Key Points — Communicating Organizational Change
Communicating change effectively is linked with a variety of good outcomes such as trust, performance, and openness to change.
Research on organizational change readiness suggests five areas to address when communicating about any change — the need for change, the change solution, the organizational capacity for and commitment to the change, and how the change will impact individuals and teams.
Who communicates and how they do it also matters – as part of your change management communication strategy, match messengers to messages, use diverse communication methods and provide opportunities and time for staff to ask questions, provide input, and process what the change means for them.
During times of great uncertainty, you may hesitate to communicate. So much is unknown, you may think it will be better if you wait until things are more clear. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case.
ANY information is better than no information during periods of workplace change. But you don’t have to wing it when it comes to what you should communicate. Research shows that during times of change, staff members are looking for useful information that answers their basic questions in a timely way. If you develop a change communication plan designed around these elements, you are well on your way to success.
The consequences of effective (and ineffective) change communication
Influential change communication takes time, patience, and skill on the part of a wide array of leaders. But the investment is worth it. Years of research on organizational change management indicate that when we communicate change effectively, we often see things such as:
Increased: Trust, performance, job satisfaction, and openness & commitment to the change
Decreased: Uncertainty, anxiety, and stress
On the other hand, poorly managed change communication may result in:
Widespread rumors, increased cynicism, and resistance to change
Negative outcomes such as absenteeism and turnover
Finally, while effective internal communications won’t erase all unfortunate aspects of a planned change initiative, they can help people cope with losses. Multiple studies indicate that negative reactions to a change — such as cynicism or turnover intention — tend to stabilize amongst staff who are provided explanations. These negative reactions tend to increase amongst those who are kept in the dark.
Talk about these five things to communicate organizational change
When communicating change as part of your change management strategy, you want to ensure everyone understands the five key messages for any organizational change.
THE NEED: Explain the rationale for the organizational change. What is the specific problem you are trying to solve? What is your vision for the future (what do you want to achieve by solving the problem?) Use both data and motivational messaging. Senior leaders are best suited to deliver such messages.
CHANGE SOLUTION: Explain why this solution (change) is the best fit for the problem and the organization. What is “the change” (e.g., policy, org structure, system, practice, etc.)? Why have you chosen it? How was the decision made? What’s fixed and what’s flexible? What’s not changing?
CHANGE CAPABILITY: Demonstrate that the organization is capable of taking on this change. What is the plan for the change? Who is leading the effort? What support will be provided to individuals, teams, and managers? What lessons from the past (successes or failures) have informed your plans?
COMMITMENT: Articulate the organization’s level of commitment to the organizational change. How high a priority is this change compared to other efforts? How is the change being resourced? How are you ensuring leaders at all levels are aligned around this change? Note: Ensure leaders’ actions match their words.
IMPACT: Help people understand how the workplace change will impact them. How will this alter what people do, how they do it, or the pay or benefits they receive? What specifically are you asking people to do? Acknowledge — don’t ignore — any negative impacts that some might experience. Being realistic and honest is important for maintaining trust. Finally, follow-up with specific details targeted to relevant groups — middle managers are particularly well-positioned to share tailored information on impact.
Communicating change via these five factors helps you pressure test your readiness to lead change. If you find you don’t have adequate answers for these questions, then you have work to do. Engaging with employees via change communications supports them in the process of sense-making and personally preparing themselves for changes that lie ahead.
To see examples of each key message from top companies, see our in-depth post on key change messages.
What to say when you don’t have all the answers about the change initiative
It’s common not to have all the answers upfront when undertaking organizational change — the nature of uncertain times is that things can be…uncertain. Rather than fudging or avoiding questions, acknowledging what is not yet known can be a wise move.
In such cases, be sure to:
Be transparent about what you don’t know (and be sure to confidently state what you do know.)
Clarify what you are doing to get more information.
Let people know when you will update them again. Frequent communication during times of high uncertainty is important. Let people know when to expect the next update, and stick to it — keeping promises is essential for building trust.
Example: “We have to be very clear and transparent with you. All of these numbers are a gross underestimation, and we have no real idea of the prevalence of this infection yet.”
Who communicates about the organizational change and how they do it also matters
Match your messenger with your message
Aligning the messenger to the message is a best practice change communications strategy.
People expect different types of messages to be shared by different people in the organization, using different types of communication channels. It's not very effective to have a project manager try to sell people on the organization's commitment – that's a role for an executive. Staff may trust that their supervisor better understands how the change will affect their day-to-day than the CEO.
