Change is never easy. It plays havoc with normal organisational life and requires real adjustment issues.
Whether meeting the requirements of a new boss or revolutionising work styles following a merger or acquisition, people successfully moving through change generally have to transition through five adjustment stages before they are securely entrenched in the new milieu.
The five phases are awareness, understanding, acceptance, commitment and participation.
The time it takes to go through this process will vary from person to person and between organisations.
There are varying communication techniques required to enhance the attainment of each stage of the change process.
At the awareness stage, impersonal communication tactics are sufficient. For example, a billboard can generate awareness. But never make the mistake of equating awareness with understanding. Were all capable of seeing something without knowing what it really means.
Passive, impersonal but more engaging methods can be used to support the second change stage understanding. These methods may include regular newsletters and videos. Because we understand something, though, doesnt mean we accept it.
To achieve the next stage of acceptance, a company should utilise richer techniques such as workplace meetings or interactive Intranet that allow people to adapt the information to their particular circumstance.
The interpersonal intensifies as we seek to transform acceptance into commitment. In this stage methods like team briefings come into their own.
Participation, the final stage of change, utilises intimate interpersonal communication to aid employee involvement. Small groups working towards process improvement with richer, deeper communication is an example of this stage at work.