I'm struck by how complicated people like to make it.
Surely change communications is about getting a few things right.
Over the years I have developed a template - which borrows heavily from Bill Quirke - that suggests that you just need to focus on five stages.
Step one - Awareness
Have you told people the simple stuff about change? What is the basic awareness that they need?
I read somewhere that people have to be told things multiple times before it penetrates and one of the challenges facing an IC manager is in convincing senior leaders that they need to repeat stuff endlessly. When you're top manager you have probably spent months planning a development and by the time its ready for unveiling you're totally bored with it.
As a result it's tough for higher managers to appreciate exactly how ignorant everyone else is.
Comms helps when it is repetitive; find several different ways of reporting proposals on the intranet, think about posters or anything you can just to announce that the circus is in town.
Step two - understanding
Just because you have told people endlessly, it doesn't mean that they actually understand what they have been told. Most comms managers have had the experience at the end of long town hall meeting, announcing something momentous, of a question that suggests that no one was listening.
I remember when I was at Marconi, and we were rapidly goiong bust, that most weeks we would get a question submitted to the CEO's Q&A box along the lines of "Why do saute potatos cost more than chips in the canteen?" of "What date will we be announcing the christmas bonus this year?..."
This is where you have to introduce an element of face to face and start depending heavily on local leaders to put things into context.
One friend of mine says that unitil employees have been told about what happens on monday morning, how their jobs change or where they have to part their cars they just can't be expected to understand. And one of the most effective ways of getting this level of detail is to empower line managers to translate the big message.
Step three - Belief
Despite what some people think - understanding does not equate to commitment. The awful reality is that show two people the same evidence and you can have three interpretations.
This is where you have to get emotional - why should I care about this amazing change that you're about to inflict upon me?
The task here is to tell a story about the mission that you want them to sign up for. Take a look at some of the stuff that Tony Quinlan has written on the subject - I always find it inspiring.
And don't be fooled into thinking tha its just a question of holding a cheque over people's ideas. All the evidence on motivation seems to suggest that material benefits are poor positive motivators. My prejudice is that we all need to believe that we're making a difference - even if it is putting one over on the competition or selling the best hamburger on the high street.
You can't profess to be a change communications expert unless you have a pretty good idea of what those hot buttons are.
Step four - can they actuall do it?
The reason you can't spin employees is that they have concrete evidence to contradict any BS you want to inflict on them. They'll tell you pretty quickly that your rhetoric about customer service is hollow because they don't have the tools to deliver great service. They'll point out why the rubbish IT system is an obstacle to quality products.
In short, the change communicator has to ask what practical steps have been put in place to enable staff to actually make the changes you are talking about.
The best people I have worked with are potent BS spotters and adept at telling senior leaders when they are living in the fantasy world.
Step five - is it business as usual?
When the change is all embedded how do you celebrate the new order of things. Some writers talk about refreezing the organisation after change (particularly in the context of culture change), others talk about finding a point when change can be marked.
The crucial thing in to find some way of saying to people "look how far we have come..."
Recently I've seem some neat ways of doing this through internal photo competitions and story-telling.
Some time ago I made some notes to accompany a course that I developed on change - email me and I'll send you a copy.
Liam
lfitzpatrick at bell-pottinger.co.uk
