Unit 3 Communicating Change

Structure
3.1 Introduction
Objectives
3.2 Need for Communicating Change
3.3 Factors Involved in Communicating Change
Developing a Communication Plan
3.4 Methods and Techniques for Communicating Change
Skills Involved in Communicating Change
3.5 Role of Top Management in Communicating Change
Communicating Change at the Local Level
3.6 Summary
3.7 Glossary
3.8 Terminal Questions
3.9 Answers
3.10 Case Study

Caselet

Outsourcing the Change Management Communication Process

Many organizations decide to hire change management professionals from
outside to handle the change management process being undertaken. This
is so because they feel ill-equipped to handle the sensitive issues brought
up by the employees. Sometimes, individual managers are reluctant to get
involved because they may be personally close to the employees being
affected by the change and do not wish to spoil the interpersonal equation.
A number of small companies have emerged that have experts who are
dedicated to implementation of all kinds of change within an organization.
Besides this, some large organizations, such as Infosys, also provide change
management services to other companies, in the form of expert consultants.
This has in fact, become a common practice in the corporate world. The
change management process employed by Infosys is a wholly people-
centric process that aims to deal positively with the uncertainty and
apprehensions faced by individuals undergoing change within their
organization.
Infosys has been conducting the change management process for other
companies for a long time now and over the years, they have realized that
Change Management Unit 3

they key to a smooth transition and change process is ‘Communicate,

Communicate, Communicate’. Some steps that Infosys recommends for
top management for communicating change management are:
• Create a Change Team which is formed of members from teams that
will be affected by change.
• Encourage an open alliance between the change team and the HR team
• Reach out to employees through various communication methods to
address their queries and concerns
• Form and execute risk mitigation strategies specifically for employee
retention schemes
• Develop and proactively deliver dedicated training programs and
workshops across all levels in the organization
Source: Adapted from http://www.infosys.com/global-sourcing/white-
papers/Documents/OCM.pdf (retrieved on 22 November 2012)

3.1 Introduction

In the previous unit, you learnt about the various models of organizational change.
All these models describe theoretical techniques for managing the process of
change within an organization. However, each organization is different, in terms
of its dynamics, location and work culture, and includes individuals from vastly
diverse backgrounds. For most human beings, it is difficult to break the usual
routine and reconcile to anything unfamiliar and ‘different’, which is exactly what
change means. It is important to note here that ‘unfamiliar’ should not
automatically translate into ‘unpleasant’. And change mostly brings about
improvements, even if it may not appear so initially. That is why, the success of
change depends upon how it gets communicated to its recipients. During the
change process itself, the communication becomes most important, as it
facilitates vision, enhances the feedback process and provides social support
for acceptance of change as it unfolds and starts becoming visible. The
consequences can be detrimental if the strategies to communicate change have
not been planned and implemented appropriately.
In this unit, you will learn about the role of communication in change
management. You will also learn about the factors and strategies of
communicating change and the role of the top management in an organization
in the communication process.

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 50

Change Management Unit 3

Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
• explain the need for communicating change
• identify the factors involved in communicating change
• select the techniques and methods for communicating change
• describe the role of the top management in communicating change

3.2 Need for Communicating Change

The key purpose of communication of change is to ensure that the individuals

understand what is going to happen and what is expected from them. The change
managers have to provide them with the value proposition involved in the change.
The individuals should be offered answers to the questions like why, what, who,
how and when. In order to take care of this, where a situational approach or a
contingency perspective is involved, the type of information provided is to be
modified. Besides this, the leadership style must be as per the type of change
involved and the level in the organization at which the change message is
directed. Care should be taken that there is no message overload or message
distortion in the communication strategies being employed. Some other important
needs for communicating change are:
• To pay adequate attention to the diverse interests, (including gender
differences), power relationships, and actions that may create resistance
to the proposed change
• To make people understand the inevitability of the changes and the best
ways of coping or surviving with the change
• To ensure that the people share similar values and are aware of what
actions are appropriate to these values. To have consistency in actions
and words, communication of change is required
Team-based, rather than top-down, CEO-led communication styles are
most favored because there, change can take place through shared values and
the use of positive emotions.
Communication through storytelling, metaphors, and so on, provides staff
with a sense of ‘what is going on’. The focus is on facilitating the sense and true
spirit of the change to different groups across the organization (and outside).
So, communication here presents the most persuasive account of the change

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 51

Change Management Unit 3

to ensure that as many people as possible share common understanding of the

change. ‘Rich’ communication media are most favored as the aim is to provide
the most in terms of change as not all will agree with or like the change.

