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Communicating change
Rumors are rife, productivity’s down and staff are in denial or resistant!
Change is a fact of life in business today. Organizations which resist change risk losing their competitive
edge.
When things are going well, it’s easy to become complacent and settle back into our ‘comfort zone’. But
in the business world ‘comfort zone’ often means ‘stagnation’. Senior managers who recognize this know
that their organisation needs to innovate and improve constantly to stay ahead of its competitors.
Change is a complex process. We often feel threatened by it. But without change we might still be living
in caves. Change can be exciting as well as challenging: it stimulates innovation and creativity, which is
good for business and good for the people involved.
The people side of change matters. Many organizations focus on the technical aspects of change. For
example, how can we implement the change, what processes, procedures or approaches do we need?
Buzzwords like ‘process re-engineering’ and ‘corporate re-structuring’ appear to deny human
involvement. But change doesn’t happen in a vacuum: it affects people and it is ultimately people, not
processes and structures, who make your business succeed.
So what can we do, as internal communicators, to help our organizations and their people change
without the drama that so often seems to go hand-in-hand?
· Snap Staff Quiz is a similar format to Snap Staff Poll. Use it to challenge the status quo and make
employees aware that the organization needs to change. This is an example of a question you might
include: “In our changing industry, which will be the most effective way to do business in the future?
A, B or C?”
· Snap Shots interactive screensavers are a great way to communicate important messages without
being intrusive or adding to the email burden. You can target them to specific staff and set them up
to play in a sequence that supports your message. Use a screensaver to show the change curve and
allow staff to click to plot their current mood.
These communications tools are useful during the denial, resistance and exploration phases:
· Snap Staff Poll lets you involve staff by asking them questions and finding out their views.
Consider letting staff respond anonymously for maximum candor. They may tell you things they
would never say face-to-face. Every problem you uncover is a problem you can address.
· Snap Q&A This interactive online staff forum tool is valuable when staff want quick answers to
their questions (e.g. they are at the exploration stage). Pop-up desktop alerts can be automatically
sent to moderators when a question is posted. Staff will see a quick reply as a sign that your
organization cares about them. By contrast, a slow reply will fuel dissatisfaction and anxiety.
· Snap Staff Forum lets you set up a secure, interactive online forum quickly and at low cost to
explore ideas. Encourage staff to use it, to build engagement. Alternatively, they can use it to have
their say or ask questions. If they want to speak out against the change (i.e. are at the denial or
resistance stages) without jeopardizing their future in the organization, they can post their opinions
anonymously. You can measure and grade their comments to gauge current feeling in your
organization.
These communications tools are useful during the hope and commitment stages:
· Snap Staff E-Mag is an electronic staff magazine that pulls together users’ content in a visual way.
Use it to profile stories of success and feature staff who have reached the hope and commitment
stages.
· Snap Shots interactive screensavers are a great way to portray a vision of the future and celebrate
small wins in an engaging, visual way.
‘Walk the talk’ and make sure all managers do the same. Actions speak louder than words.
· Snap Staff Forum When staff feel unsure they may clam up or communicate in rumors. Use
Snap Staff Forum to let them post their concerns and comments (anonymously if you wish) so that
you understand and can address the rumors that are circulating. You could even name a forum ‘the
rumor mill’ and encourage people to post any rumors they’ve heard.
· Snap Staff E- Mag Collect feedback and act on it. Include a section in Snap Staff E-Mag called
“Great feedback we’re working with”. Highlight how you are using staff’s constructive comments to
improve the business and the way you manage the change.
The Snap internal communications tools let you repeat your main messages in a range of ways that
appeal to staff, without their becoming boring or seen as ‘wall paper’.
The Snap Content Management lets you customize and target messages to specific groups in your
organization.
Listen
Do staff need to offload and should you let them?
Many change projects launch into the details of the change too quickly. This approach can leave
employees feeling shocked and ambushed. And this initial shock is often “followed by behaviors such as
denial, anger, ‘blocking’ and in some cases depression.” ( Adrian Cropley).
Staff need time to understand what the changes mean to them before they can move on. If they think
they may lose their job, be relocated or be redeployed, they need to voice their concerns. So give them
a chance to have their say. Listening to them and acknowledging their views will help both them and
you.
