Communicating about change

Change always provokes reactions: resistance, doubt, anger or silence. In this course you learn how to communicate about it in a way that reaches people and gets them moving. You go home with a communication plan you can put to use immediately.

Description

A reorganisation, a new system, a different strategy. As soon as something changes, it is almost never just about the content of the change. It is about how people hear about it, what they feel about it and whether they have the sense that they are being listened to. That is exactly where things often go wrong.

In this course you first look at the psychology of change. Why do people resist? What happens in the Kübler-Ross curve and how does the ADKAR model help you determine what a target group needs right now? You learn to distinguish between groups that do not yet know what is going on and groups that have long understood the change but do not want to go along with it.

After that, you start building. How do you formulate a message that not only informs but activates? How do you adapt it from the management team to the shop floor? And how do you hold a conversation in which emotions, cynicism or sharp criticism come to the table without becoming defensive? You practise with real situations from your own project.

At the end you draw up a communication plan for the change you are working on. Concrete, with channels, timing, messengers and moments for conversation. So that on Monday you can pick up where the course leaves off.

Topics

• The psychology of change: why people resist and what lies beneath it
• The Kübler-Ross curve: phases of change and what people need in each phase
• The ADKAR model: from awareness to reinforcement
• Target group analysis: which groups are in which phase and what that means for your communication
• Communication strategy: choice of channel, timing and messenger
• Building your message: why, what, how and what it means for you
• Storytelling in change: stories that land versus abstractions that float
• Conversation technique: listening before you broadcast
• Dealing with emotions such as sadness, anger, fear and cynicism
• Dealing with criticism: the difference between content and signal
• Drawing up a communication plan for your own change process

Result

Afterwards, you will understand why change provokes resistance and which needs lie beneath it. You will recognise which phase of the change process people are in and adapt your communication accordingly. You will know how to build a message that activates rather than merely informs.

Specifically, by the end you will be able to:

• Applying the Kübler-Ross curve and the ADKAR model to your own change project
• Analysing target groups and determining what each group needs in terms of communication
• Building a message that starts with the why and ends with what it means for the recipient
• Using storytelling to make abstract changes concrete
• Holding conversations in which you listen first before you transmit
• Dealing with emotions such as anger, sadness and cynicism without becoming defensive
• Recognising criticism at the level of content and at the level of signal, and responding to it appropriately
• Drawing up a complete communication plan for your change, ready to put into practice

Target audience

Is a change under way in your organisation and is it your role to explain it, embed it or communicate around it? Then this course is made for you.

The course is intended for:

• Managers who need to explain a change to their team and embed it
• Project leaders running a change project who need to get people on board
• HR professionals involved in organisational change
• Communications professionals who support change projects
• Consultants or interim managers brought in to guide a change
• Anyone who has to bring employees, teams or stakeholders along with something new

Teaching method

You work intensively under the guidance of an experienced trainer with a background in communication and change management. Explanations of models alternate with analysis of your own situation: where are your target groups in the process and what do they need? You are given practical frameworks that you can apply to your own project straight away.

There is also plenty of room to practise. You build messages, act out difficult conversations in role plays and practise responding to criticism. The trainer gives personal feedback on your style, your choice of words and the way you handle emotions in the group.

At the end you draw up a communication plan for the change you are working on. You take that plan home with you and use it directly in your work. The group is small, so there is ample time for your own case and for exchanging experiences with fellow professionals in comparable situations.

Prior knowledge

No specific prior knowledge is required for this course. It does help if you have a concrete change in your organisation that you are working on or will be working on shortly. Think of a reorganisation, a new system, a culture programme or a merger. That way you can link all the exercises directly to your own practice.

Comments

Bring along a change you are currently working on or will be starting soon. Your exercises, conversations and communication plan are all built around that case of your own.

In-company

Would you like to organise this training for a whole group or several groups? This can be cost-effective. For example, we can tailor the content entirely to your organisation, and training a whole group is also cheaper.

Are you looking at large numbers of participants or a complete academy? That involves a great deal. Consider planning and communication, for example, or identifying and agreeing the objectives and content of the training. Or differences in level, feedback mechanisms and safeguarding. Fortunately, Learnit has extensive experience in this field (more than 25 years) and we are happy to help you through this process.

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Language

The training is given in Dutch as standard. The trainer has a good command of English. English-language course material can be used. With a minimum enrolment of 3 participants, the training can also be given entirely in English.