Presentation at the Internal Comms Forum, Dubai , Dec 2013 organized by Turjuman

1. The role of Internal Communications in
Managing Change
Emma Murphy
Dec 16th, 2013

2. What is driving change?
Global
competition
Changing
workforce
mix
Regional
instability
Regulations
Business
Landscape
Brand story
and purpose
Customer
power shift
Social media
Technology
shifts

3. A competitive edge…
Becoming change
capable is now a key
competitive
advantage

4. Sound familiar?
“We should have
paid more
attention to
people resisting”
“Next time we will
involve more
people”
“I wish the
sponsor had been
more supportive”
“We should have
communicated
more frequently”
This is what we
want to avoid
hearing…
“We should have
spent more time
on training”
“We should have
assessed the
people readiness
earlier”

5. What is Change Management?
A structured process
and set of tools for
leading the people
side of change from
a current to a future
state

6. Why is it important?
Fact: 70% of change
efforts fail
Why?
• Lack of active and visible sponsorship
• Employee resistance
• Management behaviours that do not
support the desired change
What are the benefits of Change Management?
•
•
•
•
•
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Reduce resistance to change;
Build commitment and buy in from stakeholders;
Build knowledge and ability amongst impacted stakeholders;
Increase the likelihood of projects finishing on time and on budget;
Increase competitiveness by building change capability;
Ensure the change is sustained.

7. Change Management Approach
• Business Case
• Project Scope
• Project Plan
Change Management Approach
Change Management Plan
Assess
Impact
Case for
Change
Stakeholder
Mngt and
Engagement
Sponsor
Roadmap
Workforce
Alignment
Aligned Leadership
Teamwork and Collaboration
Prepare
Managers
Conduct
training
Assess
Readiness

8. Key Partners
Corporate
Comms
Project
Mmgt
HR
Leadership
L&D
Change
Mmgt

9. Understanding the Change
What are the drivers for change?
Why is this happening now?
What is the scope of the project?
What are the key milestones?
Who are the key stakeholders?
How does this align with the overall strategy?
What are the resource requirements?

10. The Commitment Curve

11. Stakeholder Engagement
Step 1
Identify and group into
Tier Stakeholders
Step 2
Develop key
messages and
Comms plans
Step 3
Execute, Monitor
and Amend
Examples of proposed engagement events & communication mediums include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Social Media Campaign
Awareness Sessions/Kick Off Meetings
Competitions (e.g., “What does transformation mean to you?”) Roadshows / Launches
Change Knowledge Bytes – small, snippets of information released weekly (the alternative to
reading the whole newsletter) to all employees
Change Ambassadors program
Sector/Function presentations
Sponsor & Steering Committee meetings
Project Awards
Collaboration spaces e.g Yammer Groups
Project Intranet site
Manager Information Package

12. Developing Key Messages
Why are we changing?
•
•
What are the drivers of change?
• Why is this happening now?
What are the risks of not changing?
What does this mean for you?
•
How will employees be impacted?
• What are the expectations?
• What support will you receive?
What is changing?
Change
Vision
•
What is the scope of the project?
• Which depts will be impacted?
• What are the timelines involved?
What are the benefits?
•
What are the expected outcomes?
• How will this add value both
internally and externally?

13. Key Internal Comms Activities
Review Comms
strategy and Plan
Build a project
brand
Leadership
Alignment
Organize events
e.g. kick
offs, workshops
Review Message
Content
Conduct Comms
cascade training
Align new
behaviours to
values and vision
Create intranet
page/Enterprise
Social Groups
Monitor and track
communications

14. Leadership Alignment
How can leaders connect with their followers during times of
change?
• Followers are looking for authenticity, significance and community
from their leaders.
• They want leaders who are visible, available and transparent
throughout a change journey.
• Followers want to know that the leadership team and employees are
in this together so they can feel that what they are doing is important
and that their contributions make a difference.
• Followers want to know how leaders align their values and
behaviours with the organizational values.
How can Internal Comms support leaders during change?

15. Leadership Alignment
“The organization’s people become a
mirror image of the leader. What do you
want your people to be and do?”
Debbie Nicol, Business en Motion

16. Collaboration and Teamwork
Collaboration
Technology
• Intranet
• Enterprise Social
Networks
• Social Media
• Virtual Workspaces
and groups
• Webinars
Events
• Leadership off sites
• Teambuilding
sessions
• World Café
• Design Workshops
• Change Champion
Events
• Awards Ceremonies
• Demo Sessions
Training
•
•
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•
•
E-learning
Video courses
Role play/acting
Classroom
Invites, teasers and
follow ups

17. The Future of Communications
Traditional corporate communication is giving way to a model that Groysberg
and Slind call „organizational conversation.‟ They highlight 3 steps an
organization can take to engage in this new way:
1. Close the gap between leaders and employees
How can we ensure leaders are more direct, open and honest in communications to
employees?
2. Promote two way dialogue
What channels are available to promote a two way dialogue and allow ideas to move in multiple
directions?
How can we maintain ongoing dialogue?
3. Engage Employees in telling the company story
How can we encourage employees to tell their story and share it with the organization?
How can we highlight and reward successes?

18. The Power of Story Telling
• What is the story
behind your change
project?
• How does this link to
the overall vision
and company story?
• Why is storytelling
so powerful?

19. Types of Stories
Project
Leadership
Employee
Customer

20. Finally…
• Let‟s help to prepare our organizations for the future;
• Global progress and change is not slowing down;
• Customers and employees needs are changing;
How can we create meaningful communications and
interactions to engage employees and sustain change?