{"id":2956,"date":"2016-08-17T13:29:40","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T18:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emersongroupinc.com\/?p=2956"},"modified":"2025-03-15T13:33:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T18:33:12","slug":"47440-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emersongroupinc.com\/47440-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Straight Talk About Communicating Change (part 2) \u2013 By David Cheatham, Transform Communications, LLC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Straight Talk About Communicating Change<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Second in a 3-part series)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last month<\/a>\u00a0we discussed the emotional aspect of organizational change and the primary reasons why managers don\u2019t communicate change to their employees.\u00a0 This month we cover why managers should communicate change and practical ways to increase employee acceptance of change.<\/p>\n

Reasons why managers should communicate: The business case<\/strong><\/p>\n

Communicating openly drives several business metrics. Informed employees are more productive and more loyal to the organization, and they represent your business more effectively to customers.<\/p>\n

\"\"Information feeds continuous improvement. Sharing information helps employees understand how they\u2019re doing on their jobs and how they compare to co-works and counterparts in competing companies.<\/p>\n

As a manager you can\u2019t force people to be committed to company goals and you can\u2019t control whether employees stay committed.\u00a0 You can, however, develop a reputation as the recognized source of clear, consistent and honest information.<\/p>\n

Err on the side of more, not less, information. The more employees know about the cause of change the more they can help mitigate the effect.\u00a0 And the more your employees help, the more commitment they feel.\u00a0 Let your employees tell you when they have heard enough.<\/p>\n

Respect employees enough to level with them about the downside as well as the upside of change. This way you can make communicating the instinctive, normal reaction of your team.\u00a0 Employees will reciprocate by sharing innovative ways to overcome obstacles.<\/p>\n

If your employees only hear good news from you, they know that you\u2019re not being candid. And this gives your team grounds for not trusting you.<\/p>\n

As a leader you are a meaning-maker. You help structure a confusing and ambiguous environment toward a unifying purpose.<\/p>\n

To recap:<\/p>\n