Communicate for Action | trainingmag.com

Effective communication is a critical competency for organizational success.

 

By Kevin Sensenig, vice president and global brand champion, Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc.

 

Ask a group of employees about the challenges they face in their organization, and most often communication issues are close to the top of the list—even though there is no lack of information, strategies, tips, and training available on the subject. In fact, a recent Google Web search using the key words, “communication articles,” revealed 77.3 million hits. So why do organizations ... 

 

Communicate for Action | trainingmag.com

Staying on Top of the Change Process

Engaging workplace change can be an unpredictable experience because processes and people evolve in diverse ways as they undergo change. No two individuals will respond in exactly the same way to workplace changes. In the same way, identical changes implemented in multiple areas of an organization can produce distinctly different outcomes. These tips show you how to stay on top of the change engagement process by thoroughly preparing for it, while allowing for various outcomes. These tips allow you to take a structured approach to change management and still maintain flexibility.

Motivation for Change

Change begins at the point where the organization finds a motivation for change. Sometimes external issues drive the change like reorganizations, management changes, relocation's, or acquisitions/mergers. Other times, internal forces such as upgraded technology, expansions and growth, or continuous improvement drive the change.

Analyze the Situation

As the organization becomes progressively more motivated to change, leadership undertakes a thorough analysis of the risks and opportunities associated with the proposed change.

• What are the potential gains in undertaking the change?
• What are the costs?
• What are the risks of making the change?
• What are the risks of not making the change?

Plan the Direction

Once an organization determines that opportunities outweigh the risks of making the change, it develops a plan for change implementation. Many organizational change initiatives fail because of lack of careful, thorough planning. In this step, the stage is set for the ultimate success or failure of the change. Key elements of the plan must include:

• Planning for the impact of the change on individuals who will be most affected.
• Planning for the impact of the change on the systems within the organization that will be most affected.
• A step-by-step plan for integrating the change into the organization.
• A review plan to measure the success of the proposed change.

 

Implement the Change

Depending on the type and scope of the change, implementation within the organization may be gradual or abrupt. Changes such as layoffs or acquisitions often are implemented with little prior warning; while staffing, reorganization, or technology changes may be phased in over a period of time. The team’s most critical role in this step of the change process is to maintain open, honest lines of communication with each other.Define individual responsibilities.

• Define individual responsibilities.
• Announce and launch the change.
• Adhere to timetables.
• Promote the anticipated benefits of the change.

Review the Direction

Once the change has been implemented in the organization, you should monitor the outcomes of the new structure and system. As team members in a changing work environment, you can’t assume that the change will evolve exactly as planned or that every individual affected by the change will react as anticipated. Your role is to observe review checkpoints that will reveal whether the change is working as anticipated and is producing the desired results.

• Establish ways of measuring results.
• Communicate criteria for successful change outcomes.
• Coordinate the gathering and measuring of change effects.
• Inform key team members consistently during the review process.

Adopt

When you have reviewed the change implementation and found it to be succeeding as planned, the organization adopts the change and it becomes part of the new organizational norm. The review process is not terminated, but it transitions to the ongoing monitoring of the changed systems and relationships within the organization.

• How well is the change meeting planned outcomes?
• How well have you adjusted to the new status quo?
• What aspects of the change have not met expectations?
• What is your role in making those aspects more successful?

Adjust

If the review process concluded that the change is not working as planned, you should adjust the change implementation. Assuming that the organization executed the change analysis and plan accurately, you should be able to adjust the implementation of the organizational change to achieve your desired results.

• Determine where the outcomes are falling short of your plan.
• Engage key individuals in determining adjustments that need to be made.
• Keep the lines of communication open with everyone involved.
• Make adjustments to the review process and to the change implementation.

Proper Project Planning = Direction and Perfection

The ability to plan projects, both large and small, simple and complicated, is essential in today’s business environment. Without the tools to do so, people tend to flounder, “wing it,” or wander off course, resulting in delayed success, missed deadlines, or failure. Read on to learn about the steps you can take to plan a successful project.

Step 1: “Should-Be”

Clarify the project scope and be sure that the scope is aligned with senior management’s initiatives. The “should be” is a picture of what you ultimately want and who and how this result will benefit all involved. Your team and senior management should work together to ensure you agree on objectives. If you have not done a good job of defining scope, it will be nearly impossible to plan the project.

Step 2: “As-Is”

This is the reality of the current situation. Where are you today? What factors help and hinder your efforts to carry out the project’s scope?

Step 3: Goals

Define and set realistic goals to successfully carry out the scope of the project. Without such goals, you and your team will drift. Goals can be immediate, intermediate, and long-range. Achieving day-to-day goals (immediate goals) contributes to the achievement of intermediate and long-range goals. Develop SMART goals:

  S - Specific processes and resources

  M - Measurable by objective data

  A - Attainable

  R - Relevant to your vision

  T - Time-specific deadline

Step 4: Action Steps

To achieve your goals, you must establish specific priorities so that you can develop specific action steps. To achieve your goals, your action steps should include:

• Job requirements
• Who will do the job
• Methods to be used
• How the different parts tie together and fit into the big picture
• How the results will be communicated (report, PowerPoint, etc.)

Step 5: Cost

Another aspect to planning is determining the budget for and cost of each action step. Costs include:

• Personnel
• Materials
• Time
• Opportunity cost (what must be given up to pursue a given action)

Step 6: Timetables

Set and communicate deadlines so there is a clear understanding and so that immediate, intermediate, and long-term targets can be met. When establishing timetables, be realistic. Work backwards to determine when each phase should be completed, and put the schedule in writing to avoid misunderstandings.

Step 7: Implementation

An important, yet overlooked, part of implementing a plan is making sure that all involved understand their role in achieving the established goals. Obtain the team’s commitment to agreed-upon results. As you monitor the implementation, you may need to modify the scope of the plan and reevaluate your goals.

Step 8: Follow Up/Measurement

A critical part of the planning process is to keep accurate records, analyze why deviations have occurred, and take action to correct any challenges. Concentrate on those factors critical to reaching the goal.