Communication Challenges and Solutions
Explore one or two issues you have encountered in previous or currently ongoing change projects. Describe how the communications were handled and how knowledge from the texts could be used to improve the clarity and effectiveness of these communications about the reasons for and intended benefits of the change project.
In order to communicate a change project, it is important to know the leaders, stakeholders, and all the recipients of a change project. An effectively communicated change vision promotes the understanding of the organization hence establishing the basis for acquiring support and commitment from the stakeholders and employees in taking the new direction (Kotter & Cohen, 2012). In communicating the change for the Buy-In project, the negative feedback received from the various team members including the managers, the employees, and other stakeholders was the major issue. I being an assistant manager, many of them did not consider me as an appropriate change-initiator hence convincing them was not easy. Most of them could not understand the reasons behind the intended change hence could not agree with it nor were they concerned about making it happen.
However, as a focused personnel, this did not kill my vision and morale in implementing the change but I instead looked for various means to communicate the change effectively. This was through making the reasons and objectives of the change simpler and repeating them frequently to all the team members in order for them to understand and retain it in minds. For example, making the language simpler is an effective way to help convince the members that the change has a genuine value to initiate a better future than the current state of the organization. All the members, juniors and seniors were engaged in the change implementation by getting a chance to participate and air out their views concerning the change efforts through open communication and feedback (Kotter & Cohen, 2012).
Some other ways to effect the communication include using all the communications tools available in order to reach all the intended members which include the informal meetings, email and written communication like graphics and pictures. This should be accompanied by making the change operational by practicing it on a daily routine in the existing procedures so as to promote its acceptance. Any inconsistencies in embracing the change vision should be addressed by the senior leaders in a fair manner rather than a forced amenability.
Another way is by listening to the team members and giving them a chance to speak out their feelings and attitude towards the change. For instance, when the members are given a chance to talk, they feel that they are appreciated and that they are part of the team. They open up and the feedback they provide is important in assessing the weakness that may be associated with the change hence switch to the better parts of the change initiative. It also helps to know if the team members got the message and understood the aim of the change well and how they embraced it.
List three actions you can personally take to promote the effectiveness of communications in a change project you are presently involved in or anticipate being involved with in the near future.
Promoting clarity and transparency about what is being changed and why the change is an important action. This will help to avoid the thought by other members that something fishy is being secreted from them (Godin, 2015). This is through painting a clear picture of what is going to happen and how it is going to look like by setting expectations through clear explanations of the processes of the change to enable them to see the road ahead. This will win the trust of the team members and enable them to respond honestly and respectfully to the change being communicated.
Another action is to tell the employees what benefits will be brought to them by the change initiative so as to capture their concern and enhance their morale.
Telling the members what is expected of them and what they ought to do regarding the change or the “Call to action” genre is also vital. The members need to know what they need to do, how, when and where by use of formatting styles like bulleting, bold fonts and others to emphasize the important points for action.
References
Top of FormKotter, J. P., & Cohen, D. S. (2012). The heart of change: Real-life stories of how people change
their organizations. Press.
Godin, S. (2015). Poke the box: When was the last time you did something for the first time? Press.