Another critical process ensuring the success of your implementation, is when you decide, and then clearly communicate, the direction and your means of travelling. In other words, you must set a direction, goals, vision, etc. (see related discussions on initial and detailed implementation planning), and then clearly and continuously communicate this information to others. These signals must be loud enough to be perceived above the background "noise" of everyday business and information, and must be consistent enough to provide a unified field of vision. For more background information on communication click here.
There are many issues regarding communication and the process of implementing innovation and technical change that you will need to consider:
Organisational
communication
At the organisational level, there are
a number of communication mechanisms which you can
take advantage of to spread information regarding your
implementation plans:
Importance
of communication for change
People are afraid of change, technology,
job loss and more. Because of this fear, in the absence
of accurate and timely information, people will "make
stuff up". We usually call this rumour. When managing
the innovation and technical change process: Management
= Communication.
Information is the life-blood of an organisation. Every time two people who do not usually talk to each other do so, it creates new potential within the firm. When you want to stimulate change, you want information coursing through your organisation.
Communication has been referred to as the very essence of a social system or an organisation. Communication is essential because the structure, effectiveness, and scope of organisations are almost entirely determined by communication. If we take away communication, we would not have an organisation.
Innovation and technical change means increased uncertainty, a lack of order, predictability and stability. Information and communication means decreased uncertainty. Therefore, the more the change, the more communication is necessary to counter the uncertainty.
Communication
barriers
There are many potential barriers to communication in organisations. Restricted flows
(where people hold on to information),over-load (too much information is available so some
is over-looked or ignored), distortion and omission (people modify information and leave
some out), power and politics (people sometimes think that information is power and that
they should hold on to it and not give it away), and more. The list of all of the
potential communication problems is not possible to generate. For our purposes, it is good
enough to highlight the fact that they are likely to arise, and to discuss two areas that
may cause problems for you.
Quite frequently in organisations, communication is stifled and inhibited. Many people would rather tell their boss what they think the boss wants to hear, rather than what is actually happening. Many people filter information as it travels upward through the hierarchy. Because of this, we get into the habit of not communicating, or of mis-communicating. You should expect that this may happen at some point, and you should cultivate multiple sources of information and multiple modes of communication to and from key individuals and groups.
A second point is that when you start to conduct your project, you will run into a host of logistical, communication-related problems. You might find, for example, that there is no simple and efficient way to communicate to all of the members of a working group and/or steering committee. Especially when we get cross-functional groups together, we frequently find we have no way to communicate to them directly and efficiently. Again, be aware that this might happen, and be prepared to deal with it.
What
to communicate
There are several types of information people need to know about organisational changes.
The essential bits of information have to do with what is going to happen, to whom, where,
why, how and when? please do not be fooled into thinking that because this sounds
familiar, that this is a trivial issue. Without this information being communicated
accurately, and with what may seem to you to be monotonous regularity, your change efforts
can not succeed. Many people conducting change efforts underestimate the level of
information that must be communicated by an order of magnitude.
There are several types of information people may need:
What is going to happen?
Naturally, people need to first know what is being planned: are we implementing work
teams, conducting business process reengineering, or are we implementing some new
technology?
It is equally important, however, to let people know what is not going to change. If you have done a good job during your initial strategic and organisation-level diagnosis, you are aware of both what you need to change and what you must not change. Be sure to identify not only what needs to be changed, but what you need to support and nurture of the existing systems and cultures, in order to be successful in the future. People need to hear about this.
In times of significant and stressful organisational change, people need to be able to hold on to something. What is not going to change, what we can count on remaining the same, will provide some stability and help those most fearful about change.
When communicating about what the problem is, be sure to consider the following:
To whom will it happen?
Next, people want to know who will be affected or involved. If it will have some effect on
them, they will quickly want to judge what kind of affect: positive or negative, large or
small, etc. Another early consideration has to do with personal consequences. For example,
as a consequence of these changes, what will I have to do?
Generally, you can count on people wanting answers to the following types of questions: Who will do it? Who will be involved? How will it affect me? What will I have to do?
Where will it happen?
People will need to know where you expect these changes to be taking place. What
areas, departments, etc. will be involved or affected, and which will not?
Why will it happen?
A significant factor in determining how people evaluate the nature of the changes, and
the likely impact it will have on them and others, is a result of their perceptions of the
reasons for the changes.
People attribute causes to actions.
We cannot not communicate.
There are many reasons why individuals and organisations may want to innovate and to implement change. It is important for you to become aware of your individual and organisational motivations as differing reasons are perceived by people differently, and these perceptions affect their levels of commitment and resistance to the changes.
Regardless of whether or not you tell them, people will attribute reasons or causes to your actions. For example, if your employees perceive that your move to implement new technology is intended to disempower them, replace them, or to be able to monitor and control their behaviours more closely, they will be more likely to resist the innovations than if they perceive that the changes are done to make their workplaces safer.
How will it happen?
You must let people know what you expect or plan will happen.
Several problems occur at this point. What if we do not know what will happen? What if we have to change our minds and, therefore, our plans?
Even if you are not exactly sure what is going to happen, you must tell what you do know and then inform people about the areas of uncertainty.
When will it happen?
You must let people know what you expect or plan will happen regarding timing.
Once again, even if you do not know exactly when things will happen, or if you have to change your plans, open and honest communication about your intentions will go a long way to dispel rumour. Even if you are not exactly sure when things are going to happen, you must tell what you do know and then inform people about the areas of uncertainty.
To
whom should you communicate
It is my personal bias, based
upon years of consulting and research experience, that
it is better to over-communicate than it is to under-communicate.
Especially since most of us tend to significantly under-communicate,
when we communicate enough, it sometimes seems like
more than it really is. It is my opinion, therefore,
that you should communicate to everyone that could
be directly and indirectly involved or affected by
the changes. Of course, it is not necessary to tell
everyone about what happened at every single group
meeting. In general, however, when communicating about
the implementation of innovation and technical change,
I think it is much better to tell someone who does
not really need to know, than to risk not telling someone
who does.
There are certain key individuals to whom you must communicate regularly. For example, your management sponsors and champions should be regularly kept informed of progress. I find it helpful to 'check in' with those involved just prior to key events such as decision meetings.
How
to communicate
There are many potential modes of communication. Generally, written
forms of communication (e.g., memos, reports, e-mail) are better for long and/or
complicated messages. This gives people more time to process the information.
Do not under-estimate the power of informal communications, however. When waiting for the lift, or when chatting during lunch or before the start of a meeting, you can take these opportunities to fill people in on progress and make them aware of future events.
During the course of your implementation, it is likely you will need to make presentations, to hold meetings, to make numerous telephone calls, and, generally, have scores of conversations related to your project. Do not view this as a waste of your time. In one sense, it is your primary duty.
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