Important things to communicate in times of change

AS LEADERS, we are far more visible than we realise.

This is especially important during times of strategic change, when followers are trying to make sense of a new “ask” from the organisation, in the context of all the existing requests they’re already grappling with.

There are three main areas in which you as a leader may fail to communicate clearly and effectively in times of change: 1 TELLING YOUR ORGANISATION WHAT YOU WANT: Too many followers tasked with delivering change report that their leaders weren’t clear about what they wanted the change to achieve.

It seems the reasons for this are twofold: Leaders too often express what they want in terms not of outcomes, but of tasks, and they rarely make clear the full extent of the change they are asking for. 2 PERSONALLY LIVING THE CHANGE YOU’VE ASKED FOR: Living the change you want to see means much more than modelling any behaviour you’ve asked for; it also means making myriad decisions that support that change.

It also means changing how you spend your time: If you’re not allotting time to the change you’ve asked for, followers will interpret the latest change as not really important, and they will act accordingly. 3 RESOURCING AND MEASURING THE CHANGE YOU’VE ASKED FOR: How your organisation spends its resources and what it chooses to measure are the final critical ways it signals what is important.

You must allocate the right people, with the right level of seniority, experience and political connections, to work on the change.

And you have to make changes to what you measure, and make them early.

Adapted from How to Communicate Clearly During Organisational Change at HBR. org