Change Management Horror Stories: A Communication Is Never Enough
Change management is complex. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. And, if they’re not lying, they’re naïve.
In my years of experience in change management, I’ve heard plenty of horror stories.
One of the most common is when people think the change management professional can wave a magic wand, send a communication and make change happen.
They believe all you need to do is email, make a phone call, have a leader issue an edict or post in a chat room, and people will fall into line.
This is not the case.
Change management is a complex process that requires careful planning and execution. You will fail if we do not prepare for the challenges of getting humans to change.
When my conversations with the sponsor, project manager, or software engineer begin with any of these statements, it makes me sad:
“I just need you to send a message.”
“Yes, I told them why. It was in a Slack message the day before the release. They don’t read what I send them.”
“We updated it to have everything they wanted, but they still don’t use it.”
These words foreshadow failure at worst and, at best, falling short of our return on investment.
So when I hear them, I look in the imaginary mirror and say, “Kay, here you are to save the day!”
1. “I just need you to send a message.”
When we need people to do something different, telling them what, when and even why is appropriate is not enough.
We must go beyond what Prosci describes as “Communications that come from “us” and tell “them” what we’re doing.”
RESOURCE: Is Your Communication Plan Telling or Communicating? (Prosci)
For change that sticks, we should engage the people who have to make the change as soon as development begins and with deliberate action. Initiatives must aim to execute change plans early, throughout, and after the change. They must also center on the focus, intent, frequency, media, and senders of the change.
PRACTICE: Now, the statement itself, “I just need you to send a message,” has three parts I see (and feel):
You are a change manager, and you send communications
I know what we need
The situation only needs a message to be sent
All of these are fallacies.
Plus, the implied tone of the message may spark an adverse reaction from a change practitioner. However, a seasoned professional will know that these words show work to be done beyond the initiative itself.
Remember, “Everyone is in a battle. Be kind.” Russ Roberts made this statement recently, and I believe it to be true. When people make what seem to be challenges, I suspend my knee-jerk reaction to be defensive or become preachy.
If you find yourself in a conversation with someone who drops the “I just need you to send a message” line, here are some tips on how to respond:
First, take a breath. This will not be easy, but it will be worth it.
Second, ask questions and listen more than you speak. -- K. Joseph
When I pause, ask questions, and listen, I frequently learn that the person feels swamped, has conflicting priorities, fears that I may slow things down, or does not know how to address the change.
I am a certified professional here.
So, I seek to understand where the other person is coming from, and I often discover meaningful ways to engage, redirect action, change myself, and rope them into a partnership to do better.
2. “Yes, I told them why. It was in a Slack message the day before the release. They don’t read what I send them.”
Okay, now this one is an outcome of the real world we work in — avalanches of messages inundate us and come from too many channels.
Is it any wonder the folks whose attention we are trying to get are not tuning in? It is really hard for them to do so.
What to do? What to do? You still need them.
PRACTICE: Get The Sponsor!
Engage a sponsor who believes in the change.
Figure out who the people that need to change must listen to and engage that *person*.
Sponsor engagement or stakeholder management is crucial. When I say engage, I mean doing more than telling the person to tell the others. I mean having a conversation that gets to the heart of what is going on and why. Then, ask the person for their opinion. Listen. Determine if they understand why we need the change and if they believe they need the change now. The sponsor is the first person who needs to embrace the change.
Belief is the key.
The person who must communicate the need to act has to be a clear supporter and influential advocate of the change. If they are not, their people will know, and the message will fall on deaf ears.
The sponsor has to show why and WIIFM
When the person who is best positioned to deliver the message believes we need the change and we need it now, they have to articulate why the change is important for the business and what it means for the people who must change.
Do you hear the two questions? (1) What is the burning platform? The sponsor has to tell their audience why they believe we need the change for the business’s success and why it must we need the change now, ahead of other work and not later. And (2) What’s In It For Me or WIFFM, for the people who must make the change.
The sponsor’s message to their people will be compelling when it answers these two questions. When the message from the sponsor clearly says 'why (business)' and 'why (personal),' it will incline their people to follow their lead, believe the rationale, and want to change!
This last piece is essential for every change initiative: igniting the desire to change.
The sponsor has to determine how their people best receive messages
So, after knowing who is best to send and what needs to be in the messages, the sponsor has to work with the change manager to determine how best to engage the subjects of the change. I’ve found that early, often, and via various means leads to success.
The book ADKAR: A Model for Change In Business, Government, and Our Community encourages us to “find more effective ways to reach your audience: use multiple channels: meetings, one-on-one, newsletters, presentations, brainstorming workshops, lunch and learns, (online) Q&A forums, screen saver messages…” (page 76) and of course, Slack posts too.
Since the sponsor has an intimate knowledge of their people, they are best placed to determine which avenues work best and seem most authentic.
In every case, more than one release message will be required. The key is to engage people by every means necessary. You cannot over-communicate.
3. “We updated it to have everything they wanted, but they still don’t use it.”
In the last instance, some leaders believe they will use it if we build what they want.
After all, they did a good job gathering the voice of the customer: we interviewed, surveyed, analyzed social media feedback, listened to customer calls, monitored the reviews, measured the Net Promoter Score, conducted focus groups, and talked to heavy users.
We knew what was wrong with the product and corrected it in the next version.
Designing your product based on customer needs and wants is good, but it may give a false sense of adequacy if we think we will not need to apply change management to be successful.
I often hear the question, is all of this really necessary? Or, we should not over-club it.
In reality, poor engagement with people could lead to poor preparation for resistance. People may want *the* change you are bringing, but people rarely want *to* change.
If you find yourself in this situation, remember that people are creatures of habit. It is what makes us feel safe and secure. And when we have to do something different, even if it is an update to something we already know and use, and the alternative is supposed to be better, our natural reaction is resistance.
There are many strategies and tactics for change management, but a few of my favorites include:
Identify and remove the obstacles to adoption.
Get people to use the new system by incorporating it into their daily work routine as soon as possible.
Encourage socialization among users so they can learn from each other.
If the success of your solution or product requires people to change their behavior, planning for resistance and executing a thoughtful change management plan are surefire ways to improve your odds of achieving the return on your investment.
So there you have it: When the person in charge of the change project needs to understand the value of change management, it can lead to a terrifying initiative experience.
A change manager can turn this around by introducing critical elements of change by getting to know the sponsor, unleashing the sponsor, and engaging the audience in the remake.
Then, everyone will work happily ever after and use the new product or process!
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This is an update to a story by K. Joseph, first published on Medium.com in 2022.