What are the best practices for communicating process change to employees?

When it comes to communicating process change, I've found that letting data guide the conversation is crucial. By sharing the "why" behind the change and helping employees understand the performance gap, we create a collaborative platform. Involving them in creating and testing the process change fosters a sense of ownership. Empowering them from the early stages drives sustainable change within the organization.

For me starting with the need for change is one of the most critical elements, taking the time to explain and communicate the why. Understanding your audience in this process is important as different personalities, learning and communication styles require different methods of communication. I’ve also found it important to understand if my audience is present or future focused- are they most focused on what they will lose, or what they will gain.

Ask more, talk less! There’s a fundamental ‘conflict of interest’ between employer and employee (or better: all stakeholders), and this is often based on a fixed set of assumptions. Assumptions restrict organizations, and yet, they are rarely, if ever, the subject of an open debate. So, before explaining the ‘Why?’, I advise you to explore the psychological landscape. If you want long-term sustainable change to happen, it’s important to delve into your company’s underlying assumptions, which holds sway over so much of our thinking. Analyse and gain a thorough understanding of the current assumptions re the change process and ‘Why?’ And once aware of the company’s mental model, you’ll be in the position to draw up new thinking e.g the ‘Why?’

After leading with the "why", and ensuring an understanding of the need to deliver different outcomes, it's a best practice to involve key stakeholders in the process of documenting the "as-is" state, and then participating in the "to-be" process design. Since all key stakeholders are unlikely to be involved, another best practice is to identify and enroll champions that represent their group. They serve as the working ambassador to help deliver communications, solicit feedback, and incorporate same into documentation and training material. This approach adds velocity and quality to the final process design, and injects knowledge and ownership into the organization. Some of the most unlikely candidates become the best long-term champions!

Map the new process (CPM\BPM\ACM), compile it, roll it out as a template to a 'sandbox', have a small group of stakeholders generate a few Cases, stream each Case onto the new process template, have a workflow engine at the run-time platform auto-post tasks along the process template to the right people, at the right time, in the right sequence, with auto-posting the right data display\data collection forms. Make a video that allows other stakeholders to become familiar with the new process.

After leading with the "why", and ensuring an understanding of the need to deliver different outcomes, it's a best practice to involve key stakeholders in the process of documenting the "as-is" state, and then participating in the "to-be" process design. Since all key stakeholders are unlikely to be involved, another best practice is to identify and enroll champions that represent their group. They serve as the working ambassador to help deliver communications, solicit feedback, and incorporate same into documentation and training material. This approach adds velocity and quality to the final process design, and injects knowledge and ownership into the organization. Some of the most unlikely candidates become the best long-term champions!

In my experience, involving key stakeholders early on was not only instrumental in those individuals welcoming the change, but they also helped us identify and work through key considerations to overcome challenges and make the best decisions - that we would not have been aware of otherwise.

From my experience for change to be successful stakeholder communications must also build awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement of the change for individuals (Prosci ADKAR model)

A step that is often missed but is critical is the why. Why is this change, process, enablement needed. How and why does it impact me, my team and my clients. You want the communication to be batched, fresh and frequent to ensure the message is resonating. Stakeholders, teams and individual contributors can all influence their peers and become stewards of change.

Die zielgruppengerechte Aufbereitung der Prozess?nderung ist meines Erachtens ein entscheidender Erfolgsfaktor. Leider ist diese mitunter aufwendig und wird durch ein "one size fits all"-Ansatz vermieden. Welche Kan?le und Formate geeignet sind h?ngt n?mlich auch davon ab - wie viele Prozessbeteiligte bzw. Betroffene es gibt - wie gut der Prozess an zentraler Stelle dokumentiert ist und wie aktuell die Dokumentation ist - wie kompliziert die Prozessausführung ist - wie stark die jeweiligen Rollen im Prozess von der ?nderung betroffen sind - wie h?ufig sich der Prozess ?ndert - wie "bequem" und verst?ndlich der Prozess und die IT-Systeme generell gestaltet sind - von wem der Prozess bzw. die Prozess?nderung verantwortet wird und vieles mehr

To effectively communicate process change, it's crucial to employ multiple channels and formats tailored to the diverse preferences and needs of your audience. Utilizing email, newsletters, intranet, webinars, videos, posters, flyers, and face-to-face meetings ensures widespread dissemination of information. Furthermore, varying the level of detail and complexity allows for targeted messaging—providing high-level overviews for executives, detailed guides for end-users, and FAQ sheets for general inquiries. This approach maximizes understanding and engagement, facilitating smoother adoption of the changes across the organization.

Meiner Erfahrung nach werden neue Prozesse bzw. Prozess?nderungen leider selten didaktisch sinnvoll vermittelt. Stattdessen werden die ?nderungen aufgez?hlt oder maximal der neue Prozess vorgestellt. Einen Prozess zu schulen kann aber viel mehr beinhalten, z.B. - Prozess-Simulation bzw. Planspiele - Erarbeitung von Prozessvarianten und Sonderf?llen - üben an dazugeh?rigen IT-Systemen (Test-Systeme) - FAQs - Quizze - Input-"Vortr?ge" von Fachexperten - Auseinandersetzung mit den Gründen für die Prozess?nderung - Vorstellung der Kundenanforderungen an den Prozess - Besprechung von Erfolgsfaktoren oder Fehlerpotentialen bzw. Risiken bei der Prozessausführung Prozess-Schulungen k?nnten viel interessanter sein als es heute oft der Fall ist.

Create a supportive environment and a safe space for open and transparent discussions, use empathy as your guide. Gradually implement changes to give employees sufficient time to learn and adjust to the new processes. Additionally, encourage employees to provide feedback on the new process, so you can make adjustments as needed. This will ensure that the process is working effectively and meeting the needs of everyone involved.