Self Assessment Questions

1. The change managers have to provide employees with the ______

_______ involved in the change.
2. It should be ensured that there is no message overload or message
________ in the communication strategies being employed.

3.3 Factors Involved in Communicating Change

While communicating change, the following things must be explained:

1. Explain how change will unfold
• What is it?
• How will it affect the employee?
2. Discuss the need for change.
• The context
• Who decided on the need for change?
• The reason for not continuing the status quo.
3. Establish the business case for the change.
• Describe the future as envisaged after the change is in place
• The benefits that the organization, work unit, specific individuals will
derive.
4. Determine the plan for change.
• What are the new roles, expectations, responsibilities, relationships,
skills and performance measures?
• How will the organization support individuals to help them adapt to
and achieve these changes?
5. Experts find that employees trust a manager more when:
• Correct information and feedback are provided
• The basis for the change decision is adequately explained

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 52

Change Management Unit 3

• Open communication is used, facilitating an exchange of ideas

between the manager and the employees
Most frequent communication mistakes
While communicating, we tend to ignore a few basic rules:
• Avoid communicating ‘too much’: To achieve successful change, it is
just not sufficient to give symbolic importance to an open communication
strategy during a change project. A change team works best when its
members facilitate understanding for the change recipients and help them
to identify (filter and distill) what is important in the information that is
provided and not just as reporters of information about the change.
Sometimes, a change manager may give away information that an
employee may not need and in fact may panic as a result. For example, if
the change manager hints at possible cuts in the workforce in the coming
year, the employee may panic and start fearing that their position at the
organization in not secure. Therefore, it is essential for a change manager
to prepare the points of information that must be revealed and the manager
should avoid revealing more information than necessary.
• Assume employee acceptance or try to persuade employee into
accepting: To put simply, there can be two possible attitudes that an
organization can adopt while communicating change. First, they can
simply list the facts and hope or assume that employees will accept them
as they are, or the organization can ease the employees gently into the
change process, handling their concerns, offering them a forum to ask
questions and persuading the employees into accepting the proposed
changes. The organization, with the help of newsletters, speeches, videos,
and memos, can inform people about what is going on. The type of
communication being used is important to a change effort as it helps to
get the word out.
The second method described above is also known as a ‘buy-in’. It
is a different perspective of communication, which obtains information
from the people that will help in achieving the change, understanding what
is important to them, and identifying what they see as the costs and
benefits of the change. Allied with this is the process of explaining to people
how they will benefit from it. This latter process provides a clear value
proposition that will touch individual staff in a way that motivates them
toward the change. Getting people to ‘buy in’ depends upon what it is that
they are buying into. Justifying the change to the employees and ‘educating’

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 53

Change Management Unit 3

them on the need for change will ultimately influence how they view the
result of the change. They may view it as fair in terms of the outcome only
or they may also perceive the process of achieving the change as fair i.e.
procedural fairness.
• Involvement of employees in the change process: A common mistake
organizations frequently make is to not involve employees in the change
process, assuming that they would oppose change or will not be able to
cope with it. However, it is essential to involve employees all through the
change process, right from the ‘need for change’ step. Involving key
employees, ones who are opinion leaders, is a simple technique that can
be used by organizations today to ensure successful change. In order to
building ownership for change right from the start, involving employees
themselves in the change process helps in providing valuable and helpful
inputs that assist in ensuring successful and sustained change. These
employees serve as ‘Change Champions’ and support the communication
and implementation processes, by tailoring it to ensure it is appealing to
the organization’s employees on the whole.