So, while the CEO may be well-positioned to deliver messages to the entire organization when speaking directly to a team, a leader closer to the staff is often more effective.
Use multiple communication channels to repeat your change message
Reaching employees in a variety of ways to communicate change is a good bet. Consider using a diversity of methods that offer different benefits.
The types of conversations you'll have during manager one on ones will be different than at all-hands meetings — slack messages may be more effective in reinforcing key aspects of the change or check-in with particular teams, while emails or posts on an intranet site can provide standardized information employees need to understand the nuts and bolts of the change.
And, don't forget — communication is about more than words. People watch the actions of leaders at all levels to see if they align with their words. It's essential, in particular, that senior leaders model the change they are asking employees to make.
At the end of the day, the communication channels you use will depend on your organization, but planning for regular communications via a diversity of methods is something every change management team should do.
Build better understanding through informal communication and time for sense-making
It's not enough to share a lot of information as part of your change management approach. You also need to engage with staff who are impacted by change initiatives to understand their perspectives, hear their feedback and acknowledge their concerns.
It can take time for people at all levels of the organization to make sense of the change, and it's important to offer multiple opportunities for people to ask questions, talk to their peers, and share their ideas about the change.
Example: “Please just acknowledge and give a name to what you’re going through. Acknowledge it with each other. And so I just want to acknowledge that these are still really tough times. This is wearing on all of us, and I just want to acknowledge that. I just want to acknowledge that all of us are feeling this. It’s such an unprecedented time.”
Some degree of staff engagement is critical for building shared understanding of and motivation for change, as well as impacting employee perceptions of fairness (which is linked to reduced employee resistance and increased change acceptance.)
Assess the effectiveness of your change communications (past & present).
It’s useful to understand how organizational stakeholders perceive the effectiveness of your communications efforts. If people generally feel well informed, it means someone has been doing a good job, and you have a strong foundation to build on. If people aren’t thrilled with the overall communication climate or information shared about a particular change, you’ll need to go the extra mile to make up for lost ground.
There are a variety of tools available to assess the effectiveness of change communication and general communication climate in the organization. Below are sample questions adapted from broader questionnaires on change readiness developed by Brockenbough and Judge, respectively. (Scales generally ask the respondents to indicate their level of agreement with statements.)
Change Communications Survey Questions (Bouckenooghe, et al 2009)
I am regularly informed on how the change is going.
There is good communication between project leaders and staff members about the organization’s policy toward changes.
Information provided on change is clear.
General Communications Effectiveness (Judge & Douglas, 2009)
Does information flow effectively…
Across business units
From business units to customers
In addition, pay attention to the environment or context in which the change is happening. If a new leader has just come on board, there is high or low performance, or there is a myriad of other priorities demanding attention that will impact how people view the change.
Assessing your broader change context early in your change process to identify barriers and opportunities can help inform a more effective change communication strategy.
Bring it all together to support organizational change success
In order to effectively manage change, communication is key.
Research on organizational change readiness suggests five important areas to address when communicating about any change — the need for change, the change solution, the organizational capacity for and commitment to the change, and how the change will impact individuals and teams.
Who communicates and how they do it also matters. As part of your change management approach, match your messengers and messages, use diverse communication methods, and provide opportunities and time for staff to ask questions, provide input, and process what the change means for them.
This article was originally published on March 20, 2020. It was updated on July 5, 2022.
References
Bouckenooghe, D., Devos, G., & Van den Broeck, H. (2009). Organizational change questionnaire–climate of change, processes, and readiness: Development of a new instrument. The Journal of Psychology, 143(6), 559-599.
William Judge Thomas Douglas, (2009), Organizational change capacity: the systematic development of a scale", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 22 Iss 6 pp. 635 - 649
Rafferty, A. E., Jimmieson, N. L., & Armenakis, A. A. (2013). Change readiness: A multilevel review. Journal of Management, 39(1), 110-135.
Schaubroeck, J., May, D. R., & Brown, F. W. (1994). Procedural justice explanations and employee reactions to economic hardship: A field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(3), 455
Schweiger, D. M., & Denisi, A. S. (1991). Communication with employees following a merger: A longitudinal field experiment. Academy of Management Journal, 34(1), 110-135.
Example Sources
Dosani, S., & Westbrook, A. (2020, May 05). The leader we wish we all had. Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000007111965/coronavirus-ohio-amy-acton.html?action=click>ype=vhs&version=vhs-heading&module=vhs®ion=title-area&cview=true&t=11