Good communication is vital to business transformation success

Two great minds of the 19th and 20th
centuries had the following to say about
change:

“It is not the strongest that survive, nor the
most intelligent, but the most responsive to
CHANGE.” - Charles Darwin.

Change is the law of life and those who
look only to the past or present are certain
to miss the future.” - John F. Kennedy

When we talk about successful business
transformation, we are essentially talking
about well-managed change.

A survey of European executives conducted
by global consultants CapGemini in
consultation with the Economist
Intelligence Unit entitled Trends in Business
Transformation summarised: “The need for
business transformation has never been
greater in the modern organisation. But
while companies are gradually becoming
accustomed to being in the midst of
constant change, they often lack the
knowledge and skills they need to thrive in
such an environment.”

One of the key success factors in achieving
business transformation was noted as
being the delivery of effective
communication – at all stages of the
transformation project.

It starts with the communication of the
vision. The CapGemini report states that:
“The effective communication of vision
obviously has a role to play in all these
things, and our interviewees were
unanimous in their view that it was the
most important ingredient in successful
transformation.”

So what constitutes a well-communicated
vision?

“To be successful, a transformation project
must be referenced continuously to the
future state of the organisation,” says
Professor Scase of the University of Kent.

“The CEO must set a vision for the future
that provides a context, and therefore a
rationale, an explanation for
transformation. And this vision must be
reiterated continuously throughout the life
of the project. Otherwise, the
understanding of why it is being done may
be lost.”

Referencing the positive future state of an
organisation and the benefits of
transformation are key ingredients in early
communication. Steve Jobs was recognised
for his ability to create and communicate a
vision. He painted a clear picture of how
and why his products would transform the
way we do things – for the better. It is this
type of communication that key
organisational leaders need to draw upon
to motivate and inspire their employees to
“live the change”.

But communication plays a vital role in
business transformation well beyond the
vision.

Darrin Wikoff, a consultant and change
management professional who has worked
in Australia as part of Alcoa’s global
initiative, identified the following core
communication messages essential to the
success of business transformation
projects:

What role will I play in the change process?
– Recognise the “early adopters” and
provide them with a clear role in “getting
things done”.
Where is the resistance to change? –
Develop a mechanism to uncover potential
paths of resistance to change.
Displaying your commitment to change –
Use communication to help employees
understand that this business
transformation project is not a “flavour of
the month.”
How will the change affect me? – Fifty-two
per cent of people engaged in the
transformation effort prefer to have their
direct supervisor communicate how the
changes will affect them.

When communicating role changes or
changes to systems or tools that the
employee uses day-to-day, direct
supervisors are the most effective as a
result of their relationship with the
individual. Good communication is two-way
communication. It is not simply “passing on
information”. The messages communicated,
as well as when, how and to whom should
all be considered as well as ensuring the
delivery is made with honesty and
consistency. This includes communicating
bad news, if necessary, rather than not
communicating at all, as employees will
often fill gaps in communication with their
own (often worst case) conclusions.