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The following tutorial is based on initial findings from the 2003 Best Practices in Managing Change benchmarking study. This is Prosci's third study in the past six years that investigates best practices in change management. 288 organizations from 51 countries participated in this study. The full report is expected to be available in mid-February, 2003. Email questions about the most recent study to tcreasey@prosci.com. Information on the current Best Practices report is available online.

Who should deliver the message?

The top two senders of change management messages as indicated by study participants were:

• The employee’s supervisor

• CEO/President

Figure A - Ideal message deliverer

Editor’s note: The top two answers (CEO and supervisor) show an interesting dichotomy. The two individuals selected most often are the closest to and farthest away from the front-line employees in the organizational structure. A second implication relies on the amount and type of control of these two particular individuals. The supervisor has the most control over the direction of the employee’s daily activities, while the executive has the most control over the direction of the business.

Most important messages to communicate

Participants cited the most important messages to communicate to employees affected by the change. These messages included:

• The current situation and the rationale for the change (why is the change needed)

• A vision of the organization after the change takes place (alignment with business strategy)

• The basics of what is changing (scope of the change), how it will change, and when it will change

• The goals or objectives for the change

• The expectation that change will happen and is not a choice (risk of not changing)

• The impact of the change on the day-to-day activities of the employee (WIIFM - What’s in it for me?)

• Implications of the change on job security (Will I have a job?)

• Specific behaviors and activities expected from the employee during the change

• Status updates on the performance of the change, including success stories

• Procedures for getting help and assistance during the change

Note that these messages represent two discrete groups. One set of messages is about the business whereas the other set of messages is about the employee and the impact the change will have on them personally.

What aspects of communication contributed the most to your programs success?

Responses regarding the most successful aspect of communication varied. Participants discussed both the type of communication (how it was delivered) as well as the specific message and characteristic (what was delivered) of effective communication.

In relation to the delivery of the message, participants overwhelmingly indicated that direct, face-to-face communication was most effective. Direct communications were seen as successful for conveying messages about the need for change, providing details about specific roles and expectations, describing the future state and answering specific questions.  Many participants also identified email and intranet websites as effective methods. However, one participant wrote that employees:

     “did not read emails (we all get too many!)”

Participants concluded that different types of communication are better depending on the message. One participant wrote that the best methods of communicating were: “Face to face (for effect); email (for efficiency)”.

In addition to how the message was delivered, participants provided characteristics of communications that contributed to success. According to participants, successful communications were:

• honest – “Honesty even when the consequences were possibly negative”

• frequent and consistent throughout the entire program

• consistent

• open, transparent and safe

Participants also stated that communications, when done properly and from the right source (the person delivering the message), were direct evidence of the support and commitment to change by executives and sponsors.

What would you do differently with regard to communication?

Participants indicated that the top-five changes they would make to their communications approach were:

1. More communications (more frequent)

2. Begin communications sooner in the project

3. More face-to-face communications – some participants felt that they relied too heavily on email, not recognizing the importance of a personal approach

4. More communication from executive sponsors and senior managers

5. More about the impact of the change on employees – answering the questions how will this affect me? and what is in it for me?

Coming up in the next tutorial ... qualities of the best change management teams

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