How good are your planning skills when it comes to communicating change?
I’m delighted to welcome Saskia Jones back to the All Things IC blog to share brand new guidelines with my readers to help you develop a 10-step change communication strategy.
Tip: This should be a living document accessible by others.
Use it in discussion with your leadership to form the strategy, align it to business objectives and get agreement.
Tip: Have different strategies for different phases of change.
You’ll need to keep adapting your approach. For example: Phase 1: preparing for change; Phase 2: managing the change; Phase 3: re-engaging employees and sustaining change.
Tip: Work in partnership with HR and external communications teams.
HR will provide support to employees and there will often be legal obligations to follow. Timing and messaging needs to be synchronised – employees must hear about the change before it hits the press.
Saskia is an award-winning communications expert with wide-ranging experience. Her latest role was Head of Communications Engagement at Oxfam, responsible for brand, strategy and internal communications.
Engaging over 5,000 staff and 22,000 volunteers around the world, her team communicated with staff and volunteers in over 50 countries and 650 shops in the UK.
Saskia won ‘Internal Communicator of the Year’ at the Institute of Internal Communication Icon Awards 2014.
2020 update: I’m devastated to say unfortunately Saskia passed away in January 2020. You can read her obituary from the Institute of Internal Communication online. She was such a guiding light in the world of IC and I enjoyed collaborating with her on posts like these to help other internal communicators learn. She will be missed by me and so many others in the world of Comms.
What do you think? Will you use it? Is this useful?
How to learn about change communication
Do you need a hand with your change communication? Ask me to run a Change Comms Masterclass for you or your team.
Further reading about change via the All Things IC blog:
- Why change comms should be drawn
- How to communicate change
- Five reasons to get help with change comms
- How to measure communication
- Changing behaviour for better business
- Communicating change at Westminster City Council
- Crisis communication checklist
- Communicators share ideas on driving change
- Communicating change at the BBC
- Communicating change at the Washington Post
- How to learn about change.
First published on the All Things IC blog 10 July 2018. Updated November 2018.
I’d be delighted to receive the change communication strategy template and also further information on the November IC masterclass.
Many thanks,
Lizzie
Thanks Lizzie, I’ve emailed you, Rachel.
Hi, please could I obtain a copy of the change communications strategy template and dates for your upcoming masterclasses on change comms? Thanks
Thanks Michelle, I’ve sent you an email with info.
Thanks very much for the kind offer of sharing the change comms template.
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