The Only Constant
Five steps for using thoughtful communication to manage change
Think back to the last time you implemented a major change in your business or organization…especially one that impacted your team directly.
How long did you spend deciding what needed to change, considering your options, integrating other perspectives, and charting the course? And then, how long did you spend making a plan for communicating the plan to your team?
If you’re like most leaders, you put a lot more time and effort into the former than the latter. After spending days or weeks planning out the change, you might’ve put maybe an hour or two toward assembling some talking points before making an announcement. And if you’re being honest…how did it go? Did folks start spinning out? Did you spend hours clearing up confusion, dispelling rumors, and reacting to feelings? Yeah, you’re not alone.
Good leaders tend to be good planners, and know how to approach organizational change with smart strategy and purposeful decision making. But after deciding what needs to happen, those same leaders often rush through the part when they communicate those decisions, creating chaos and fear when their team needs clarity and inspiration.
Some even wing it, which usually leads to even more churn and wasted time. When your team or organization is evolving, a thoughtful communication plan can bring benefits that far outweigh the effort it requires. So, with that in mind, here are five steps from the playbook that we use to communicate and roll out big organizational changes, smoothly and successfully. It doesn’t have to be hard and painful, but it does take thought and preparation.
1 Be all in
“Transition starts with an ending.”
The first step in communicating change is believing in it. You have to fully commit to the change you’re asking for, so that your organization can commit to it, too.
Entering unknown terrain is difficult and uncomfortable, and humans generally avoid discomfort whenever they can. It’s normal to feel dread or uncertainty in these situations, so go ahead and acknowledge that if it’s there. But at the same time, you also need to acknowledge that you’re making a change because it’s necessary. Often, it’s because something that had been working for a long time isn’t working anymore. Embrace that.
Once you’ve done that, the crucial next step is to commit to the plan and the goal. Setting your mindset to “all-in” is paramount. Paint a complete picture for yourself of the end state and how much better it will be. Don’t let the critic’s voice come in just yet; let yourself dream and set the end goal. This step is meant to build your conviction and help you communicate why it’s a necessary change.
It might help to ask yourself some basic questions, and write the answers down for reference when they inevitably come up in conversation:
Why is this change necessary?
What results will be achieved by the change?
How will the team / organization function differently after the change is implemented?
How will each person’s experience be affected by the transition?
What rewards will there be, for individuals and the group? How will that feel?
2 Recruit your influencers
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
Once you’ve committed to your plans, it’s time to bring in other people. But rather than trying to engage each person individually, it’s usually better to think of yourself as the pebble that creates ripples that impact everything around you.
Every group of people has some kind of power dynamic, even if everyone’s resolutely non-hierarchical. There may be people who hold positions of authority, and others who’ve earned the respect of those around them, or have simply been around longer. A successful change initiative starts with these people, so make sure to enlist them early on. They’re the first ring of your ripple, which means that they can help amplify your message outward (or impede it if they’re not on board).
You should explicitly build one-on-one conversations with key influencers into your change communication plan. Think of this phase as a highly personalized recruitment effort, which also provides an opportunity to test out your messaging and refine before it rolls out to the rest of the group.
Start with one-on-one conversations with key influencers. They’ll help amplify your message once they’re on board.
3 Map out a hero’s journey
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
To prepare for this first round of communication with your key players, you need to anticipate any losses they might feel because of the changes you’re making.
Start by making an inventory of what each person stands to lose, both tangible (an office, a bonus scheme) and intangible (perceived influence, access to information). Using this list, create a narrative that anticipates and transforms each challenge into a call to action: a vision for something new. These folks are critical to the new vision, so they need to know how you see them playing a key role in the journey.
Make sure each person is seeing the same inspiring picture of the overall change, but also sees their personalized role in bringing it about. And most importantly, be honest: if something’s going to be lost, you won’t change that by denying or ignoring it. But you can make it clear that you recognize that loss, and present it in the greater context of sacrificing something in the short term for greater game in the long term.
