Strategic Communication Plan and Implementation Tactics - Coursework Example

CHANGE MANAGEMENT REPORT By Student’s name Course code and name Professor’s name University name City, State Date of submission Introduction Organisational development takes a complex course that is usually broken down into smaller bits meant to create an understanding of the entire system. Organisational change requires a three dimensional approach due to its critical nature when it comes to the impacts that it poses on individual professionals and eventual productivity levels. As these changes take place, the management is usually caught up in a cloud of paradoxes whose rationale affects the specific interests of those involved. This report focuses on the implementation paradox in a bid to develop a comprehensive strategy that effectively communicates change in organisations. Strategic approach to change is expected to lead to effects that are less contradictory for individuals manifest themselves indifferently. While organisation induced change is unwelcome by the staff due to poor management, professionally induced revolution with proper engagement of all parties that are involved results to a desirable transition. Further to this, change management planning process shall be covered in this report as a way of appreciation of the benefits that it brings along. Organisational activities such as team building, retreats and interventions are advocated based on their positive impacts on change communication. These are therefore reflected upon as a means of creating understanding within the organisation towards a seamless transition from one hierarchical step to the other. The implementation tactics applied in change management process are also covered due to their impact on content delivery to each organisational stakeholder. Effective propagation of change requires a well thought strategy of approach in order to sail through the murky waters of change effectively. Change Management Planning Management is a tactful art that requires planning prior to execution of any activity for there to be a positive impact as per the organisation’s projections. Change management has to be planned due to the weight that it carries when it comes to employee morale and motivation and the effects attached to them. Change management should be structured in such a way that it deals with both direct and intentional adjustments that are meant to have benefits on an organisation. Basically the change management plan brings out desired change in behaviour so as to create an understanding of the internal processes in order to render each individual responsible or willing to take part in what is expected to be the organisation’s future. This plan has to be well designed, focused on people and integral to save the organisation of time and resources. This should also aid in achieving of rapid benefits through encouragement of employees’ morale, satisfaction and engagement. An effective plan shall also be responsible of achievement of hoped-for benefits while creating a high level of trust, teamwork, trust and openness among the individuals (McCarthy & Eastman, 2010). The ripples that result from the change management issue are countered by placing mitigation measures prior to the implementation phase. Contextual analysis of all the stakeholders involved is therefore necessary for communication purposes on all levels of the organisation. The changes that are intended for the organisation must be congruent to the culture in order to avoid mixed reactions from the employees. Changes that are out of cultural context are likely to be resisted against when it comes to the implementation phase. It is the mandate of the organisation management to ensure that prior to implementation; the changes are contextual to the culture of the stakeholders involved. As per the existing researches, radical changes are not readily embraced within organisation thus it is important to weigh the cultural impact (Aladwani, 2001). Complex changes should be broken down as a way of making them appealing to stakeholders. This is because complex changes are usually resisted by all means necessary if the existing case studies are to go by. Breaking the tasks that are intended in suggested changes simply makes them readily implementable even if resistance shall be encountered. In planning for complex tasks, such tools as planning charts, phase outlines and scaled down models usually come in handy. On the other hand, the administration should tally the benefits of the present and the new system of doing things in order to come up with advantages and disadvantages as a suggestion for improvement. Creating concrete arguments as to why changes are necessary not only convinces the employees but also restores their confidence. As part of the preparations, it is therefore necessary to undertake the SWOT analysis for communication plan design. This shall eliminate the common notion by the employees which goes “if it isn’t broke, why fix it?” (Clampitt & Berk, 2010). The conceptual analysis should be carried out to ascertain the changes that are expected as the employees cannot accept change for the sake of it. This can be done through a mock activity in order to observe the replicating characteristics of the suggested changes. The social relationships should also be discussed by the management prior to the enactment of changes. Formation of virtual offices may deem necessary in a bid to maintain the interpersonal relationships that usually get the work place going. At times, it is important to note that the success of an organisation is dependent on the interpersonal relationship between professionals. This shall also prepare the employees towards the reality that shall dawn on them at an unexpected time (Clampitt & Berk, 2010). Overcoming dissatisfaction levels among the employees may reduce the negative perception that may be circulating at a time when change is being propagated in an organisation. The misperceptions that are normally caused during this process shall be eliminated if the changes are strategically analysed according to the audience that shall be on the receiving end. This shall make it easy to disseminate the changes from one level of leadership to another as the hierarchy of an organisation has to be maintained. The leadership should be well defined according to the roles that shall be played in enacting these changes. This should be done by full description of the expected changes, their rationale, implementation flexibilities and other small concerns that may be of importance to the exercise (Clampitt & Berk, 2010). Figure 1: Planning for organisational change (Clampitt & Berk, 2010). Organisational Activities Organisational activities act as important tools for audience analysis meant for persuasive coercion of the stakeholders involved in organisational change. Focus groups and retreats are the main applied social gatherings that are used in impacting positively on the expected changes. The key objective is usually to isolate employees who advocate for change and those who are adamant towards the expected changes. A good example is downsizing the manpower in an organisation; this may not be received well as it is plainly put by words. An organisation has to develop a positive mentality in order of cognitive abilities so as to avoid crashing interests especially where the benefits are not very clear. Fellow employees shall impart sense into the ones being