Reduce uncertainty about change

I’ve been speaking a lot recently on how to communicate effectively about change and disruption.

Change is all around us and it’s here to stay. Many organizations struggle to get people to hear messages about change – whether it’s new technology, a restructure, a change in services or something completely outside your control – because we’re just so sick of turmoil.

It was interesting to read in HBR recently about a “transformation deficit” - the gap between the required change effort and employee change willingness.

How big is the transformation deficit in your team?

Here are some approaches to help your change communication.

1.        Seek to inform, not sell the change.

When communicating about an upcoming change, many leaders go into overdrive about highlight the upside. In the process they ignore the downside, including potential losses for those directly involved. This can impact trust – people’s minds will tend to go directly to the perceived losses rather than the gains, so focusing solely on the positives will only create suspicion and uncertainty. Tell it straight, even if the news is unwelcome. Your goal is to reduce uncertainty rather than paint a distorted picture of what’s ahead.

2.        Be prepared for a long game.

Gone are the days – if they ever existed – that you could make one or two announcements about a change and tick a mental box that you’d communicated. In 2024 people are more distracted, and have shorter emotional fuses, than ever before. A big change needs multiple touchpoints over time. Communication can’t be an afterthought.

3.        Use a structure to plan your communication

Prepare how you’ll communicate about the change using a framework, like Jason Clarke’s Four Doors of Change. This is useful tool to help you get clear about your message, then be clear when you’re conveying it. It also helps to put the change into perspective, identifying what’s not changing as well as what is.

If we want a better result in times of change, it’s time to change our communication approach.