Change Management & The Role of

Communications

IABC Southern Region Conference, Sep 30, 2008

. . .

Avneet Jolly, Insightory Inc.

www.insightory.com

Agenda (well, sort of . . .)

About me

How (much) I know about change

What I do (not) know

Change theory

What we agree on

What I have learned

What should communicators do?

Everything I know about change, I

learned from:

1. Business ventures

A BIG BANK (Yes – it is still standing)

(Yes – I checked this morning!)

Everything I know about change, I

learned from:

2. Clients

Everything I know about change, I

learned from:

3.Family

is the new

Everything I know about change, I

learned from:

4. Community leaders

How much I know about change

My age

Fortunately, I’m in good company

One cannot manage change. One can only be ahead of it.

- - Peter Drucker

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of [changing], and that's your own self.

- - Aldous Huxley

Why is it so difficult?

(vision, goals, leadership, skills, personalities, structure, resources, systems, processes, industry, legislation, . . .)

Translation: No one really knows that the %^&$ this is all about!!

Change =

Different views on change

A few things everyone agrees on

1. There is a beginning and an end

2. Place in the middle is very hard

3. It is always much harder & much slower than you think

4. Cannot be done without a burning platform

5. Two-way communication is critical

6. Leadership support is critical

7. A (good) part of change management is: just getting used to

it!

8. (Individual) transition is different from change

9. The initiative will probably fail anyway

Individual transition (aka Peak-Valley diagram)

Normal

Denial, Fear

Anger

Acceptance

Enthusiasm

Ending

Neutral inflexion

New Beginning

Most people are CONFUSED about what

they’re really supposed to do

IME*1. Each type of change requires a different

approach

RIF

Process or

System

Program Outsourcing

M&A

* In my experience (IME), which is difference from “in my opinion” (IMO), because O may or may not follow E; and is

very different from IMHO (mostly because there is nothing H about my O)

IME 2. The more benign the change, the more

work it seems to require!

Benign Malignant

Less work

More work

RIF

Outsourcing

M&A

Process or system

Program

IME 3. Sometimes we don’t go further than the

valley

END

Normal

Denial, Fear

Anger

IME 4. The most under-used technique

REPEAT

IME 5. To make people change, you have to use

all available methods ...

Most organizations use the rational approach

5 most recent clients

1 2 3 4 5

There is >50% chance your change will fail

Pass Fail X

Why does change fail – the classic reasons

1. Lack of vision

2. Changing priorities

3. Weak leadership

4. Failure to acknowledge wins

5. Not recognizing organizational culture

6. Resisting all “resistors”

7. Not supporting individual change/ transition

Why does change fail: IME 1. Bad Idea

Why does change fail: IME 2. B team

Why does change fail: IME 3. Gave up too soon

What do leaders expect from Communications?

Writing, Production

Project Management, Media Selection

Leadership, Make it happen

Everytime

Sometimes

Occasionally

Questions you must ask: How compelling is it?

How simple is it?

How often is it?

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In closing . . .

If you want to be really good . . . Become a better writer

If you want to make a difference & grow your career . . . Be a

project manager

If you really want to kick &%$# . . . think like a leader and

communicate!