Tip of the month, Inside Track, November 2010
Two essential steps for communicating change
It’s easy for leaders to forget the time they have taken to digest and reflect on the news they are about to share with the wider organisation. Recently, we reminded a top team in a global company of their own surprise and concerns on first hearing news of a major restructure. As an effective senior team, they quickly pulled together in a positive approach – but needed to be reminded that their colleagues in the wider business would need to go through the same process.
1. Get face-to-face. You can’t over-prepare for major announcements of this kind. That doesn’t mean a process-heavy event – rather, it means open, honest, face-to-face communication from key people, supported by all senior leaders. And that means focussing preparation on making sure leaders are confident, comfortable and completely aligned with the core messages and what they want people to take from them.
2. Prepare together. The only way to achieve this is getting together in a room, sharing what they plan to say and listening to feedback from their fellow leaders. Some leaders will say they don’t need to prepare in this way. Those leaders are often the first to report after the event how much they benefited. It’s vital that leaders tell a single, consistent story, and the best way to achieve that is in open discussion with their colleagues to shape the way they will tell the story and respond to questions.
So, stick with the preparation plan. Make sure the core messages are absolutely clear and that all leaders can tell the story effectively. And get everyone together for a well-facilitated preparation, rehearsal and feedback session – including those who say they don’t need it.
