How to communicate organisational change

From a new leadership team to merging with another charity, it’s important to communicate organisational change well. This is because the success of organisational change depends on how it’s presented and communicated to employees.

 

The process of communicating change is called “change communication”. Job website Indeed says that “change communication is the process of sharing information and conversing about an upcoming or current change in the workplace, to help team members process and accept it”.

 

 

Why change communication is important

 

When change is communicated effectively, it increases the likelihood that people will understand and engage with the change. In turn, they will feel more motivated and perform better.

 

Change Management Insight says: “Better communication [during organisational change] reinforces the fact that your employees are valuable assets to the organisation because of their unique skills and experience. In other words, their contribution and input is extremely valuable.”

 

An article in Harvard Business Review says that “leaders are visible” and constantly sending signals to staff, so it’s important to be sending the right signals during times of change. The article explains that there are three ways in which leaders often send confusing signals about organisational change to staff: 

• They aren’t clear enough about what the change involves, or what they want it to achieve
• They don’t role model the behavioural change they want staff to do
• They don’t allocate the resources to support the change and fail to measure it

Below we explore how you can communicate change effectively.

 

 

Give as much detail as you can

 

Change can be overwhelming so make sure you give people as much information as you can from the start, and then keep them regularly updated throughout the process.

 

You don’t want staff creating their own version of what is happening as this could cause panic and confusion.

 

It’s important to clearly articulate the changes that are happening. People want to know what the change entails, why it’s happening, when it’s happening, who it affects, and how it will affect them.

 

 

Share a story

 

Harvard Business Review says when you communicate change, you need to tell a story that shows people where the organisation needs to be, and how it will get there. This includes sharing a vision of how the organisation will benefit from the change.

 

 

Understand the emotional response

 

When you communicate change to staff, it’s likely to evoke emotions. The Government Communication Service says you should make sure your communications have the right impact, you need to understand and plan for different emotional responses. People may feel anxious and fearful or they may be excited about the change.

 

The Kubler-Ross Change Curve – based on the “Five Stages of Grief” model by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross – shows how people move through different stages when dealing with change.

 

The Government Communication Service says communicators need to know and understand their audience and find out where they are on this change curve.

 

 

Make communication a two-way process

 

Once senior leaders have communicated what’s happening to staff, it’s important to put processes in place for people to ask questions and give feedback.

 

Managers need to listen to their teams and set up ways to collect people’s views including holding small group meetings, creating online forums, and sending out regular surveys. This will help them pick up on the mood in the organisation, so they can talk about this in their communication.

 

Change Management Insight says that change communication is used to influence the opinions of the people who are affected by the change.

 

 

Make your communication personal

 

If you have a large staff team, you may want to consider splitting up your audience and targeting them with relevant communications. Different groups of staff will have concerns about different aspects of the change.

 

 

Choose your communication channels

 

The Government Communication Service says that different people will want to be communicated with in different ways, so recommends using “an integrated approach”. 

 

You could use face-to-face meetings to talk to people but let staff know they can email you with questions if they prefer.

 

Potential communication channels include videos, downloadable PDFs, posters on notice boards, group presentations, information packs to take home, and personal emails from line managers.

 

 

Be honest and open

 

There are times when organisational change could lead to job losses, which can be difficult to talk about with staff.

 

The Government Communication Service says it’s important to be honest and truthful about the change. “Giving people false optimism in your message will damage your reputation and your ongoing efforts to communicate with people about other issues.”

 

Make sure your leadership team are leading from the front and speaking with a shared voice. This will help staff to trust what you’re saying.