3.3.1 Developing a Communication Plan

Besides the content of the message when communicating change, as you have
learnt above, the use of appropriate media is an equally important part of the
communication process. There are number of different media available but it is
the ‘richness’ factor of the various communication media needs to be assessed
first.
Media Richness
‘Richness’ relates to the extent to which the communication style entails
interpersonal contact. Let us try to create a ‘media richness hierarchy.’
Media-rich communication sources, such as face-to-face meetings are
best suited for non-routine, difficult management problems; while for routine
issues, more impersonal, static media such as e-mails, newsletters may be
used.
To achieve the shaping of behaviors, face-to-face communication is best
suited while to merely share information, the spectrum of impersonal static media
is better suited.
These strategies indicate that incremental changes, if developed upon
present practices, may be relatively ‘routine’ in nature and for more radical,

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 54

Change Management Unit 3

widespread changes that can challenge, change, or alter the present

organizational practices in a non-routine way, a different communication medium
is required. The latter occurs in a large organization, where the ability to deliver
communication ‘richness’ is difficult because of the scale of the organization.
Here, a variety of trade-offs needs to be considered by the change managers
for announcing an organizational change.

The 'richest' or best media is physical

presence or a face-to-face meeting

Other interactive media like telephone or

e-mail is also considered sufficiently 'rich'

The next in the heirarchy is personal static

media, such as memos, letters and
tailored electronic reports

The least 'rich' media for communicting

change is impersonal static media, such
as flyers and bulletins

Figure 3.1 Media Richness Hierarchy

Other change agents tend to adopt a particular communication medium
for all situations. For example, Larkin and Larkin state that face-to-face
communication is the best. They acknowledge that for conveying information,
videos and publications may be useful but both are limited in terms of the ability
to communicate change itself. The problem with videos is that the intended
audience will not take it seriously; similarly, using satellite connections for live
speeches and questions and answers are likely to result in management
platitudes and/ or serve as an incendiary device for the unaffected staff. Also,
company publications are often criticized for being incomprehensible and lacking
in credibility. In practice, a portfolio of communication strategies requires to be
tailored to the particular change situation.

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 55

Change Management Unit 3

Self Assessment Questions

3. Sometimes, a change manager may give away information that an

employee may not need and in fact may panic as a result. (True/False)
4. Justifying the change to the employees and ‘educating’ them on the need
for change will negatively influence how they view the result of the change.
(True/False)
5. Media-rich communication sources, such as ___________ are best suited
for non-routine, difficult management problems.
6. For conveying __________ information, videos and publications may be
useful but both are limited in terms of the ability to communicate change
itself.

Activity 1
Conduct a survey in your organization about the kind of media the employees
would prefer if they were part of a change in the organization.
Hint: Ask whether they would like to be told by the immediate manager or
the CEO, what medium would they prefer, face-to-face or an email and so
on.

3.4 Methods and Techniques for Communicating Change

There are a few recognized techniques, one of which a change manager would
generally use to communicate change. Listed here are those strategies:
• Spray and pray: As the name suggests, as per this technique, employees
are provided a lot of information and expected to understand what is
important and relevant and what is not. The basis of the theory is ‘more is
better’. Managers feel satisfied that they have provided all the information
possible and employees are satisfied because they are kept in the loop.
However, the disadvantage here is that employees are mostly unable to
filter out the important points from the whole information. They may
understand what is happening but do not understand the reasons and are
overwhelmed by all the information.
• Tell and sell: The employees are provided that information which pertains
only to core organizational issues. Here, change managers try to both
inform staff about changes and persuade them that the changes are

