Strong communications strategy can boost sponsorship engagement, a major factor in whether change initiatives stick.
By Dan Pecchia
The benefits of communication programs for business transformation initiatives are widely known, whether the major change is a companywide technology rollout, a post-acquisition consolidation or something else.
The primary value of such programs is the engagement and motivation of employees and others impacted by the change so that they do what’s necessary for a successful transition. Good communication has long been associated with higher levels of adoption and lower levels of resistance.
Beyond that, there are unheralded benefits of effective communication in major change management situations. Here are three of them.
Communication Strategy Supercharges Sponsor Engagement
Almost every study about the factors that make or break major change initiatives lists the behavior of the program sponsor, often a high-ranking executive, at the top. If he or she is truly engaged in leading the program, there’s a good chance it will work. If not, the odds drop sharply.
Genuine executive engagement is rare. These individuals are not only busy but often listed as sponsors of multiple programs as a matter of course and thus not viewed as true champions of any particular one.
But take a close look at any change program where the sponsor is said to be genuinely engaged, and you’ll find the support of solid communications. Someone is writing the presentations and memos, someone is scheduling him or her at the meetings and preparing the talking points and someone built a strategy for the sustained flow of executive communications and visibility that convey engaged leadership.
Our experience is that when an effective business leader finds someone who can supply the right “voice,” with the right words, the right vehicles and the right cadence, that leader will amp up big-time on leadership engagement.
Show me an executive who’s willing to quack, and we’ll make him a duck.
Communication Materials Build Team Spirit
Another silent benefit of professional communication in change situations is the favorable impact it can have on a project team.
These jobs in support of SAP rollouts, technology integrations, cybersecurity updates and the like can be miserably thankless. As resources are always thin, deadlines are often tight and everything is changing, team members often work long hours alongside frustrated colleagues.
And although a recognition effort seasoned by clever text, timely photos and a sense of humor doesn’t make everything right, it sure can help. Reliable, credible, engaging communication that recognizes and encourages high performers can provide a genuine lift to an overworked team.
Communication Planning Sets a Pattern for Success
Perhaps the most highly underrated benefit of good communications is that many strategies and materials can be packaged like a kit, maintained on a shared site and then rolled out later for similar situations.
All change initiatives are different, but their goals – engagement, guidance, program credibility, answers, clarity – are about the same.
On almost every new engagement we begin, we’re asked what we have from past projects that can be leveraged. That’s because time and resources for originality are often strained, and the stuff “out of the box” can provide a great start.
Just as itinerant consultants benefit from this “communication kit” phenomenon, clients can benefit by recognizing that many benefits of good communication – the widely appreciated and the undercover – can last a long time.
Dan Pecchia is a change management communications consultant who supports major business transformation initiatives.
