Change has a bad reputation fueled by the connection made to closures, redundancies, and other animals. People apparently can’t cope with change, but the truth is you can’t survive without it.

Greek philosopher Heraclitus said change was the only constant – and he was probably onto something. If things stayed the same, I’d still be sporting a Jheri curls and parachute pants, and I’d need a dedicated room to house my computer.

Today, Jheri curls gone, life moves at a faster pace than ever before, and change is happening at an incredibly fast pace. As a communications professional, here is my list (yesss, a list) of how to tackle it to maximize the real benefits change brings about:

• Change can be (is?) good

 

1. 1. Needless to say, if you lose your job as a result of change, it probably isn’t great. However, it generally is, and this is the spirit in which change communications should be tackled.

• Don’t lie…

 

1. 1. We PR people are often accused of sugar-coating the truth. Fair enough, it’s fair comment. Describing an office/factory closure as a ‘strengthening of the brand’ does not fly with the staff made redundant – it adds insult to injury. A spade should be called a spade.

• … but get your messaging right

 

1. 1. The right message is the single most important element of change. If you say you are closing a factory because the boss wants to buy a yacht with the savings, this may not go down that well (BTW, if this were the case, it’s probably time for you to look for a new employer)

• Consistency

 

1. 1. If you work in a global environment, you have to ensure that what is heard on one side of the globe is also heard on the other. Top people may not realize it, but colleagues do speak to each other…

• Lobbying works

 

1. 1. Going in ‘cold’ works when the mindset is generally in line with yours, but lobbying is necessary when positions differ drastically. This does not mean compromising, but merely making the case to individual leaders and influencers on a personal level at an early stage in the process.

• Be very well prepared (over-prepared, really)

 

1. 1. Obvious, really, but not always done. And when you think you have done enough, make sure you re-double your efforts and do more. There is no such thing as over-prepared, really.

• Prepare a toolkit to help your leader communicate

 

1. 1. Try this out – go to a meeting and listen to the speaker. When done, ask people around you what the key take-away of the meeting was. Unless you have an excellent speaker / orator, you’ll find that opinions differ. Preparing tools (e.g., talking points, elevator speeches, slide decks, Q&As, infographics, social media posts, photos, videos, animations, etc.) are helpful to ensure consistency. It also makes it easier for leaders who are not left to ‘deal with it’ alone.

• Once you finalize all the material, be prepared for more changes

 

1. 1. You can set deadlines, but sometimes changes happen at the very last minute – and you have to be prepared to accept them. If you don’t, you risk going out with a message that’s not quite right. Also, just have one set of documents – having two or more means double work. In this case, online sharing and collaboration tools such as SharePoint are very useful.

• Repeat your messaging in all communications

 

1. 1. When I worked as a journalist, a leading politician complained that we never gave his party good coverage. This was not true, of course. But I did suggest that he should occasionally say something new for us to report – that, I explained, was why they were called newspapers. He retorted that for a message to get through to people, it had to be repeated 20 times. Now, as a comms professional, I am now inclined to believe him more. Repetition is key to success.

• Speak to people

 

Don’t be afraid to get on the phone with people to explain change. It’ll go a long way to win people over