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 56

Change Management Unit 3

necessary and good. The disadvantage of this strategy is that mostly

employees become skeptical about the change since they have not been
adequately prepared and end up being just passive recipients of round
after round of change proposals.
• Underscore and explore: The focus in this strategy is on the core issues
of the impending change, and employees get to participate in a dialogue
with the management regarding the change process. During the dialogue,
they try to recognize challenges and possible misunderstandings and ways
to tackle them. This approach is most employee-friendly among all
approaches described here.
• Identify and reply: This strategy is largely defensive in nature, where
only the rumors and misconceptions about work practices among the
staff are recognized and addressed. It only attempts to help the employees
reconcile to confusing problems of change. The disadvantage of this
approach is that it is reactive and incorrectly assumes that employees
understand the key strategic and organizational issues related to the
change.
• Withhold and uphold: The organization remains tight-lipped and secretive
about the impending change and only discloses information when it is
absolutely unavoidable to withhold it any longer. The management adopts
a party line on issues which it uses in all its public communication. This
Information is not accurate or comprehensive and is likely to engender
negative work culture among the employees.
The ‘spray and pray’ strategy and the ‘withhold and uphold’ strategy are
least likely to be effective in achieving organizational performance, whereas by
forming a seamless connect between organization goals and employee
concerns, the ‘underscore and explore’ strategy will help maximize the potential
of an organization. More than one strategy can be applied in a situation. For
example, in one organization, the spray and pray strategy, also known as the
‘communication clutter’ strategy, was used generally in overwhelming the
employees with information on organizational performance; however, when it
was faced with organizational changes such as downsizing and operational
changes, a ‘withhold and uphold’ strategy was adopted specifically on these
issues. This latter strategy was adopted by the executives so that there is
reduction in promises made to the employees about the future that they were
not able to deliver. Naturally, the employees did not appreciate this ‘convenient’
approach. Usually, most distrust and discontent arises from avoidance of the
issues that the employees care about.

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 57

Change Management Unit 3

3.4.1 Skills Involved in Communicating Change

There are three main skills involved in engaging others in a change process,
including listening skills, selling the change and use of toxic handlers.
Listening as a communication skill
Communication about change entails a dialogue, so obviously listening becomes
a central communication skill. The change occurs through listening, dialogue,
and community building. A collaborative culture emerges on the basis of shared
meaning and mutual understanding of thoughts and feelings which helps, in
turn, in the change process. This involves skills such as:
• Suspending judgment (in order to produce an open atmosphere of trust)
• Identification of assumptions (to reveal misunderstanding)
• Constructive listening (to enable learning)
• Inquiring and reflecting (in order for new collective understandings to
emerge)
There can be five kinds of listening that an individual may practice:
• Discriminative listening: Here, a person will be present physically and
will listen to only the relevant things among all that is being said. So, they
will filter out the useless information and absorb only that part which they
need.
• Comprehensive listening: Here, a person pays full attention to the
speaker and tries to memorize the words being spoken, either because
they are very important, or because they will need to be used in future.
• Therapeutic listening: This is usually done during the counselling of
employees to help them resolve their problems and to allow them to have
a feeling of catharsis.
• Critical listening: This kind of listening is evaluative in nature, where the
listener is trying to judge the various pros and cons or the implications of
the information being passed along by the speaker, for example in a
business meeting where statistics are being shared.
• Appreciative listening: This is a combination of discriminatory and
comprehensive listening because the information being passed along is
not exactly critical but part of the overall message, such as an anecdote.
Active listening is another vital tool of communication. It can be defined as
a technique that requires the listener to speak out to the speaker, by way of

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 58

Change Management Unit 3

re-stating or paraphrasing what they have heard in their own words, to confirm
what they have heard and moreover, to confirm the understanding of both parties.
Selling change upward
To gain managerial attention for the support of change ideas, an organization
pushes upwards new ideas for change from employees and various modes of
argument. These change skills are referred to as the linguistic and persuasive
routines associated with ‘issue selling’; that is, the processes wherein specific
changes are presented to the senior managers by the individuals that they would
like to see occur.
Dutton has given key tactics to present the idea or how the idea can be
packaged, these are:
• The logic of the business plan to be linked with idea.
• Continuously raising the proposal.
• The size of the change should not appear to be too large, so the issue
needs to be packaged incrementally.
The second relates to bundling, that is, other ideas and issues also need
to be linked up, which can be achieved by tying the issue to the highly valued
goals such as:
• Profitability
• Market share
• Organizational image
• Concerns of key stakeholders
Toxic handlers
Unrealistic expectations or targets, internal competition, or belligerent and angry
bosses make the change toxic to the employees, which can in turn, result in
confusion, fear, and anguish among employees. The term ‘toxic handlers’ was
coined by Frost and Robinson. It refers to skillful professionals who handle the
concerns of the employees going through the pains of change in an organization.
Toxic handlers act as intermediaries between staff and organizational policies
and bosses that are becoming toxic to staff.
Modeling the communication process
The communication ‘mix’ includes a variety of areas i.e. content, voice, tone,
message, audience, medium, frequency, and consistency. Three potential
problems are highlighted during the communication process:

