How to Communicate Workflow Changes to Teams

Every time I write up an org-wide communication related to major changes, I consistently apply the lessons that I learned from Annie Christiansen and Kathy Gowell during my time working with them at MuleSoft/Salesforce. Spending most of my early and middle career in more technical roles, my communication style had a tendency lean towards the technical (and wordy). Annie and Kathy did an amazing job helping me step back and reframe my communications to be focused, prioritize the crucial information first, and apply empathy (we're not all engineers in the tech world). I've templated, to a large degree, the key messaging points I picked up from them • What's happening? (𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵) • What does this mean for me? (𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥? 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰?)  • Why is this happening? (𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵!) • I still have questions, where should I bring them to? (𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘴, 𝘦𝘵𝘤) These four stanzas are present in nearly 99% of my major comms. They work when updating the staff about major security threats (such as vishing/smishing campaigns), changes to org-wide systems (such SSO/MFA improvements), and so much more. Most importantly, bring empathy to all comms. Try, as best as you can, to put yourself on the receiving end of the communication you're sending and challenge yourself with the question "is the information framed in a way that I and my peers would feel informed & engaged if we were the recipients"

A common communications problem I see in organizations with low-trust cultures: 🔺 Executive team makes a major decision that will change the company's direction or structure, a key employee experience, or a core process/tool. 🚨 All employees are notified at the same time - including people leaders and managers (because "this is HIGHLY sensitive and we can't risk a leak!") ⁉️ Employees instantly turn to their managers: "What does this mean for me?" 🤷♀️ Managers have NO idea because they just found out too. 😣 Employees are anxious, managers are anxious AND frustrated (not to mentioned embarrassed for feeling out of the loop). 👎 Productivity drops, morale suffers, and intent to leave rises. Managers are either your culture's biggest pain point or biggest success factor. The difference is you - not them. The difference is how well you empower them to actively advocate for the company's direction and goals and set them up to successfully lead their teams through these moments. The difference is trust. Here's an alternative way that scenario can play out in a high-trust, high-functioning culture: 🔺 Executive team makes a major decision that will change the company's direction or structure, a key employee experience, or a core process/tool. 💡 Executive team meets with all people leaders and managers a day before the internal company announcement. They inform them of the decision; provide background context that may not be appropriate for a broader audience; share resources to help managers support employees and answer anticipated questions; and give them time to absorb the change themselves and prepare for their team's response. 🚨 All employees are notified and are immediately invited to a team meeting by their manager. ⁉️ Employees instantly turn to their managers: "What does this mean for me?" 🤷♀️ Managers reiterate key company talking points plus add context unique to the team that helps put the change in perspective. They share links and points of contact for additional questions. They provide clear next steps for the team on how they are going to implement the change. 😣 Employees are processing the change, but feel in control. Managers feel prepared and valuable and a part of the broader leadership team. They are invested in a successful outcome. 👍 Productivity holds steady. Trust and morale increase because people feel respected. Empowered managers are sturdy leaders. Better yet, by bringing your managers into the 'room', you increase their self-confidence and deepen their commitment to the company by enabling them to be good at their jobs. Win-win. Again and again. #Culture #LeadershipDevelopment #InternalCommunications #ManagerDevelopment #Trust #Transparency

Problem that I hear often: "Our processes change and then it is a pain to update our documentation." Of course it is! But the worst part is this: When you wait to change your documentation until after you change the process, you just double the pain. Let me explain. Typical flow: - Process is documented - Change happens - Supervisors and trainers tell everyone to adopt the new way and that the current documentation is out of date - No one remembers everything they are taught so chaos ensues - They then try to find time to go back and update the documentation The result: No one trusts your documentation, so your effort in updating it is wasted. Nobody used it to navigate the change. Here is the Find & Follow Way: - Identify the change - Update your digital guides to reflect the change - Send a change notification with a link to the guide Result: Everyone adapts to change, much less chaos, people aren't required to "remember" everything and your documentation is current. Yes, it is a pain to update the documentation. But change is always painful. If you update your guides FIRST and use them to communicate the change to your employees, you decrease the pain of change.