The change management manifesto: How to communicate change to employees & customers ⋆ Collabo XD

Change is constant. In the market, within your team, even in the homes of your people.

Your ability to communicate change quickly and smoothly will align your organization in beautiful synchronicity. And allow you to overcome any challenges.

Whether it’s internal culture change or external product change, here’s why management is so important and how to communicate to your employees and customers.

Why is change management so important?

No one knows your organization better than you.

So when the economy changes or your organization needs to adapt, it’s your job as a leader to minimize disruptions.

Trying to eliminate all risk is impossible, so just do your best to reduce the impact. That way, you’ll realize the full potential of the changes being made.

Start by identifying points of the overhaul where things could go wrong. How might your changes impact those three key areas (time, money, quality)? Take the necessary steps to make sure they don’t.

Poor change management results in employee and customer turnover.

By communicating your changes (foreshadowing!) to both your employees and customers clearly, concisely and consistently, those who don’t want to participate in your next iteration can opt out.

That’s fine!

But for those who love your changes, they can engage and dive even deeper with you. This means better internal culture and more loyal customers.

Boom!

For some reason, so many organizations are terrible at communicating changes. And they catch public flack for it when it’s revealed.

Don’t be those guys. Here’s how:

Change must be well-communicated & consistent with your organizational vision

Communication is #1.

Before communicating outwardly to employees then customers, you have to get complete buy-in from your leadership. Because if they’re not going to model the way, who is?

Start here:

Purpose – Why are you making this change? What’s the outcome?
Action – How are you going to make the change? How is your team affected? Who is involved?
Goal – What do you hope to achieve with this change? Can you measure results of this change? Who benefits from the change?

By communicating these 3 points to your team, you ensure they’re on board. Then they have the ability to relay the why, what and how to your customers.

Also, change is a necessity of all organizations. If you’re to succeed, you need to flow with the ever-shifting market, your customers and their needs.

You can’t expect all three of those factors to remain the same forever.

Change is an opportunity to realign with your strategy and goals. Just make sure your new direction is consistent with your organization’s vision for the future, so you don’t have any problems getting employees (then customers) to buy in.

Walk in the park.

Change takes the form of anything from restructuring to new offerings to faster systems. Preparation is key.

Collabo XD helps organizations like Red Cross, Indiana University Health and Cummins prepare for big economic or organizational changes.

Want to get started? Contact us.