How can you use communication to align culture change with strategy?

Effective communication plays a pivotal role. ??Craft a clear/compelling narrative that articulates strategic goals and vision. ??Frequent/transparent communication channels, incl. town hall meetings, newsletters, and digital platforms, should be established to disseminate this narrative consistently. ??Leaders must actively embody the desired culture, serving as role models. ??Encourage open dialogue, listening to concerns and integrating feedback into the strategy. ??Recognize/celebrate successes that reflect the evolving culture, reinforcing the connection between actions - outcomes. Fostering a culture of communication and alignment, organizations can drive lasting change that harmonizes with their strategic objectives.

"I don't have to justify my every move to anybody. Everybody here knows what is the truth. No need to talk about things that are understood." This was the POV of a CEO when I led one change project. The CEO was a good person, honorable too, but because they refused to communicate what should have been a celebration became a 15-long-month torture filled with fear of what would happen next. People DON'T know what you are thinking when they are afraid, no matter how long they have known you. They are too much in their own emotions to deduce rationally. When you change culture, you are changing the underlying values of how a company operates at a subconscious level. To get to a subconscious level, you must reach the conscious first. Words help.

In my experience, the nature of the communication and source are critical to achieving the desired result. If the person or persons delivering the message are perceived to be neither credible, authentic or trustworthy, the message will likely be met with a high degree of skepticism. Change can be accomplished swiftly when trust and confidence exist.

I would add the power of cascading to this idea. Structuring a process by communicating detailed sub-objectives adapted to the different organisational units, divisions or projects. People will be more engaged if the issue can be made concrete in their daily reality.

communications are the building blocks of culture. One of the meanings of culture is communication .No change in culture can be achieved unless the FORM of communications within the organization changes, since the culture follows communication. In this way, the first point is to clearly state that you want to make communications direct and transparent. Second, you should implement this change by example and be a role model for others. Third, show the results to everyone. Let everyone see how the transformation of communication has created value. When we taught others the right way to communicate with our behavior, we saw a double effect and with a butterfly effect, it solved more than 60% of our problems directly.

Keeping it simple and relatable is the way to go. When it comes to communicating strategy and vision, declutter them into short, actionable, and tangible points. I should be able to look at it and fundamentally be able to find answer to the questions like what's changing? what we aim we to achieve? what's my role in this.

Communication in change LEADERSHIP is paramount to the success of the organization; top to bottom. A clear understanding, agreement, and the change objective has to be clearly communicated to all people in the organization. The vision of the company must be known and understood by the change leader. As the change is introduced, it must always be tied back to the vision; continuously and consistently. Alignment at all levels must be demonstrated throughout the change. Communication is better done with a listen to talk ration of greater than one. Continuous listening for issues, perceived or real need to be addressed continuously. Sensing for issues is equally important up the chain also.

One key question to answer “ what’s in it for them?” So you can drive more motivation towards the new change. The human brain tends to think of how can we win and benefit, it also tries to protect us from pain and failure. So make this as your framework for communicating anything around the new change to ensure you got the buy in of your people

It is very essential for a business to be properly able to communicate their ideologies and their expectations with the employees as they can also help you plan the right strategy and get you long-term goals fulfilled in a short period of time and that too very effectively. The employees and the team leads should sit together often and discuss the strategies that they plan to implement to reach the goals of the company.

Simplify and relate your strategy to your audience. Break it down into concrete concepts. Make it easy for them to understand their role in reaching success.

One thing should be made very clear in mind while doing any type of business be it small or big that whatever goals the company wants to achieve they must first list them out clearly and then devise strategies as to how they are going to work in that front in order to attain those goals efficiently and effectively.

Clear communication of achievable goals and expectations is key to aligning culture with strategy. Use tools such as dashboards, scorecards, and surveys to ensure realistic and motivating messaging. Regular feedback, recognition, and milestones help ensure success. Show how changes support priorities and contribute to overall performance.

Customize your message to your audience. If you speak in the wrong language to the wrong audience, it can be detrimental. Most people fall into one of four communication types: - the analytical communicator uses statistics and data to persuade and connect with others - the tactile communicator likes to move the project along and uses language to identify project barriers and goals - the personable communicator focuses on group harmony and uses language to help everyone speak up - the emotional communicator speaks how they feel and often helps others do the same Which type of communicator are you? Which type of communication style does your company typically fall into? Are you speaking to them using their communication style?

You will also want to communicate expected outcomes and impact aligned to these goals. Beginning and ending with big, vague goals will not be helpful in the change process. These goals are likely to involve internal teams so make sure there is opportunity for them to share lessons, insights and advice. There will be valuable intel these teams will have that you will not know, so if you want people to be part of change they must play a part in shaping it. If done effectively it will be help connect teams and open discussions during the change piece which will be key to success.

