How do you update your change communication plan?

In my experience we need to consider the total impact of the change plan. This should include milestones for the entire process. The communication plan needs to consider the appropriate medium...whether it should be face-to-face or written to provide insight from those being affected.

One thing to consider is the moment that change occurs or prior to the change, ensuring that those impacted had a voice or a chance to voice an opinion. If people feel like they were listened to, understood, and appreciated, then they are typically accepting to the change. The impact of poor communication on a team can be devastating.

It is assumed that there are specific benchmarks set to determine if the change process is moving along an optimal trail of action. Align the strategic objectives that detail the goals set to match the target or vision of the mission.

Analyze Data: Analyze the data collected to evaluate the success of the change initiative in achieving the stated objectives. Look for trends, patterns, and any deviations from the expected outcomes. Identify Gaps and Challenges: Identify any gaps between the actual results and the desired outcomes. Understand the challenges or roadblocks that may be hindering the change initiative's success. Revise Communication Strategy: Based on the insights gained from the review, revise your change communication plan. Engage Leadership Support: If necessary, engage leadership support to reinforce the change objectives and communicate the importance of the initiative to the entire organization.

Change is inevitable, dealing with it and communicating are often screwed up. With any change it must be identified, annualized, documented and communicated. Once it is communicated, may bring more changes, as there are thing that you (or your team) do not know or understand. Communication should be written and distributed, waiting for a meeting only delays the implementation or will impact other aspects down the road. Use the KISS method, always works best.

This is where emotional intelligence comes into play. With the right leader who has lieutenants that own and share the missions vision, the stakeholders can be aligned to roll out a successful outcome. Team building is key to success.

Let your stakeholders know that you will be polling them 2-3 times on requirements. Have your stakeholders list their requirements. Merge them with the others to show congruence and never exclude. As simples as this sounds, it help the stakeholders know/understand were they are in agreement or not. Now you may go back and ask them what their requirements are again, as they will see something that they had not thought about. You may need to do this 2-3 times (no more) to make sure you have the majority in agreement.

Change of communication is the “change management process” of sharing information. For example, informing the staff about an upcoming or current change in the workplace. Here are a few points. They are: 1) Accept the fact that not everyone will be supportive. 2) Approach straight-forwardly. 3) Communicate effectively and efficiently. 4) Communicate through the right people. 5) Communicate using multiple channels like emails, internal circulars, meetings, etc., 6) Touch upon questions like “What’s in for me”. 7) Be prepared for resistance, of the people, to change. 8) Gather feedback to know the public pulse. 9) Be bold enough to carry out the change management process. 10) Don’t get carried away with others’ opinions but respect them.

Regular stakeholder analysis is very important to keep the end users engaged. Adjusting it based on role/position changes, changes in user status on change curve. This will help adjusting the communication plan and cater it to the needs of the user. How the change is communicated to a C-suite, senior leadership, local management and the frontline worker needs to be linked to what are their needs and how the to-be state will help address their concerns/issues in day-to-day tasks. This will enable the buy-in and help with the change adoption process.

It is assumed that the team or stakeholders engaged in the pursuit meet irregularly as key benchmarks are met to reevaluate the mission parameters which may require redefining or remolding the target objective and the earlier benchmarks set for the next stage of the project. Communication is critical if it remains relevant and up to date.

When it comes to transformative change that requires mindset and behavior shift, having a clear understanding of your current and desired behaviors, beliefs, drivers, and values of your employees – is a critical step toward creating your organization’s future and ensuring success. To support your change initiative, you should be thinking about the following: 1. utilizing communications and messaging as a necessary and positive tool intentionally and consciously 2. describing your existing state to address gaps between your current state and what you intend to create 3. defining awareness, behaviors, and steps required to get there, and achieve your vision

In evaluating communications, it's the ones that do not communicate properly that will come back to bite you. You will need to prod them and document it. Do not assume you understand how or what they are communicating back, as you may not be on the same page, as you both are coming at it from different directions and it does not end well.

Communication schedule should be well thought out. Points to consider :- 1. Structured communication. Communication of what is relevant in the near future and what will have maximum impact on the employees should be the priority one communication. 2. Timelines. Information about the next communication cycle should be included, helps to reduce speculation and anxiety among employees and the timeline to be strictly adhered. 3. Stakeholder integration. Simultaneously communicating to all stakeholders will help remove misunderstandings or complications between Teams.

To continue to thrive, successful organizations must not just adapt, but lead in new and different ways—leaders are expected to lead with empathy, be vulnerable and more transparent, demonstrate self-awareness, and communicate regularly, even when they don’t have all the answers. Effective communication is essential to successful change initiatives; communication sets the tone for change, articulates the vision, invites diverse voices into the conversation, defines the process, encourages engagement, and ultimately builds trust, creating psychological safety and enabling greater productivity and innovation. Effective communication must include two-way channels for employees to give feedback, ask questions, share ideas, & express concerns.

Explain the value! More words and more process leads to gaps because your IT guy doesn’t read all the instructions all the time and that’s good for him. The most important step is have less steps! Get the value clear and layout the big picture to everyone involved from the Helpdesk person that will get a new function in their client tool to the change implementer making them all part of the journey to the value. Also, Please Get rid of IT change freeze ! 80% of all outages happen outside the change freeze so the problem is that we focus all the resources all the time except when there is a change freeze ! Be flexible with your changes and count on great results all the time.

Connect. Comprehend. Change doesn’t happen on a PowerPoint. It happens I’m the hearts and minds of the people we serve in our capacity as Leaders. Driving change is an iterative process that requires an ongoing 4C cycle (due to space restrictions I’ll cover the first two): Connect: at the beginning, middle or at the end of a change process, data is key. We need to connect with the people and the needs that we are aiming shift. Feedback as a general term is not enough; granular audience analysis can make or break a change on plan. Comprehend: Maslow’s hammer teaches us that we are naturally biased. To change we must truly understand what drives behaviour and only then can we agree on a shift path. How are you analysing your insights?

Updates on the change communication plan are normally not a specific plan, moreover its routine communication with an emphasise of the change of communication plan It's moreover ensuring due diligence has been done evaluating the effectiveness in terms of communication reachability, communication technology, communication platform and the end client compatibility to whom this plan is being worked out, is understood and customised accordingly

In my experience, a change communication plan must be done using language that is unambiguous and concise. The language of a change communication plan should be appropriate to the target audience/ stakeholders involved. A rule of thumb I always encourage my clients to adopt is to ‘keep it simple’, one of the seven guiding principles of ITIL v4 Simplicity in expression will undoubtedly result in a better understanding of the change objectives, consequences and required actions in the event of a roll back to status quo. Keep it simple.