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 59

Change Management Unit 3

• If the information acquisition is overbalanced as compared to an individual’s

response capabilities it results in message overload.
• If the meanings are misinterpreted because of intentional or unintentional
problems while sending or receiving of the message, message distortion
occurs.
• Message ambiguity is related with an organization has a vision but is
misinterpreted in terms of how to achieve it.
Avoiding such problems will be possible only when/if there is a common
language for the change to be adopted and the desired behaviours are consistently
modeled by the top management. Increasing involvement, enhancing self-esteem
of the employees and to monitor the change process utilizing specialist personnel
will be of help in this regard.

Self Assessment Questions

7. In the __________ approach, the employees are provided that information

which pertains only to core organizational issues.
8. In the Identify and Reply strategy, the organization remains tight-lipped
and secretive about the impending change. (True/False)
9. Suspending judgement while listening helps to produce an open
atmosphere of trust. (True/False)
10. __________ listening is done during the counselling of employees to help
them resolve their problems and to allow them to have a feeling of catharsis.
11. ___________ act as intermediaries between staff and organizational
policies and bosses that are becoming toxic to staff.

3.5 Role of Top Management in Communicating Change

It has always been a point of contention in change management that who is the
ideal messenger for communicating change. There are differing views on this;
one common view suggests that in order to show the commitment of top
management for it, the CEOs should be personally involved in the communication
of change. This activity in the organization should not be delegated to others in
the organization. A second view to this is that as the supervisors are most trusted
by the staff so they are the best communicators of change.

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 60

Change Management Unit 3

Larkin and Larkin maintain that face to face meetings for small groups
should be conducted involving especially frontline supervisors so that it becomes
more strategic as the latter will be in contact with frontline staff and be better
able to communicate with them about the change. Another expert believes that
an important part of managing change is to manage the conversation that takes
place among the individuals who lead the change effort and those who will be
actually implementing the strategies.
Many times managers fail to understand that even while they are not formally
communicating with change recipients, they are still unknowingly sending out
messages. For example, a change task force meets in isolation to identify the
methods of accomplishing a change. They may not find it necessary during this
period to communicate more widely in the organization about the impending
change. This virtually guarantees that the change effort will fail—as the people
are already aware that the change task force is meeting—so rumors will circulate,
and the final outcome will not be the desired one of employee acceptance. This
situation may be avoided by the transition management team, the responsibility
of whom is to shift information across the organizational boundaries by stimulating
conversation across functional, isolated parts of the organization. The most
productive outcome is the result of early, open-ended conversations. The
transition management team in pursuit of fast results should avoid closing down
conversations early and allow time and space to people to organize and articulate
their thoughts.
The top management must recognize that the most significant message
to convey to affected staff falls into two categories:
1. Message regarding the actual change itself
• the existing situation and the justification for the change
• an image of the organization as it will become after the change has
been implemented
• the essentials of what exactly is up for change, how it will change,
and when it will change
• the prospect that change is essential and is not optional
• regular updates on the status of the completion of the change
process, and also success stories to boost morale
2. Message regarding the impact of the change on the employee
• how the change will affect the everyday activities of the individuals
• repercussions of the change on job guarantee

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 61

Change Management Unit 3

• how the employee is expected to behave and act in view of the change
or to show support for the change
• what would be the procedure for getting assistance when change
implementation is in progress

Activity 2
Conduct a research on the Internet and identify the last change management
process undertaken at a large multinational firm. Create a report on your
findings.
Hint: Try to find out the strategies used by companies like IBM wipro,... they
used to communicate with employees and how did the employees react to
the change.