Even if you have to communicate bad news, listening actively and with empathy can help you manage
the process with dignity.
· Snap Staff Forum lets you run virtual meetings where people can share ideas and opinions and, if
they need to, let off steam. Snap Staff Forum lets people post ideas anonymously. This is a good
way to find out what staff really think. Snap Staff Forums are secure. You can moderate the
conversations and target them to specific groups, preventing negative feeling from infecting the
whole organization.
· Snap RSVP is a meeting request that ‘pops up’ like a desktop alert. It is an ideal tool to make sure
as many staff as possible attend face-to-face briefings. During times of change, it can be difficult to
get everyone in a room at the same time: staff still have jobs to do and they can be particularly busy.
Snap RSVP lets you give options for available times and venues. When staff accept an invitation,
Snap RSVP automatically enters the chosen date and time it in their Outlook calendar. Use the
reporting tools in Snap Content Manager to see which staff are attending which sessions. This helps
you plan your logistics (e.g. room sizes, catering) and closes off specific time slots as rooms fill up.
· Snap Staff Forum is a powerful way to hold virtual meetings. Staff in different locations can take
part, anonymously if they want to. Use Snap Staff Forum to involve people and hear timely, honest
feedback. Snap Staff Forum is also a useful way for focus groups to ‘brainstorm’ their ideas.
· Snap Employee Blog Get respected managers to blog about the change. Encourage staff to ask
questions and raise issues. This will help them accept the changes. Snap Employee Blog will help
staff realize that managers are human too: they are not forcing change on people to make life
difficult.
· Snap Shots screensavers. Show staff that you are serious about communicating well. Use
engaging, visual screensavers to get your main messages across.
· Snap Staff E- Mag is an electronic magazine that lets staff contribute their own content quickly
and easily. Use Snap Staff E-Mag to signal a radical change or celebrate new beginnings. Since
anyone can contribute, it is a good way to get staff involved. Encourage them to tell their own
stories about how the changes are working for them.
· Snap Staff Quiz Celebrate new beginnings with Snap Staff Quiz. Involve people by asking them
to name new ways of working (e.g. new systems, projects) or suggest improvements. Offer prizes
for the best ideas and recognize them using Snap Shots screensavers and articles in Snap Staff E-
Mag.
See it through
Keep communicating even when the change project is reaching its final stages. Reinforcing new skills,
practices and ways of working is a vital part of making the changes stick. Don’t let staff go back to their
old ways by cutting the communications cord too soon.
· Snap Shots screensavers and Snap Staff E- Mag are innovative ways to keep the project in
people’s minds.
· Snap Desktop Alert highlights the latest updates or urgent news. It bypasses email and achieves
fast, effective message cut through. Reporting options let you check which recipients have opened
the message. Message acknowledgement options allow you to ensure communications compliance.
· Snap RSVP is a meeting request that ‘pops up’ like a desktop alert. It is an ideal tool to make sure
as many staff as possible attend important briefings and hear the latest announcements, together
and as soon as possible. Snap RSVP lets you give options for available times and venues. When
staff accept an invitation, Snap RSVP automatically enters the chosen date and time in their Outlook
calendar.
· Snap Ticker is a scrolling format that delivers updates directly to the computers of selected
employees. Use it to update staff in a more subtle way than a desktop alert.
Face-to-face
Face-to-face communication is the best way to encourage staff to adopt new ways of working. It is also
the best channel to use to plan and deal with sensitive issues. Face-to-face lets you gauge reactions, get
instant feedback and make sure everyone has received and understood the message.
Written materials
Don’t forget paper in your quest to save trees. It is still the best way to convey complex, detailed,
lengthy information which people need to study. Written materials (e.g. FAQs) are also useful to back up
face-to-face and phone conversations.
Intranet
The intranet is great for searching for and retrieving information. But it lacks the personal touch you
need to make people change the way they work.
Email
Email is quick, convenient and overused.
‘Communicating change via email or voicemail is like ending a relationship that was – it’s just bad form.
It leaves the recipient bewildered and angry, and whoever is delivering the message looking very bad.’
(Veronica Apostolico, Ref 9).
Email is not always effective. The Massachusetts District Court found against a company that used email
to communicate a change in procedure, ruling that it did not communicate the message effectively. If
you do choose to convey important information by email, get staff to acknowledge that they have
received and understood it.
