|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
Articles |
|
|
| |
This article was published:
Communicating Change - the People Part
By Lorna Carney
Most attempts to transform organisations fail to meet their original aims. Somewhere between the carefully crafted change strategy and the reality of people's day-to-day jobs, the potential to make the fundamental shift to a more constructive/efficient/streamlined organisation founders.
What is so difficult about change, and why do so many organisations find it such a thorny problem?
One answer lies in the narrow way organisations approach change. Traditionally the technical or structural aspects - process, systems, hardware - received all the attention. This left the less tangible, but equally important, human components of attitudes and behaviours to chance.
Of course, getting the processes and systems right is important. But ultimately, change depends on people: in the end, staff attitudes will be the difference between success and failure.
In the Irish public sector, change and talk of change has been on-going for many years, most notably since the Strategic Management Initiative in the late 90's. Results, most would agree, have been mixed. Whether it is the prospect of decentralisation for government departments and agencies or the potential ramifications of the Hanly Report in the health service, there is more than a possibility of major change ahead for many public servants.
Change is a fragile process that can be easily derailed by people who refuse to adapt their behaviour to support the new practices, and by managers who feel that their power base and influence will be eroded. It is all very well to have brand spanking new systems, but if the people who operate them are still thinking and acting in the old way or are feeling resentful and disenfranchised, they will undermine the change process.
To avoid these problems, organisations need to consciously address the cultural and communications issues at the same time as they are planning the new structures and processes. It is not enough just to hope that behaviours and fiefdoms will be transformed as a consequence of introducing new systems. People need to be persuaded of the positive benefits of the changes. And the only way to do that is through taking a long term, strategic approach to internal communications to support that change.
So what does that mean? If you are responsible for communicating change in your organisation, your unit or your team, here are some broad hints to help you bring about successful change through effective communication. Many of these points are basic common sense, so forgive me if I'm stating the obvious - sometimes common sense can be surprisingly hard to come by in the stress and instability of a change situation.
Think strategically - start developing an internal communications strategy to support the change process in tandem with the development of the process itself. Otherwise, the eleventh hour realisation that no-one has considered how the change plan is to be explained to the most important people in all this, the staff, can cause problems and delays.
Create the context for change.establish a clear 'reason why' - but remember, the 'reason why' needs to be something everyone can relate to. Telling staff "There's going to be a big change around here" is the beginning, not the end of the change communications process. A clear rationale for change needs to be communicated at the beginning and throughout the change process.
Develop a clear set of messages that define the vision - people need to be able to imagine how the new organisation will look and what working there will feel like. If it's going to mean more work for some people, say so. Trust can only be built through communicating consistently and openly with the people most affected by the change.
Ensure the vision is shared and owned at the top - If the leaders in the organisation do not or cannot demonstrate that they are embracing the changes in behaviour, attitude and practices required, the overall change process will quickly lose its impact.
Develop an identity for the change - take a 'campaign' approach and consider an overarching 'brand' to enable you to hang change-related initiatives from. It allows employees to recognise when they are being informed about the change process. It doesn't need to be flashy or gimmicky but it needs to be used consistently throughout.
Build momentum for change - set some key dates to get things moving and keep introducing new dates and goals as others are achieved. Once the 'train' is moving, it must be kept on track. The aim is to get to a point when the momentum is unstoppable.
Be prolific and consistent - Don't be afraid to over-communicate. Sometimes the only thing you have to communicate about the change is that there is nothing to communicate, but that refusal to let an information vacuum form builds trust and keeps the momentum going.
Look for personal engagement/involvement - scour the organisation for good case studies of people making change happen. Share successes and highlight acts of involvement. It makes it all feel possible.
Understand the psychology of change - provide help and advice - particularly to managers who feel out of their depth on "soft" issues like change. They are the key facilitators, so help them understand how people react to change and how they can influence it.
Maintain eye on bigger picture - put everything into context. Never forget the vision and keep it central to all communications.
Don't just communicate the change. Change the communication - think about your communications environment and what you can do to influence it. Broaden your approach to internal communications. If you have mechanisms, such as team briefs or newsletters, that weren't working before the change process began, they certainly aren't going to work in the environment of stress and upheaval that change creates.
At the end of the day, the key to getting support and 'buy-in' to change is involvement. It is so important to develop internal communication strategies that truly involve and engage people. In general, engagement comes from communication activities that are conversational and face to face, such as briefings, events and focus groups. Too much emphasis on traditional mass communications vehicles such as newsletters and intranets can bring about high levels of awareness but less personal understanding and commitment. Commitment to changing behaviour is what it's all about.
The final piece of advice is to concentrate not on what communication does, but what it brings about. Awareness is good, understanding is better but belief that each individual's contribution makes a difference to the success of the organisation overall is the real prize.
Lorna Carney is a Senior Consultant in Internal Communications at Drury Communications, where she advises a wide range of organisations in the public and private sectors in Ireland on developing, implementing and evaluating internal communications. Lorna can be contacted on 01 260 500 or at lcarney@drurycom.com.
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
