5 communication traps you must avoid in your first 100 days. (Plus a sixth one that nobody thought o

5 communication traps

you must avoid in your first 100 days.

(Plus a sixth one that nobody thought of.)

Congratulations.

You've just started a change initiative.

What have you got to say about that?

Being new in post is maybe not considered as a traditional change programme but it usually is, if you're a senior executive.

In the coming days, you will probably want to introduce your new perspective. This could mean a change or strategy, a restructuring or a re-definition of roles.

Whatever change you have in mind, now is the time for you to set out your stall and let your colleagues know precisely what you plan to do.

At Communicating Change, we want to help you avoid the common traps.

Launching a new strategy?

New vision or mission?

Change to working practice?

Introducing transformation?

Redefining the business proposition?

Articulating new policies?

What's a 'trap' and why five?

(Okay, six.)

In the last 12 years of communicating change, we've seen leaders in businesses large and small making the same kinds of mistakes. Many of these mistakes are to do with change initiatives in general but five of them are particularly relevant to a senior executive who is new in post. They're in no particular order and none of them is meant to be a criticism of something you are currently doing.

We're here to help you prevent making the same mistakes as hundreds of leaders will make in their first one hundred days.

(The sixth one may surprise you - and you can ignore it - but we think it's also a trap.)

The traps playlist.

01 If people can't understand your messages, they won't know what to do.

02 Right now, what's in it for them is more important than what's in it for you.

03 People don't buy into a change just because you tell them about it.

04 Communicating a change is not a single event. It's a commitment to keep talking.

05 Sugar coating the truth makes it more palatable but will eventually destroy trust.

Avoid

jargon and MBA buzzwords.

Your colleagues are already confused because they don't know what to expect from you.

So you need to use plain English to explain what you plan to do.

Corporate, boardroom-style language will murder clarity and make your colleagues feel suspicious. It will fuel any cynicism that they may have because it will seem like you are trying to keep them in the dark.

Tell them what you know and admit what you don't.

Cut the fluff. Talk and write like a human.

This will be part of a good start.

Don

'

t make your announcements one-sided.

Your intention as a leader may be exciting and offer huge potential for the business.

Share this vision. Sure. But at the moment, frame it around your team's perspective. You want them to desire to participate in your plans, not push back.

Think about their burning questions before you reveal your bold ambition.

How will it affect their day job? Will their job security decline? Why are you doing this?

When you consider what's in it for them now, your messages will improve the chances of getting what's in it for you, long term.

Ditch the megaphone and use a two-way radio.

Your colleagues will cooperate with you if they feel heard and involved. But traditional change communications are often a broadcast-only zone. Big announcements, email blasts and town hall meetings. This is one-way conversation but it should be a dialogue. You need to think of ways to make it easy for constructive discussions to happen - and have systems in place to respond to concerns. Even the biggest sceptics can become allies if you acknowledge their concerns, instead of dodging them.

Communicating a change is not a single event. It's a commitment to keep talking.

Don't do a vanishing act after you've launched your message.

A change needs continual momentum to keep it alive. Take your foot off the accelerator and it will grind to a halt. Out of sight means out of mind. So you need to commit to regular briefings and updates to show people that progress is happening. This builds both confidence and commitment. Repeat your key messages until everyone is sick of hearing them. Because that's a sure sign that they're sinking in.

When you think you've communicated enough, communicate a bit more.

People would rather hear an ugly truth than a pretty lie.

In an attempt to keep morale high, it's tempting to roll out change with upbeat slogans and positive statements. What's important, however, is not to dodge the real challenges by using euphemisms. For example, if you say you're 'streamlining roles' - when you mean layoffs - employees won't buy it and they will start to distrust you. Avoiding tough topics makes leadership look out of touch or deceptive.

It's okay to be candid, whilst still being hopeful. By owning the difficulties, you earn trust. And your colleagues will follow you through difficult times. No sugar coating needed.

Everyone

thinks this is normal. We think it's crazy. And it's a trap.

•

• Writing change messaging is a crucial speciality. But… Messages are not usually written by writers. They're written by consultants or internal comms people, who understand the process but aren't qualified to write. Most change messages are written offsite. Not in the place where they will be used. Context is important. The process typically takes several drafts, over the course of several weeks, or even months. Probably because of the previous two points.

Could this be why change communication has such a high failure rate? Would you be interested in the alternative?

When leaders in some of the world's most significant companies want to communicate change, they come to us.

For the last 12 years, businesses like these have invested in a unique way to develop change messaging. And it's worked. Click here to find out more about our OneSentence technique.