3.5.1 Communicating Change at the Local Level

Aligning your language with the desired change

One reason why change may fail is that the managers use inappropriate words
and representations of the change being envisioned. This leads to confusion in
employees in terms of what can be actually expected. For example, a large
scale organization meant to reposition itself in its fundamental business as the
mainstay of the organization had been declining. Middle managers are conveyed
this need but unfortunately, the CEO, while conveying this need to middle
managers outlines it in terms of building upon the company’s past successes
as a way of ushering the company into the future. The result was that middle
managers based their actions on developing past practices, rather than
fundamentally shifting the company into new directions.
There can be four possible types of change that an organization may be
going through and different words are appropriate for describing each type:
• Machine imagery of change. It is based on a ‘fix and maintain’ view.
Here, the organization depicted as being ‘broken’ and the change is
designed in order to ‘fix’ the problem. Words such as repair, adjust, and
correct are aligned to this type of change as the change agent is referred
to as repairperson.
• Development imagery of change. Here ‘build and develop’ view is
adopted by the organization to build upon past and present practices and
making them even better, to enhance its performance. The change agent

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 62

Change Management Unit 3

is viewed as a trainer or coach and words aligned to this type of change

are nurturing, growing, and getting better.
• Transitional imagery of change. This is based on a ‘move and relocate’
view where the change is designed to alter process operating in the
organization, for example, moving from manual to automated operational
processes. The change agent is taken as a guide or planner and words
aligned with this type of change are moving forward, leaving the past
behind, and ‘moving from Position A to Position B’.
• Transformational imagery of change. Here, a ‘liberate and re-create’
view is adopted where the organization has to reinvent itself or
fundamentally change the nature of its business or environment in which
it is operating. The change agent is a visionary who helps in discovering
new possibilities and words appropriate to this type of change includes
reinventing, re-creating, and adopting a new paradigm.
Creating a common change language
Misused words and sentences can cause amusement, frustration and confusion.
Managers often use terms and phrases in a way quite different from the meaning
originators applied to the terms. It is therefore important to recognize that different
parties to a change may not share a common view of the change words and
language that are in use.
The inaccurate use of words and language by the business process
practitioners and organization development practitioners attempting to work
together, has often failed the Business Process Reengineering. For example:
• The word ‘system’: In business process language, this word refers to
computer hardware but in organization development language, it refers to
the relationship and interconnections that are inside as well as outside
the organization with its environment.
• The word ‘process’: In business process language, this refers to a
different work steps in sequential manner: in organization development
language, it is refers to the way to proceed.
• The word ‘function’: In business process language, this word refers to
a series of operations related to the requirements of business; in
organization development language, it indicates a series of tasks that are
related to a specific organizational subunit.

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 63

Change Management Unit 3

Communicating change to the outside world

External stakeholders
The impact of the change on organizational performance is affected deeply by
the way internal changes are communicated to external stakeholders. Due to
the uncertainty attached to its outcomes, stock market performance is potentially
under threat during transformational change. Even where announced changes
(e.g., downsizing) are initially well received by shareholders, stock performance
may increase in the short term but can decline over the duration of change
implementation. This recognizes how important it is that the external stakeholders
should be told about the change in exactly the correct way.
Arndt and Bigelow have identified four key defensive impression
management practices that may be used to protect the organizations from
negative reactions by their stakeholders:
• Excuses attributed to the need for the change to forces beyond the
stakeholder, such as the external environment. The effect of this will be to
distance the stakeholder from responsibility for any negative consequences
of the corporate restructuring.
• Justifications about the decision taken to be presented in a positive light
without referring to negative consequences that may be possible.
• Disclaimers providing reassurance by pointing to careful planning, and
the like, that preceded the restructuring decision.
• Concealment statements downplaying the innovative nature of the change
can be used thereby reducing the perception of attached risk.

