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Three basics to better communicate change

Changes happen all the time – from personnel changes, to changes in the organisational chart, to changes in the working environment. Often it is not easy for employees and leaders to understand the measures and reasons. What helps? Systematic, clear and comprehensible internal communication! The following three basics will help you to communicate strategically and well prepared.

1. Target group analysis

Before you start your communication, you should first determine who exactly you want to reach. You can do this by analysing your target groups. Which groups are affected by the planned changes? What do the changes mean for them? What questions might they have and which channels are the best to reach your target groups? Such an analysis not only facilitates communication planning, but also helps you to better understand your target groups.

2. Question and Answer Catalogue (FAQ)

uring your target group analysis, you will develop a good sense of what questions your target groups may have. Create an FAQ in which you collect these questions and your answers. You can make it available to all responsible persons later. This way, the most burning questions can be answered quickly and, above all, consistently, and you save valuable time by being able to derive all further communication material from this FAQ. Start with an FAQ at the very beginning and expand it during the process. If new issues arise, you can simply update the answers.

3. Communication plan

To keep an overview, create a communication plan. There you record the “4 W’s”: Who communicates what to whom and when? The findings from your target group analysis will help you. Especially in turbulent times, a roadmap offers security and enables professionally structured communication.
Another advantage: communication processes often follow a similar pattern. So once you have a good roadmap, you can follow it in other situations and don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Do you need support with change communication? We are here to help you! And if your change is a bit bigger, we can also advise you on change management. Call us, write to us on LinkedIn or use our contact form.