Communicate the change
Once you’ve identified the best solution for your problem, then you have to tell your employees what that is so they know what is changing.
“One of the primary mistakes leaders make is you think you can say it once and people get it,” Kennedy-Scott says. “No. You tell them. You tell them again. Then you tell them again. And then you remind them that you told them. And you use different words and you use examples.”
She says most people learn by using examples, so you have to provide those so that they truly understand. Tie the change into the mission and the vision of your organization so they can better understand why this needs to happen.
“You can’t tell people enough what the vision is, what the direction is what the problem is, what the solution is, and you do that verbally, and you use every type of medium you have available to you — written communication, e-mail, voice mail, whatever is available in the organization,” she says.
When you’re repeatedly telling people what’s happening, realize that some don’t need that reinforcement, so don’t get offended if they’re annoyed by you.
“Some people will say, ‘If she says it one more time, I’m going to scream,’” she says. “That’s good. By them saying that, they are an informal leader for you because they understand it and they’re saying, ‘I’ve heard her say it,’ if others are saying, ‘She never said it.’”
It’s important to use these informal leaders to help bring people on board and move the change along.
“If you believe that the senior leadership team can be effective in communicating a message throughout your organization, you’re missing the point,” Kennedy-Scott says. “They absolutely cannot. There has to be a way of relying on informal opinion leaders to get the message out there.”
There are other ways to identify informal leaders in your organization.
“You don’t have to be in an organization long to figure out who they are,” she says. “It’s the person that at the big meeting with all of your managers who’s always raising their hand. It’s going to be the person who is standing by themselves at an event, and people come to them. They don’t stand around for long — people will come to them.”
Bounce ideas off of these informal leaders and use them to spread the word when you need their help. Kennedy-Scott says that informal leaders know how to leverage information and how to engage people around that information, so talk to them when you notice these traits coming out.
Lastly, you have to make sure the information cascades down to the lowest levels.
“The third mistake that could be made is if you believe that it’s you, your direct reports and your informal leaders, you’re still missing it,” she says. “There has to be cascading.”
Some people need to hear the information from their boss or direct supervisor, so you have to have your direct reports and informal leaders cascading that information down to whoever reports to them so people hear it from the person they’re used to getting updates and information from. Not every organization is like this, but many are, and regardless of which way yours is, make sure you pass it down.
By doing all of these things, you can successfully communicate the change and get people on board with you.
“Say it, say it again, look to your leadership team to support you, but do not rely exclusively on them,” Kennedy-Scott says. “Have a formal cascading process through which the message is delivered throughout the organization, rely on alternative sources of communication because people learn or absorb data differently, and know who your opinion leaders are and leverage them as best you can.”
