Suzanne Murphy, WSA

Strategic Communication and Organizational Change

Organizational communication, when handled strategically, drives organizational change. We think of organizational communication not only as a means of imparting information but also as one of the most effective tools that leaders have and use to create alignment and to gain support for change.

All change, all new ideas, all innovation, and even all progress in the history of mankind starts with communication. Communication in today's organization is the conduit to change and moving forward together.

The Value of Communicating

What is the value of organizational communication in creating alignment or gaining support for a strategy or vision? In our 2006 Executive Level Organizational Upset Survey we discovered that companies who survived and/or prospered in the face of organizational upset had strong alignment and involvement of employees at all levels of the organization.

It is clear to us that the leaders in those organizations made sure that people understood the strategy. They seemed to appreciate that if people in the organization don't understand how the company is supposed to be different, how it creates value and what it stands for, then how can they possibly make the myriad choices posed on a daily basis, much less in the face of an upset?

If people at all levels of an organization understand and support the vision or strategy, they will be able to assess the wisdom and desirability of specific decisions, actions, and outcomes simply by asking one question: “How does this (decision, action, outcome) align with our vision?”

Also, if everyone understands and supports the vision, they are more likely to feel a part of the organization and therefore perform to their maximum capacity and support organizational change. Truly successful organizations enjoy the full, enthusiastic participation of every individual. Effective organizational communication is a way to engage every employee and get the buy-in needed to ensure they truly adopt the necessary change.

Strategic communication about vision or strategy is intended to create alignment and commitment among employees at all levels by positively impacting the context in which they view the organization - their perceptions. One way to think of the intended outcome of strategic communication is that it is not about changing people: it is about giving them a new lense with which to see the world.

How big does the buy-in need to be?

Change management literature suggests that significant change can occur in an organization with 5% of the population committed to the change. If you achieve 20% support, change is unstoppable.

The literature also asserts that any significant change will produce what we at WSA call the “Rule of Thirds.” That is, one-third of the population will be excited about the change; one-third will take a wait-and-see attitude; and one-third will oppose the change.

Whom should you target?

Strategic communication, therefore, is aimed at identifying the two-thirds who, over time, will support the vision or change and provide what they need to know in order to ensure that support. Unfortunately, we have discovered that the majority of managers target their communication and time at the people actively resisting the change – “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

Communication strategy should be designed to create a critical mass of employees who:

• Share the organizational vision.
• Are able to explain how their work supports the vision.
• Contribute to creating the required changes in personal behavior and work practices to achieve the vision.

What methods are most effective for communicating change?

The communication channels, methods, and tools utilized to gain support for change will vary depending on the stakeholder, the type of communication and the quality of the communication channel, method or tool. The following list represents the channels that are most effective for communicating change. The communication methods are listed in order from most effective to least.

• One-on-One/Face-to-Face Communication with manager or supervisor
• Hallway/Cafeteria/Water-cooler communication
• Open group question-and-answer meetings
• MBWA (managing by walking around)
• Telephone conversations with “friends”
• Staff meetings
• Small group/team meetings
• Video conferencing
• Voice mail
• E-mail
• Inter-office memo
• Video reports to employees
• Bulletin Boards
• Fax-news bulletins
• Formal Speeches by leaders
• Letters
• Newsletters (internal)
• Written Reports.

For the greatest buy-in, it is always a good idea to use a combination of the above methods to ensure that each and every employee understands what is going on, and why, and feels as though they are a part of the process and have a stake in the outcome and continued success of their organization. .