downsized so that they create a good environment to their transition. This also helps the employees who remain behind to cut down on grief and panic in case to help them form new teams that shall aid in boosting the productivity (By, 2005). Determining the employees who shall be affected by certain changes is the main agenda in change management. Retreats may seem an expensive discourse to most organisations but inviting a counsellor or a speaker in cases of extreme changes that may require further training or counselling prior to full implementation shall be necessary. Workshops organised within the organisation premises act as an equivalent of outside retreats in cases where organisations may have financial difficulties due to the number of stakeholders. In case of manufacturing industries, tool box talks or safety sessions shall prove important in achieving this coveted objective (Fedor & Herold, 2004). Strategic Communication Plan and Implementation Tactics Successful grouping of employees into smaller cells that are well understood shall set the ball rolling when it comes to communication part. The strategy mainly lies in persuading the employees to naturally give into the process without unnecessary resistance. Electronic communication is not advocated for sensitive issues which may have a long standing in an organisation or even end up in a stalemate. For strategic planning of organisational change, succinct multilevel communication is suggested because of the impacts that it possesses. Unplanned or random communication leaves an organisation in a messy position that may be difficult to clear in case of backfired actions. The emotions that may emanate from such scenarios may end up in legal actions and tarnishing of hard earned trademarks (Frahm & Kerry Brow, 2003). The teams that are delegated to bring about changes within organisations should be allocated with all the necessary communication tools and time for there to be flexibility and accountability. Sustainability of change is the major question within any given organisation; therefore the disadvantages and their remedies should be cleverly drafted to avoid crashing with company objectives. During communication stints it should be put in mind of the communicators that in as much as the stakeholders might be interested in learning the new changes, it should be done within the concentration period for relevance to prevail. This shall avoid stalling of the campaign while imparting necessary sense within the cognitive concentration time. The communication team should during this period indicate the advantages of the suggested changes while avoiding by all means necessary the downside of the whole issue. The key point here is to treat each stakeholder as a separate organisational entity that has unique capabilities (Dutton & Duncan, 1987). Emergence of strategies should be approached in a tactical manner as suggested in figure 1 above. The key areas that are required in the formation of tactics are the communication channel, message, timing, individualism and the monitoring process. The channels of communication are simply the chosen modes of communication based on their suitability towards attaining the major objective. It is widely suggested that an organisation applies rich channels such as face to face for rapid results as opposed to memorandums are other media type. The message should be carefully and professionally drafted to avoid the downsides as noted above to avoid mixed reactions. Plan B’s should always be there for any change that is doomed to survive within the enactment period. This should be done to aid the survival of the major overriding objectives with a major focus on time. Change initiators should be carefully chosen since individuals with a tainted personality cannot be trusted by the stakeholders at any given time; this may require a lot of lobbying. The last tactic is to monitor the impact of the suggested changes in order to place emergency mitigation measures once situations start going haywire (John, 2003). Change Sustenance and Organisational Development In order to sustain change for organisational development the administration has to ensure that the stakeholders are given a chance to take part in the change process. This kind of communication should give the end user full information of the requirements on every step that is desirable for development purposes. Communication modes should be selected well to avoid crashing between the implementers and the stakeholders for sustainability of organisational change. Feedback is necessary for monitoring purposes; this may be done through post enactment meetings meant for continuous improvement. This shall help in identifying the adamant individuals for further counselling or even explanation of what may not have been understood during the communication process for clarity. The team of trustees should be ready to listen to the challenges that individual employees are facing due to the recent changes so as to conduct further analysis and documentation purposes. Information should be passed to the end user within in a manner that gives enough time for enactment or processing (Bull & Brown, 2012). Conclusion Change management process should be well designed in order to meet organisational objectives. The execution team should be facilitated with proper communication tools in order to impact positively to the stakeholders. Organisational activities such as retreats, conferences and workshops should be arranged so as to observe the stakeholder reactions well in a bid to classify them in order of willingness to accept change. The tactics applied are together with correct choice of communication channel, message appropriateness, proper timing, individualism and the monitoring process. In order to ensure that change is sustainable follow-up should be made to uproot the ugly side of the suggested changes. However enough time should be allocated to determine the proper course of action to take in case of failure or success. List of References Aladwani, A.M., 2001. Change management strategies for successful ERP implementation. Business Process Management, 7(3), pp.266-75. Bull, M. & Brown, T., 2012. Change communication : the impact on satisfaction with alternative workplace strategies. Facilities, 30(3/4), pp.135-51. By, R.T., 2005. Organisational Change Management: A Critical Review. Journal of Change Management, 5(4), pp.369-80. Clampitt, P.G. & Berk, L.R., 2010. Strategically Communicating Organisational Change. Metacomm. Dutton, J.E. & Duncan, R.B., 1987. The influence of Strategic Planning Process on Strategic Change. Strategic Management Journal, 8, pp.103-16. Fedor, D.B. & Herold, D.M., 2004. Effects of Change and Change Management on Employee Responses: An Overview of Results from Multiple Studies. In Tappi Fall 2004 Technical Conference. Atlanta, Georgia, 2004. College of Management Georgia Institute of Technology. Frahm, J. & Kerry Brow, K., 2003. Organisational Change Communication: Lessons from Public Relations Communication Strategies. In ANZCA03 Conference, Brisbane. Brisbane, 2003. Faculty of Business, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australi. John, S., 2003. Translating strategy into effective implementation: dispelling the myths and highlighting what works. Strategy and Leadership, 31(3), pp.28-34. McCarthy, C. & Eastman, D., 2010. Change Management Strategies for an Effective EMR Implementation. Chicago, IL: HIMSS. Read More