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When you want to ensure your important initiatives succeed
Have you ever tried to launch a new initiative, but it didn’t go well?
That’s just a horrible situation, and one you won’t want to repeat.
Two techniques that will help future launches go better are:
Step 1: Communicating upfront
One of my customers was recently about to launch a new initiative, which included recruiting a new senior team. They wanted to explain to their workforce how things would work, and the benefits these new recruits would bring to the company.
I advised that they ask questions beforehand, to make sure their communications focused on the right things. When they did this, they discovered people weren’t excited at all. In fact, they were fearful for their jobs. They thought these new “superstars” would mean redundancy or demotion.
Once we knew this, our communications changed in every way. They had to. But, can you imagine the disaster that would have happened if we hadn’t asked?
So, you have to ask upfront, to find their goals, hopes and concerns. Incidentally, good questions are: What are your goals? Your hopes? Your concerns?
If there aren’t many people, ask them individually or in small groups. If there are lots, it might be quickest to survey them. There’s lots of good survey software around – much of it cheap – so it’s easy to do. It’s also easy to get it wrong, so remember:
Here’s an example of how your covering email might therefore look:
All of us are too busy. We need to free up some time.
As a management team, we’re committed to changing our working practices, to give you the time you need to do the job you want to do.
To help us focus on the right areas, please can you click on the link below and answer a few quick questions about your priorities? It will only take two minutes max.
We’ll then incorporate your views into our changes. We’ll also share a summary of everyone’s responses with you.
We want to move quickly with this, so the deadline for your responses is INSERT DATE. The link to the survey is INSERT LINK.
We’re asking everyone for their views on this. So, please do respond by the deadline so we can include yours.
Thanks for your help.
The link again: INSERT LINK
Step 2: Communicating throughout
Once you know everyone’s goals, hopes and concerns, plan your communication approach accordingly. This is much better than the frequently-seen-but-never-good “Right, I’ve now finished my initiative. Who shall I tell?”
Clearly, the earlier you consider your communication, the better – and shorter – it’s going to be. Also, preparing early allows you to proactively build anticipation by saying such things as:
- “Our initiative’s uncovered some useful insights already. I was assuming I’d share these later, but would you prefer a quick update now?”
- “I’m looking forward to discussing our findings. I can already see there’ll be huge cost savings for us.”
And here’s some proof that “early is good”:
I’ve worked with many companies to help important initiatives land. Many of them first approached me towards the end of the initiative, when they had a problem. Almost always, they hadn’t prepared early enough: they hadn’t asked questions upfront and/or hadn’t considered the communication element at all.
Interestingly, they now call me at the start of key projects not the end. This ensures they do the right preparation at the right time. Understandably, this has made a huge difference to how well their initiatives land.
So, what could you do, to think about your communication earlier than you do now?