To effectively communicate your plans and actions, it's essential first to understand the people with whom you're communicating. Recognize their motivations, concerns, and aspirations. By doing this, you can frame your message in a way that emphasizes common goals. Highlight how your plans and actions align with their objectives and demonstrate the benefits they'll reap. Showing them how you can help achieve their goals not only makes your message more resonant but also fosters collaboration and shared vision. Tailoring your communication in this manner ensures clarity, understanding, and shared commitment to the intended outcomes.

To align cultural changes with strategy, communicate plans to stakeholders. Use workshops, meetings, emails, or blogs, and be transparent, consistent, and interactive. Share reasoning, incorporate feedback, and emphasize collaboration. Trust in your ability to drive necessary changes.

Anything that will impact a person's day to day workplace reality needs to be done one on one face to face ( or via teleconferencing if working remotely). It will also need time and space for team Q and A where people have time to ask questions, provide advice and discuss their concerns. If you do not craft and positively influence the message you want to take to the workforce, people will make up their own myths. And this will never end well for you. Meeting face to face will help build a greater sense of trust and connection - there is no where to hide which is positive if planned well in advance. Be aware... When you hold team Q and A's they need to have clear agendas, outcomes and next steps. This cannot be a wild free for all.

Involving stakeholders in the decison-making process is key to gaining trust and buy in for strategy and vision setting. Through experiential learning activities which include diverse areas of the workforce, THEY are coming up with ideas for business change or adoption of software or whatever it might be, and we’re now in a more positive adoption state whereby instead of the workforce having changed pushed on them it’s actually pulling it down from the leadership team and requesting or demanding it. So the adoption programme changes fundamentally in its approach and that’s one of the most exciting areas for the use of simulations within organisations.

David Rock created a framework called SCARF that can be helpful when there are communication challenges and barriers. SCARF explains the neuroscience - our minds are constantly scanning for threats - so the goal is to communicate in a way that reduces threats to our sense of Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Releatedness, and Fairness.

Listening is a key tool to overcome communication barriers. Often, we prioritize conveying our own messages and overlook the power of truly hearing others. By practicing active and empathetic listening, we can discern underlying issues, bridge cultural or linguistic differences, and build trust. Genuine acknowledgment of diverse perspectives paves the way for clearer dialogue, ensuring misunderstandings are minimized. Prioritizing listening can dissolve many communication challenges, fostering a more inclusive and understanding environment.

Changing a culture can be tricky. Overcome obstacles like fuzzy plans, lack of trust/engagement/resources/feedback. Use best practices: stay in touch, be opend,clearpcaring, involve everyone, align communication plan with strategy.

In my experience communicate and communicate often is always necessary to get alignment on goals. Communicating often and repeating key messages can also help to increase trust.

One of the most effective way to know something: asking! The communication beauty process show us the perception is important too when structured with data. Choose a methodology and do a consistent work to measure what your stakeholders thinks to identify areas for enhancement.

In my experience, the best measure of communication effectiveness is how much you are learning from listening to team members. When you hear what is going well and what is causing concern directly from team members, you can more effectively focus your efforts and engage the team in figuring out the best path forward.

To make sure that changes in how we work fit with our plans, we need to talk clearly, keep things the same way when we talk to everyone, and be honest. We should ask our coworkers what they think, listen to them, make them involved and help if they're worried. Our leaders should lead by example and show us how it's done. We can learn more about our plans and what we should do by offering classes and tools. We should also ask everyone how they're doing and say "hooray!" when we do well. We must keep an eye on how we're doing and change our talks if we need to. By talking and listening well, we can make sure our plans and how we work go together and help our group succeed.

What I missed in this article is the power of feedback. Mapping and scripting your communication process is important, but listening to how people are absorbing that communication is absolutely key. After all, if your communication goal is to engage and motivate people in the right direction, getting their best performance, you need to have a way of collecting their feedback.

When driving change in an organization... I find it's important to work with stakeholders PRIOR to and DURING the change. It's best to drive change WITH your company - not TO your company. That's my free tip for today... Cheers!

Communication is key to cultivating a strong culture. Right. But the best way to communicate it is for leaders to walk the talk and act as culture agents, spreading through their actions and behaviours the core values and working principles that inspire everyone to perform at their best. Following the leaders, those who demonstrate that they fit the culture must be recognised and rewarded, creating a virtuous circle.

People tolerate your conclusions but act on their own. The biggest mistake management makes is they get too far ahead of their team and then expect team members to make giant strides to catch up with them. It is vital to have empathy for the change message to be new and the time required for teammates to process and adapt. And until they can wrap their heads around it, the best you can expect is compliance. However, compliance isn't enough. You need full commitment in which people visualize themselves in the new future and are working alongside you to create it.