Truth or Consequences: Change & Communications Is Dirty Work

Organizations often call me after they’re already in trouble with a significant change effort. They anguish: “We’ve been building the plane while we’re flying it, and now we are running out of fuel.”

They are in danger of falling prey to the stats: 55% of big initiatives fail due to inadequate change leadership and communications (PMI 2014). While this is an improvement from the 80% failure rate reported in previous years, it’s not good enough. The reasons why organizations struggle with this issue are complex, so I’ll share insights in a series of posts. This is the first.

Insight 1: Don’t doom your program with the wrong talent (and don’t doom your talent with the wrong program)

Picking the right person to lead change and communications is crucial. First, let me state the obvious: change and communication leaders need to be experienced in both change and communications.

They need to be able to influence without authority. And they need a seat at the leadership table.

They have to hold their own in a room of strong-willed executives with conflicting agendas. They have to make compromises that leave many unsatisfied. They have to find good ways to deliver bad messages. They have to be translators between business and technology, and between executives and rank-and-file employees. They have to be practical and not buckle to the all-too-common pressure to be unrealistically positive.

It’s a tough, often thankless, job that can kill reputations. It should not be assigned to someone who already has a full plate (or even a half-full plate). This is why outside consultants are often tapped for these roles.

Too many times I am brought into a program after a well-intentioned manager is given change and communications as a “stretch assignment.” This can be a disservice to both the individual and the initiative. And, because these projects usually have high profiles and high price tags, failure can have fatal consequences. Heads do roll. Don’t let one of them be yours.

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