Communicating Change

Description

When a change is announced badly, people fill the gaps with rumor and resistance sets in before the change has started. This course treats change communication as a process you can plan. You’ll learn the basic principles, then seven tips for communicating a change well, from planning who hears first to timing and putting the person before the business. A lesson on strategy walks through three questions: what you want to say, how best to share it, and how to keep the conversation going. The final lesson covers the four stages employees pass through when they learn of a change, and what support helps at each one.

Three of the lessons have a short video. The course also uses branching scenarios in which you choose what to say to an employee and see how it goes. Flashcards and expandable sections carry the rest of the reading, and a true-or-false sorting activity closes the course.

What you’ll be able to do

• Explain what change communication is and why it shapes how employees react
• Apply seven practices for communicating a change, including sharing what you know early and repeating it often
• Answer the questions employees are asking: why this change is happening, what the long-term plan is, and what it means for them
• Build a communication plan and keep the conversation going after the first announcement
• Tailor the story of a change to different groups inside the organization
• Recognize the four stages employees move through, from acknowledging a change to implementing it, and support people at each one

Who it’s for

Managers and team leads who have to announce and carry through a change they may not have chosen themselves. It also suits HR and communications staff who draft change announcements.

What’s inside

6 lessons, self-paced:

1. Introduction
2. Effective Change Management Communication
3. Planning an Effective Change Communication Strategy
4. Getting Employee Buy-in During Change
5. Knowledge Check
6. Summary

What you get

• 365 days of access from the date of purchase
• A certificate of completion when you finish the course
• Your place is saved, so you can stop and come back whenever you like
• Works on a computer, tablet or phone

You can also get this course, and every other course in the library, with All Access for $99.99 a year.