When does a change communication strategy begin?
Not a week goes by that I don't see a fellow change management consultant on LinkedIn whipping themselves into a frenzy about change management communication. They say things like, "Leaders spend too much upfront energy on generating excitement and spreading information, rather than the direct work of changing behaviors." Every time I read something like this, all I picture are a bunch of mimes running around, trying to do this "direct work," communicating without admitting that they're communicating. Not gonna lie, it makes me giggle. Because this either/or binary misses the point.
Your change communication strategy isn’t an output or a deliverable of your change strategy; it is the change strategy
That doesn’t mean a change strategy = only a communication strategy. It means that the best way to design a change strategy is to think of change communication as embedded in every step, not as its own standalone piece.
If all of that has made your head spin, you’re not alone. Most leaders and change practitioners typically design change strategies like the image I’ve included below this pop quiz:
When does a change communication strategy begin?
A) When you define WIIFM for your stakeholders
B) When you draft a press release or external communication
C) When you define the change and why it is required
D) When you announce the change to your employees
This method? Not ideal!
The answer? C. Your change communication strategy begins when you define the change and why it is required.
Most leaders consider change communication too late in the game. But change communication isn’t an announcement, a press release, or even a campaign to convince people to do something. Change communication is the change strategy, so it happens when you define the change and why it is required.
And this isn’t a choice – change communication begins from the very start whether leaders acknowledge it or not
The ones who want to lead successful, impactful change recognize that. The only choice is whether to do anything about it.
A clearly defined change is needed to determine the approach necessary to implement the change successfully. That means that how you define the change is change communication, down to the very language you choose.
Take this example:
The CEOs of two midsize organizations decide that they want employees to start adopting AI in the workplace. They know some employees are doing it with no guidelines in place, others are AI-curious but not sure how it would apply to their work, and still others are anti-AI.
“Adopting AI” is not a clearly-defined change, so we’ll get a little more specific. Both CEOs know their top competitor is integrating AI into workflow automation, that their competitor’s employees are using AI as a collaborative thought partner for client work, and that their competitor is positioning their use of AI as a differentiator in their marketing – both CEOs want to keep up so that they can do work faster and more efficiently, elevate the skills of their employees, and be able to tout this in their own marketing.
You could develop a generic change management strategy with a generic comms plan to use for both of these companies. Get employees to use AI by doing X, Y, Z.
However. After having this idea, both CEOs sit down with their respective C-suites.
CEO #1 says, “Our top competitor is beating us. Again. They’re integrating AI into their workflow automation, so they’re faster than us. Their employees are using AI, while our people are stuck in 2019. And they’re blabbing about it at every industry conference, even though half of what they’re saying can’t possibly be true. We need to roll out an AI strategy by EOY. It’ll be a good way to see who can keep up and who can’t, so in the next round of cuts, we can get rid of the laggards.”
CEO #2 says, “Looks like our top competitor has cracked the code on rolling out their AI strategy. We know we have to keep up to stay competitive, both from an internal standpoint and on the work we deliver to clients, but we have to do this the right way. It’s not going to be as simple as plugging the tool in wherever we think it might work; we have to make sure folks are ready to enthusiastically adopt what we propose, and I have no doubt the early adopters are going to have thought of applications we haven’t even considered. Let’s pull together a working group to brainstorm what could make the most sense for us based on our 3-year roadmap. One of us will need to be the executive sponsor of this work, so let’s talk about what makes the most sense right now.”
Knowing just that information, I would design wildly different change strategies for these two companies (JK, I wouldn’t actually work with CEO #1). A “successful” strategy for #1 wouldn’t work for #2, and vice versa. A generic strategy would certainly not work for either.
Your change communication strategy begins from the very start because communication begins from the very start, and words and actions have to align
When I help organizations on a mission navigate chaos-free change, I develop clear and compelling communication for all stakeholders, from the spark of an idea to an organization’s future state.
Do I occasionally design (and sell) a standalone "change communication strategy”? Yes. But it’s not my favorite, or the best, way to do the work.
Like I said earlier, the best way to design a change strategy is to think of change communication as embedded in every step from the very start, not as its own standalone piece. The comms shape the change, and the change shapes the comms.
My most successful clients sign on for "strategy" the moment they get that change itch. That way, we can define problems, challenges, and ideas to develop strategies that achieve their ideal outcomes; anticipate barriers and align teams around a common purpose so that they can take agentic action to support organizational goals; and yes, communicate in ways that my clients rarely consider on their own.
Still, most clients and collaborators reach out to me for the very first time for change communication help. And hey, if change comms is their entry point to better change overall, I’ll take it! Through our work together, they start to understand that there are better ways to communicate about change, communicate change to stakeholders, and design a change strategy itself. This shift builds overall organizational change capacity, makes change happen well even when resources are tight, and builds employees’ trust in leadership.