Project champions
Project champions can help you communicate subtly and informally. Encourage them to talk to their
colleagues, to show them how the changes will work and to model the new ways of working.
· Snap Ticker Do you need to send updates or alert staff to relevant new information, but fear the
message will get buried? Use Snap Ticker to push updates to the computer screens of your target
groups.
· Snap Desktop Alert This tool makes sure that urgent or important messages get the attention
they need. Use the reporting options to make sure that messages ’cut through’.
· Snap Staff E- Mag makes it easy to collate general news and simple updates in one place. Use it
to avoid confusing staff with 20 or 30 emails received at different times from different parts of the
business. Snap Staff E-Mag collates the information into an easy-to-read one-stop format. It’s also a
good way to involve and engage people in your change project by letting them have their say.
· Snap Staff Forum is a blank canvas that you can use to let everyone air their views.
· Snap Shots A picture paints a thousand words. Use screensavers to show a positive picture of the
future. Broadcast it round your organization to capture people’s imagination in an appealing, visual
way.
· Snap Staff Quiz Help people visualize the change working for them. Ask scenario questions. For
example, “The new technology (etc) will help me do A, B, C, or D or all of the above?” Offer prizes
to encourage staff to take part. Include humorous or trick questions and answers that make the quiz
fun.
· Snap Help Desk Use an interactive online helpdesk to let staff ask questions about how the
change will affect their role.
· Snap Ticker Setting managers or their PAs up as administrators in Snap Content Manager lets
them use Snap Ticker to send their teams scrolling news feeds. This is a good way to make sure
staff get information that is directly relevant to them as soon as it is available.
· Snap Staff Poll can be used to measure how well managers are communicating.
· Snap Staff E- Mag It’s easy for managers and staff to contribute. Encourage and help senior
managers share ideas with their staff.
· Snap Video delivers video directly to staff’s computer screens. Work with managers to make the
messages as relevant as possible to different groups of staff. Use the reporting options to see which
staff have watched the video.
Snap’s targeting and scheduling features let you update managers before their teams receive the
information. This gives them time to plan how they will react when their team hears the news and to
prepare answers to their questions.
· Snap Staff Forum is a good way to let staff discuss issues online. It can provide valuable,
qualitative information that measures how staff are feeling and how well they are engaged in the
change.
· Snap Shots screensavers are a visual, engaging way to highlight and celebrate success during the
change. Snap’s targeting features mean that you can use Snap Shots to celebrate small, local wins
too, to motivate and engage staff in specific parts of your organisation.
· Snap Staff E- Mag is an electronic staff magazine. This format is an engaging way to document
success and is particularly useful for staff who respond best to the written word. Snap Staff E-Mag is
easy for staff to use. Encourage them to submit articles that talk about what they have achieved
(e.g. simpler ways of working, important milestones met). You can distribute the finished magazine
across the whole organisation or to specific groups.
Snap’s innovative tools help you communicate with your staff and involve them in your business in
engaging ways that best meet your needs and theirs:
· Right time: the Snap tools let you contact staff and let staff respond at the time that suits them
best (e.g. during logical pauses in their work);
· Right people: the Snap tools let you target different groups of staff in different ways;
· Versatile and easy to use: the Snap tools connect with other tools (e.g. the intranet or
SharePoint), letting staff click through to them quickly and easily.
Snap is a cost-effective, hosted, fully managed solution. In-house versions are also available.
They include:
· search tool to help you find important information;
· promotional tools to encourage use;
· reporting tools to let you measure value and ROI.
You do not need to enlist the help of IT to set up these tools.
The Snap Interactive tools are communication tools, designed specifically for the communications team to
use and manage easily and quickly. Setting up a new forum or changing a blog does not become an “IT
project”. This lets you try out new concepts quickly and easily.
The Snap Interactive tools are easy for administrators and end-users to use too. Administrators can set
up new forums or blogs quickly and simply, and specify which employee groups have authoring,
commenting, and reading rights. End users do not need to remember and enter user names and
passwords: automatic user authentication keeps your network secure.
Extensive reporting options make it easy for you to measure value and show ROI. You can report on the
total time individuals spend using the tools, their demographics and the forums they find most useful, as
well as the more traditional traffic statistics.
Appendix A
Further information and resources