Self Assessment Questions

12. Managers fail to understand that even while they are not formally
communicating with change recipients, they are still unknowingly sending
out messages. (True/False)
13. Machine imagery of change is based on the ‘build and develop’ view. (True/
False)
14. In business process language, __________ refers to a different work steps
in sequential manner: in organization development language, it is refers
to the way to proceed.

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 64

Change Management Unit 3

3.6 Summary

Let us recapitulate the important concepts discussed in this unit:

• The key purpose of communication of change is to ensure that the
individuals understand what is going to happen and what is expected from
them. The change managers have to provide them with the value
proposition involved in the change.
• Communication through storytelling, metaphors, and so on provides staff
with a sense of ‘what is going on’. The focus is on facilitating the sense
and true spirit of the change to different groups across the organization
(and outside).
• Besides the content of the message when communicating change, the
use of appropriate media is an equally important part of the communication
process.
• Media-rich communication sources, such as face-to-face meetings are
best suited for non-routine, difficult management problems; while for routine
issues, more impersonal, static media such as e-mails, newsletters may
be used.
• The ‘spray and pray’ strategy and the ‘withhold and uphold’ strategy are
least likely to be effective in achieving organizational performance, whereas
by forming a seamless connect between organization goals and employee
concerns, the ‘underscore and explore’ strategy will help maximize the
potential of an organization.
• There are three main skills involved in engaging others in a change process,
including listening skills, selling the change and use of toxic handlers.
• One reason why change may fail is that the managers use inappropriate
words and representations of the change being envisioned. This leads to
confusion in employees in terms of what can be actually expected.
• The inaccurate use of words and language by the business process
practitioners and organization development practitioners attempting to
work together, has often failed the Business Process Reengineering.
• The impact of the change on organizational performance is affected deeply
by the way internal changes are communicated to external stakeholders.

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 65

Change Management Unit 3

3.7 Glossary

• Buy-in: It is a perspective of communication, which obtains information

from the people that will help in achieving the change, understanding what
is important to them, and identifying what they see as the costs and
benefits of the change.
• Richness: refers to the extent to which the communication style entails
interpersonal contact.
• Toxic handlers: are those skillful professionals who handle the concerns
of the employees going through the pains of change in an organization.

3.8 Terminal Questions

1. State the important needs for communicating change.

2. What is the media richness hierarchy? How does it figure in the
communication of change?
3. List and explain the five possible techniques in which organizations
communicate change.
4. Which are the five kinds of listening that an individual may practice?
5. While communicating change, which two categories of messages must
be conveyed to the affected staff?
6. Which are the possible types of change that an organization may be going
through and different words appropriate for describing each type?

3.9 Answers

Self Assessment Questions

1. Value proposition
2. Distortion
3. True
4. False
5. Face-to-face meetings
6. Technical
7. Tell and sell

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 66

Change Management Unit 3

8. False
9. True
10. Therapeutic
11. Toxic handlers
12. True
13. False
14. Process

Terminal Questions

1. The key purpose of communication of change is to ensure that the

individuals understand what is going to happen and what is expected from
them. For more details, refer section 3.2.
2. ‘Richness’ relates to the extent to which the communication style entails
interpersonal contact. For more details, refer section 3.3.1.
3. There are a few recognized techniques, one of which a change manager
would generally use to communicate change. For more details, refer
section 3.4.
4. Communication about change entails a dialogue, so obviously listening
becomes a central communication skill. For more details, refer section
3.4.1.
5. The top management must recognize that the most significant message
to convey to affected staff falls into two categories. For more details, refer
section 3.5.
6. There can be four possible types of change that an organization may be
going through and different words are appropriate for describing each type.
For more details, refer section 3.5.1.

