Communicating change and achieving more signal with less noise has never been more challenging.
Here are three tips that can help:
- Move from information dissemination to sense making. The essential task of change communication is to help audiences make sense of the change. Use messaging and storytelling to create shared meaning – keep in mind that people understand change first at an emotional level and then on an intellectual one.
- Focus on context before content. The first casualty of change is context. In our noisy attention economy, it’s essential that your change communication program builds context – being clear on how the “thing” relates to the other “things”. Assume low context when shaping communication messages, and make sure to be very clear about the connective tissue between various parts of the change landscape.
- Remember that conversation is the smallest unit of change. Change communication strategy should rest on conversation as the foundational tactical model. We make sense of change over time, and we do so through conversation. That means that your tactical mix should include a variety of on-ramps for exchange and dialogue. (Warning: No email is ever, ever, going to solve your change communication problem!)
Want more on change communications? Check out our video, Primer and resources.