“You’re one of the key people who can help us get to our goal. This is what it’s going to require.”
Explain how the group’s core identity and values will hold fast, but also how you’re applying those values (creativity, innovation, equity, etc.) in new ways to reach a universally embraced end goal. Be inspiring, and communicate clearly what each individual brings to the table and how they fit into the new vision.
4 Let everyone feel the feels
“Leaders must either invest a reasonable amount of time attending to fears and feelings, or squander an unreasonable amount of time trying to manage ineffective and unproductive behavior.”
The conversations you have in these one-on-one meetings are going to reveal feelings, and it’s your job to help your key people move through them. Acknowledge people’s reactions—positive or negative—simply but without apology or exception, and resist the temptation to let them alter the plan. Stay neutral through any turbulence that comes up, and provide space for everyone to feel what they feel, but don’t feel obligated to solve every concern. Above all, stay rooted in the WHY—the reasons for making the change in the first place.
Here are some examples of responses we’ve given to people’s concerns in moments of change:
“I know it feels like this will be a lot more work, but we truly believe it’s the most important thing we can do for the team, and it’s worth our efforts.”
“I’m sorry this feels confusing before we’ve rolled out the entire plan. Would it help to go over the roadmap again so you know what details to expect and when?”
You’ll also want to make the timeline clear, so that your key players know when the broader communication will happen and what discretion is needed in the meantime. Allow them time to process ahead of that moment, and offer a follow-up conversation, if needed, to address outstanding topics. The time you spend ensuring that this ring of influence will support your message is critical—you want them to feel just as prepared as you do.
5 Do it all again
“Repetition is not repetition. The same action makes you feel something completely different by the end.”
Only now are you ready to take the next step (which some people mistakenly think is the first one): a structured all-hands meeting that shares the vision with the whole team. Spoiler alert: you’ll need to repeat every one of the steps you took individually with your key players, only this time at the group level.
Together with your key influencers, you’re ready to enlist the rest of your team or organization.
You’ll need to map out a hero’s journey again. You’ll need to give folks the space to feel the feels again. You’ll tell the story again—the one that helps everyone feel certain where they currently are, while inspiring them and helping them envision where they’re headed. But this time when you tell that story, you need to deliver it with a different focus. This time, it’s a rallying cry for a group, not a message tailored to the specifics of one person’s arc.
To craft this type of narrative, you need to paint the big picture while providing just enough detail for individuals to envision how their role fits into the overall plan without oversharing (there is such a thing as too much transparency to the full team). Once you’ve drafted your narrative, run through it in your mind and imagine different people on the team hearing it. Do this multiple times, with different roles in mind. Are there any obvious gaps between what you’re saying and what they’ll immediately want to know? This exercise is one of the best ways to ensure that you’re anticipating and addressing the concerns that—if left unacknowledged—can disrupt the rest of the process. It removes distraction, and allows the full team to feel included and inspired.
Everyone hearing this message for the first time will need to process their role in the new vision. They’ll have feelings and ideas, and may need to talk them through. It’s not a bad idea to provide a clear follow-up forum, like group office hours, for folks to ask questions. Whatever it takes to ensure that everyone understands the coming change, the vision behind it, and their role in it—that’s what you need to do. If some of the key folks you previously enlisted are managers, they should prepare to hold one-on-one meetings, where needed, to help share the effort of listening.
And then… you’re done.
Just kidding—you’re not going to be done for a while. Communicating change doesn’t take place in a single moment. It’s an ongoing process. So be prepared to communicate not just once, but again and again as the change is happening. Restate the vision, retell the story, enable the team to be the heroes on the journey, and chart (and re-chart) the path when challenges inevitably come up. Your team will be more motivated and prepared to make changes with you.
And believe it or not, when you approach necessary change with a thoughtful, robust communication plan (rather than just winging it), it won’t just be more successful… it’ll also be less work.
We help organizational changes go more smoothly, outlining thoughtful practices and communications that contribute to a thriving company culture as your business navigates its new chapter.
