Framework | Aspects covered |
Kübler-Ross Curve | Guide people through change. |
ADKAR | Raise awareness & desire. |
Kotter | Communicate with everyone involved to get them on board and make sure they know their role. |
McKinsey | Strategy, Structure, Systems, Skills, Staff, Style, Shared values. |
We’re approaching the actual implementation of the change! But first, we have to ensure that the workforce is informed and ready. Besides communicating about the change, we need to prepare employees for what will be different after the change, and what their new KPIs will be.
Now that the task force have finalized all the necessary preparations, they brief Yussef and give him the green light for the company-wide communication of the project.
As the figurehead of the change—and to ensure that the message is read—Yussef sends out the online invitation himself, even though the task force prepared the message. In his email, he invites all employees to the kickoff meeting at the main office. In addition, the kickoff is announced via the company’s intranet, and some physical invitations signed by Yussef are sent out by regular mail. Fortunately, the kickoff was scheduled at such short notice that nothing was leaked, otherwise it would have been even more difficult to convince the staff, as they may have felt left out of the process altogether.
It’s essential to spread the information consistently across all available channels, so that it’s visible to everyone affected. The task force wants to reach as many employees as possible to communicate about the upcoming change and gain acceptance, so more detailed information is scheduled to be sent out right after Yussef personally introduces the vision and strategy at the kickoff.
Right, it’s finally kickoff day! The meeting has just begun. There’s a good turnout, and you see most of your team is here, too. Hana seems to have taken Niklas under her wing, and they’re sitting together in the front row. Peter, however, is nowhere to be seen.
During his presentation, Yussef actively takes the time to carefully explain to employees why the change is necessary, by outlining the challenges the company is facing and the future benefits for everyone. He uses the results of the recent analysis, which he presented to his direct reports earlier. Furthermore, he touches on possible scenarios of what would happen in the absence of change.
"Some of our competitors have already successfully migrated their business processes to the cloud. If we don’t make a move, we will no longer be competitive. This could lead to downsizing, job cuts, or important sales losses. The plan is to start by introducing Microsoft 365 and moving our CRM system to the cloud to avoid any negative consequences. More processes will follow.”
The rollout of Office 365 should be completed after 18 months, while the departments are migrated one by one in so-called waves. The employees will be informed accordingly when it’s their turn to be switched to the new system.
Yussef emphasizes:
“Our goal is to have a future-proof workplace in a collaborative work environment.”
Different voices come from the audience:
“So… What now?”
“We had so much change with the last merger, and now we have to go through it all again?”
“Great, yet another change initiative, let’s see how long this one lasts this time!”
“Amazing, it’s about time we started working in the cloud!”
“Eighteen months? That’s still a long way off.”
As expected, the mixed feelings are visible on the employees’ faces. While Yussef answers questions together with his task force, he also encourages everyone to participate, not only to learn more about the change, but to actively shape it themselves.
At the end of the meeting, Yussef announces that everybody can turn to their manager or to the newly established hotline for any further questions and ideas. During the next task force meeting, the kickoff gets evaluated.
Yussef praises the excellent groundwork:
“The preparation really paid off. We reached the majority of the workforce at the same time and the mood was quite positive, even though we saw some resistance. Several ideas and some feedback we collected will be considered for implementation. We still have a lot to do—let’s keep going!”
The task force has done a good job in mobilizing the workforce. Now, it’s time to convince the doubters. Every employee will be concerned with the change, so awareness needs to continue to rise as the new software is rolled out and new working processes introduced.
What can I do to convince doubters?
Here are some tips:
Explain the benefits of the change again, repeating the facts if necessary.
Give the employees the opportunity to express their feelings.
Acknowledge feelings and give support if needed.
Try to break the change down into little steps.
If there are a lot of people working from the office, this could be posters and flyers. If the work is mainly remote, you could target channels in company messaging platforms. Consult the marketing department or HR—they may have some fresh ideas!
Let’s Recap!
Planning communication is key to avoid disruption and reach as many people as possible at once.
Be prepared for lots of resistance when announcing the new vision, strategy, and project.
The higher the acceptance amongst employees, the easier the coordination of the project will be.
Bringing people together is a great way to collect feedback and new ideas to improve concepts.
Wow, you have surely recognized through this little insight how important it is to consider the human side of change as early as possible. Mobilizing the workforce is a critical milestone in change processes and must be carefully prepared so the project isn’t doomed to fail before it even begins. The next logical step, of course, is to start implementation as soon as possible, and that’s what the following chapter is all about.
