Communicating Change

The recession has been a mixed bag of business for consultants like me. Many new, proactive communications campaigns, for example, have been put on hold. Yet change—and the need to communicate it—seems to have reached an all-time high. From layoffs to executive indiscretions to product malfunctions and customer complaints that can no longer be isolated in the age of social media, recent stresses on businesses have kept us professional communicators busy.

Recently during a break in the action, I spent time with Connie Kotke, president of Nautilus Communications, to compare my observations to what she was seeing within companies experiencing change. Connie and I have had the chance to work together on the reputations of some of Minnesota’s best-known brands—many of which have faced their fair share of changes.

At Nautilus, Connie specializes in engaging middle managers as translators of mission and vision to other employees. As communicators of change, we both agree that now is the time for leaders to refine their organizations as they move into the new normal of business. A powerful way to do this is by reapproaching how they communicate change. Here’s the advice we’re giving now:

Reframe the Situation
» You’re probably running on auto-pilot in terms of communicating change. You’re probably caught in the disseminate-explain mode, not taking the time to position changes in a more positive light. Reframing a change through a positive lens can be impossible when you’re wondering what’s waiting around the next corner. Now that you can see farther down the road, spend the time to position changes that happened and change to come as opportunities to transform and reenergize the enterprise. No longer does it have to be a daily grind of more bad news. As people start to poke their heads back up, be ready to greet them with messages that connect why a change was made to what it means for the company and their future. Organize the information purposefully and tell it enthusiastically—we’ve all earned the right by now to inject some positive perspective into a message.

Find Your Gems and Make Them Shine
» Chances are you afforded yourself the chance to take a closer look over what you’ve done as a company in the past two years. Yet, it’s likely you and your teams never lost your intuition and good decision-making abilities, even while you operated under the weight of the situation. Take time to assess what else was happening in the midst of the chaos. Did you continue to innovate, for example, or invest more time in research or organizational soul-searching to adjust your relevancy to the market?  What risks—even the smallest—did the company take, despite the tough times? Chances are you’ll find good examples. Now start telling those stories. Use them as reminders of the positive things that happened and how they will serve the organization now that it’s time to get on with its future.

Talk from the Top of the Silos
» Employees have become deeply entrenched in silos of teams that have grown taller. Separation became more pronounced when people were focused on results within their own departments. Individuals were hard-pressed to join initiatives that would benefit others. There’s no one to blame during survival mode, but now it’s the leader’s job to structure messages that resonate across silos and focus on initiatives that require collaborative thinking and teamwork.  

Turn Your Perspective Around
»Take it from reactive to proactive, from short- to long-term. Make a commitment, from now on, to get in front of communicating changes. Make time to draft messages more thoughtfully and intentionally, positioning them in the center of a bigger picture, and act as translator so that your audience walks away understanding why the change was decided on and how it will, in the longterm, get the organization to a more positive place. More forethought and strategy around a complete message builds confidence in both the person who delivers it as well as those who receive it.

The time has come for leaders to assume the role of captain of the ship, not victim of a shipwreck. Mastering how to communicate change gives the organization greater control and advantage over changes that will perpetually be on the horizon.