Chapter 9: Communicating about Change

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter, you will be able to:

•         describe and identify three approaches to change

•         identify the typical stages of reactions employees go through when faced with nonroutine changes

•         discuss appropriate actions at each reaction stage

•         discuss the components of the Iceberg Model for communicating change 

•         perform a contextual analysis and audience analysis for a change effort

•         identify the pertinent questions to consider when designing the strategy

•         identify rules of thumb when making decisions regarding channel choice, message construction, timing, spokespeople and safety valves

•         analyze the communication of change initiatives and discuss its effectiveness

Chapter Summary

Managing and communicating change may be the greatest challenge facing today's managers.  Events such as personnel developments, reorganizations, sudden impacts of a political crisis, or shifts in consumer preferences can force radical changes on the organization.

Organizations have different orientations toward change that define who can suggest, institute, and drive change efforts. A "top-down" orientation is indicative of an organization where top management assesses the need for change and dictates implementation through the chain of command. In contrast, a "bottom-up" orientation defines an organization where ideas for changes and methods of implementation percolate up through the organizational hierarchy. The "integrative approach" suggests that the orientation that is most effective depends on the situation.

Changes can be characterized on a continuum from routine to nonroutine. Communicating nonroutine changes, like incorporating new technology in the workplace, is a more difficult challenge. When employees are faced with major changes, many will pass through stages of reaction similar to experiencing a death: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. A skillful manager can ease the transition by being sensitive to these stages of reaction. There are characteristics that identify each reaction stage and appropriate actions that the manager can take.

The Iceberg Model presents a strategic approach to communicating change. It is based on four levels of planning:  contextual analysis, audience analysis, strategic design and tactical preparations. The model focuses on asking the right questions in the right order and suggests focusing most of the organizational resources on analyzing the context, analyzing the audience and designing the communication strategy.
 

Outline

I.         Approaches to Change

a.       Top-down

b.      Bottom-up

c.       Integrative

II.     Selecting the Degree of Communication

a.       Under-communicating

b.      Over-communicating

c.       “Goldilocks” zones

III.   Reactions to Change

a.       Stage 1 – Denial and Isolation

b.      Stage 2 – Anger

c.       Stage 3 – Bargaining

d.      Stage 4 – Depression

e.       Stage 5 – Acceptance

IV.  The Iceberg Model

a.       Contextual Analysis

                                                               i.      How have employees assimilated other changes?

                                                             ii.      How congruent is the change with the culture?

                                                            iii.      How non-complex and manageable is the change?

                                                           iv.      How advantageous is the change over past practices?

                                                             v.      What benefits will be readily observable?

                                                           vi.      How will key relationships be affected?

b.      Audience Analysis

                                                               i.      What are the major groups of employees that will be affected by the change?

                                                             ii.      How will each group be affected by the change?

                                                            iii.      Who are the key opinion leaders of each group?

                                                           iv.      What are the communication or channel preferences of each group?

                                                             v.      What does each group know or think they know about the change?

                                                           vi.      What are the most likely concerns of each group?

c.       Strategic Design

                                                               i.      Step 1:  Develop tentative communicative objectives for each of the audiences

                                                             ii.      Step 2:  Determine common objectives that are shared by all the audiences

                                                            iii.      Step 3:  Develop an underlying theme or core message

                                                           iv.      Step 4:  Allocate communication resources according to the audience analysis

                                                             v.      Step 5:  Formulate a general sequence of stages or phases

d.      Tactical Preparation

                                                               i.      Channels

1.      Use multiple channels

2.      Use rich channels

                                                             ii.      Message

1.      Link messages to the audience’s  pre-existing thinking routines

2.      Discuss the upside and downside of the change

3.      Directly address likely concerns or resistance points

4.      Remind employees that not “everything” is changing

5.      Publicize initial successes

6.      Include the following to effectively “download” a decision

a.       What the decision is

b.      How the decision was made

c.       Why the decision was made

d.      What were some of the rejected alternatives to the announced decision

e.       How the decision fits into the organizational mission and vision

f.        How the decision impacts the organization (WIFO)

g.       How the decision impacts the employees (WIFM)

                                                            iii.      Safety Valves

                                                           iv.      Timing

1.      Take into account the other initiatives the organization is pursuing at the time

2.      Develop a schedule or method so that most employees are informed about the initiative during a similar time frame

3.      Allow time to harvest and respond to dissent in a meaningful way

4.      Schedule follow-up communications

                                                             v.      Spokespeople

V.     Conclusion