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Except for situations that involve confidentiality, even those who are indirectly affected will likely want to know what is going on, and how it may affect them. This applies to your own staff, and those organizations that are related to you (ie. other branches within a division or department, client organizations, etc).
You are better off over-including people in your communication, than leaving people out.
What?
If you need to determine what to communicate, keep in mind what you are trying to accomplish through your communication about change. When you communicate you are trying to:
A) give information that will reduce uncertainty and ambiguity regarding the change.
B) Pre-empt the hidden information system of the grapevine, so you can ensure that incorrect anxiety provoking information is not spreading.
C) Provide forums for employees to communicate their reactions and concerns to you.
If you would like another rule of thumb, when deciding what should be communicated, communicate as much information about the change as is available to you. Obviously, you need to exercise judgement where there is confidential and/or sensitive information involved, or where your information may be unreliable.
Be aware that if you only have a small amount of information about a negative change, communicating it may increase anxiety levels and rampant speculation. You should also be aware that if you have preliminary information about a change, that others do also, and that it is likely that your employees will hear rumours regardless of what you disclose.
Finally, keep in mind that you are communicating messages about the facts of the change, and also about your own reactions to it. As a change leader, you must be aware that your staff will watch you carefully to guess how you are feeling about the change, and they will draw their own conclusions based on your behaviour. Sometimes these conclusions will be wrong and destructive.
If you choose to state your own reactions to the change, state them quickly (particularly if they are negative).
When?
The longer you wait to communicate details of change, the more likely you are to extend the period of adjustment. This is because it is very difficult to "keep a lid" on anything in government, and even if you are silent, your staff will likely hear vague things through the grapevine. Grapevine information tends to be sketchy enough that it creates a high degree of anxiety, and also a high degree of mistrust of management.
So, the earlier you communicate the less likely erroneous or upsetting information will come through the grapevine. Communicate as early as possible about change, but do not assume that once you have done this the job is over.
Communication should occur in anticipation of change, during the implementation, and after the change has been stabilized.
How?
Issue #1: Group or Single Meetings
Another decision you need to address is what needs to be communicated in group settings, and what needs to be addressed in one-on-one meetings with employees. What are the advantages of each approach?
Communicating in groups ensures that each person present is hearing the same information at the same time. Group communication also allows people to interact with each other about the changes and can help people develop a sense of team, particularly in a climate of adversity.
Communicating in groups also has some disadvantages. In many organizations there will be people who will not feel comfortable talking in a group context. The more "personal" the effects of the change, the more likely people will withdraw from the group process.
A second danger of group communication is that one or two particularly vocal and negative people can set the tone for the group, and foster unproductive negative discussion. While expression of concerns about change are healthy, the "doom- sayer" can cause this process to become destructive. For this reason, group communication needs to be managed with skill and expertise. Sometimes an external facilitator is necessary.
Finally, there are some issues that cannot be discussed within a group. For example, in downsizing situations, it is inappropriate to announce to a group that John and Mary are losing their jobs. When changes are likely to create a high degree of upset to individuals, they must be dealt with in private.
Communicating on a one-to-one basis has the advantage of privacy. When bad news is communicated, the person receiving the news is less pressured to withhold their reactions. One-to-one communication also allows more in-depth exploration of the person's feelings, ideas and reactions to the change.
A disadvantage to using one-to-one communication is that it may fragment your team. There is also a possibility that you will send slightly different messages to different staff members.
Prescription:
Most situations require both group communication and one-to-one communication. They compliment each other. Using only one or the other will create problems.
Below are some guidelines.
Use group communications if:
A)You need to ensure everybody hears the news at the same time.
B)You want to encourage group discussion to generate ideas and the problem solving process.
C)You want to increase the sense of team.
D)You wish to set the stage for individual meetings. For example, in a lay-off situation, you can call a short group meeting to announce the lay-offs generally, then immediately meet individually with each staff member to inform them of their status.
Use individual meetings if:
A)The changes are likely to cause a high degree of emotionalism that is better dealt with in private.
B)You want to ensure that shyer people have a chance to express themselves.
C)The changes involve elements that should remain confidential (pay or classification changes, employment status, etc).
D)You need to have detailed discussion about the change with specific people.
Issue #2: Written Or Oral
There is a tendency for people to avoid unpleasant interactions, and sometimes managers will use written communication to avoid the discomfort of dealing face to face with staff. While written communication can play an important role in communicating about change, it should not be used for this reason alone. Below are some guidelines regarding the use of written versus oral communication.
Oral communication is more appropriate when:
A) Receiver is not very interested in getting the message. Oral communication provides more opportunities for getting and keeping interest and attention.
B)Emotions are high. Oral communication provides chances for both you and the other person to let off steam, cool down, and create a climate for understanding.
C)You need feedback. It's easier to get feedback by observing body language and asking questions.
D)The other person is too busy or preoccupied to read. Oral communication provides better opportunities to gain attention.
E)You need to convince or persuade. Oral communication provides more flexibility, opportunity for emphasis, chances to listen to and remove resistance, and is more likely to affect people's attitudes.
F)The details and issues are complicated, and cannot be well expressed on paper.
Written communication is appropriate if:
A)You require a record of the communication for future reference.
B)Your staff will be referring to details of the change later.
C)You are communicating something with multiple parts or steps and where it is important that employees understand them.
Generally, it is wise to use both written and oral communication. The more emotional the issues, the more important it is to stress oral communication first. Written communication can be used as backup.
Concluding Comments On Change Leadership
As a change leader, communication is your primary and most important tool. We have attempted to outline some of the important parts of the communication process, but short of writing an entire book on the subject, it is difficult to discuss all the subtleties and issues about human communication.
There is no substitute for good judgement, and change leaders need to be reflective and thoughtful about the ways they communicate. There is also no substitute for LISTENING, and receiving feedback from your staff and colleagues about how you communicate. You may make communication mistakes, but the mark of an effective change leader is that these mistakes are quickly identified through feedback and discussion, and corrective action is taken.
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