Page 31 - Warwickers Communication Counts v2015
P. 31
communicating 31 COMMUNICATING CHANGE 10 TIPS
10 change TIPs
6 Do not wait – be proactive - if you do not deliver the message quickly the grapevine
will and you will put your managers in a difficult position. Talk through the options
officially rather than leaving it to the rumour mill.
7 Get people involved – encourage people to participate especially in
implementation in their own areas. The more ownership and perceived control the
more buy in and less resistance.
Train managers in communicating change and for each specific
8 communication provide guidance – success depends more on their credibility,
openness, listening skills, empathy and influencing skills rather than presentation
skills. They will need to be skilled for one to one, team and large scale change
communication. Provide toolkits including information, tips, sample scripts and FAQs.
For large scale changes offer courses where they see the communication delivered
(Remember they will often be impacted too – if they get the chance to experience the
message being delivered to them and then deliver it the learning will stick), get new
skills training and have an opportunity to rehearse the difficult bits.
9 Resources (time, people and money) – communication is a process not an
event so give it the attention/ time needed to work. Have a plan. Ensure managers
allocate the time to deliver the messages effectively. Provide the appropriate people
to provide ongoing support and the appropriate financial resources to make it work.
Branding, themes and logos – keep it simple and use them to build on your brand
10 and bring a sense of cohesion to large scale change programmes. Keep the use of
logos to culture/ structure changes and campaigns not for every minor initiative and
project team. Themes and logos should be signposts, helping people understand how
things come together and not be stand alone entities.
10 change TIPs
6 Do not wait – be proactive - if you do not deliver the message quickly the grapevine
will and you will put your managers in a difficult position. Talk through the options
officially rather than leaving it to the rumour mill.
7 Get people involved – encourage people to participate especially in
implementation in their own areas. The more ownership and perceived control the
more buy in and less resistance.
Train managers in communicating change and for each specific
8 communication provide guidance – success depends more on their credibility,
openness, listening skills, empathy and influencing skills rather than presentation
skills. They will need to be skilled for one to one, team and large scale change
communication. Provide toolkits including information, tips, sample scripts and FAQs.
For large scale changes offer courses where they see the communication delivered
(Remember they will often be impacted too – if they get the chance to experience the
message being delivered to them and then deliver it the learning will stick), get new
skills training and have an opportunity to rehearse the difficult bits.
9 Resources (time, people and money) – communication is a process not an
event so give it the attention/ time needed to work. Have a plan. Ensure managers
allocate the time to deliver the messages effectively. Provide the appropriate people
to provide ongoing support and the appropriate financial resources to make it work.
Branding, themes and logos – keep it simple and use them to build on your brand
10 and bring a sense of cohesion to large scale change programmes. Keep the use of
logos to culture/ structure changes and campaigns not for every minor initiative and
project team. Themes and logos should be signposts, helping people understand how
things come together and not be stand alone entities.