3.10 Case Study

Implementation of E-procurement Platform in Karnataka

Government: A Communication Challenge
While adoption of an e-procurement platform is obviously a progressive
idea and meant to take the government initiative further, there are many
factions who resist the change. Since the effective translation of this initiative

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 67

Change Management Unit 3

into day-to-day operation of the government agencies is essential, the

government recognized the need to hire a change management agency or
a lead agency. The lead agency will have the final authority to manage the
change implementation from end to end for the government e-procurement
implementation.
Not only will the lead agency oversee the technical part of the implementation,
it will also be responsible for coordination and collaboration across
organizations undergoing the change. If the e-procurement strategy is to be
accepted and duly executed, the following need to be in place:
• A strategy for change management strategy that will help create
awareness and a feeling of responsibility in the procurement staff
• Formal development and retraining of procurement activities at officer
and manager levels
• Obtain hard-core policy-related, management and technical advice
• Reorganization to identify the higher skill levels that are brought about
by e-procurement changes
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, there was a need for a
communication strategy. This strategy should be planned by the supporters
of the change because only they have the conviction to convince the non-
supporters. The communications strategy must first take into account the
essential legislation passed. A decision-making tool called Five
Communication Management Decisions will serve well in this situation. This
tool contains the outline for the five key decisions to be made regarding 1)
audience; 2) desired behavior; 3) message; 4) channels of communication
and evaluation. While creating a communications strategy, the following
points must be considered:
• Needs of the stakeholders
• Beliefs and opinions of the target audience
• Maintain your message and delivery to be culturally sensitive
• Find the answer to the all-important question a stakeholder will ask:
what’s in it for me?
• Ensure that the message is simple, focused and to the point
A communications strategy will need to do the following:
1. Map the target audience: It is essential to map the audience or
stakeholders as per the role they play in the implementation and

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 68

Change Management Unit 3

acceptance of the change. The audience, in any organization opting for

change, can usually be classified into three categories:
• Primary audience- These are the people who are the key to the
implementation of the change, such as legislators who form the
policies.
• Secondary audience- These are the supporters of the change
who will also play a part in influencing the decisions of the primary
audience. Unless the secondary audience guarantees their support,
the primary audience will not be able to pass legislations
• Tertiary audience- includes all the other individuals who will be
affected by the change, as well as the media and the general public
who will come to know about the change. These audiences also
exert an influence on the success of change implementation.
2. Form the Power Interest Matrix: This is a 2X2 matrix which has four
sides with one type of stakeholder in each side. This matrix helps to
identify and define the various stakeholders as per the power they have
over change decisions and the interest they have in the change. Four
such groups are:
• Advocates: These are those stakeholders that have high interest
in change, but actually, little power to control or manage the change.
• Players: These are the key stakeholders who have high interest in
the change and high power in the implementation decisions.
• Context setters: These people do not have much interest in the
change because it does not affect them directly but they have high
power because they can create awareness about the change and
help in its smooth implementation. The most common example of
context-setters is the media.
• Crowd: These are all other individuals who have low interest and
low power in the process of change.
3. Create target strategies: When an organization implements change,
it goes through a very sensitive period and needs all the positivity and
support possible from the employees. Within each organization, there
are some people who welcome change, some who resist it and some
who are not sure which side to take but can be convinced towards
embracing the change if the communication is handled correctly. The
top management at the organization needs to identify each individual

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 69

Change Management Unit 3

as per these three categories. After they have been classified, the
management can take the support of the convinced individuals to soften
the stand of those resisting change and convert those who are
undecided.
Discussion Questions
1. What is the basic objective of a strategy for change management?
2. Which steps help formulate a strategy for change?
Source: Adapted from http://www.etransform.org/gti/node/197 (retrieved on
1st December 2012)

References
• Lewis, L.K. (2000). Communicating Change: Four Cases of Quality
Programs, Journal of Business Communication 37(2): 128-55.
• Marshak, R.J. (1993). Managing the Metaphors of Change, Organizational
Dynamics 22(1): 44-56.
• Palmer, I, Richard Dunford, and Gib Akin (2008). Managing Organizational
Change: A Multiple Perspectives Approach, TMH, New Delhi.
• Stace, D., and Dunphy, D. (2001). Beyond the Boundaries: Leading and
Recreating a Successful Enterprise. 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, Sydney.
e-References
• http://www.etransform.org/gti/node/197 (retrieved on 1st December 2012)
• http://www.infosys.com/global-sourcing/white-papers/Documents/
OCM.pdf (retrieved on 30th November 2012)

Sikkim Manipal University Page No. 70