How to communicate internal changes to employees

Business, as with life, is always in flux. Leaders are often looking at ways to optimize processes, and that means things change. Hello, change management.

I've done a lot of change management in my career, and the one theme that is always running through each change is that nobody is answering some fundamental questions.

"Who and what will this change affect?"

I recently helped one of my clients move onto an HRIS (HR Information System) which I highly recommend for companies as they approach 40 employees. The processes for requesting time off changed, yet again. And I get it, it's annoying to change they way you've done things and move from comfort to discomfort.

So how do you actually move the needle and get folks to do the new thing?

1. Ask the right questions early. Who will be affected by this? What processes will change? What problems can we foresee now and get ahead of them?

2. Send an email, early.

3. Then do it again.

4. And again.

5. Most of us need a few times, as well as personal follow ups to make sure the changes that someone else wants to see, is integrated into our way of operating.

6. Understand and bake into the communication that things won't be perfect.

7. Make things concise. Make them clear. And make them transparent.

At one organization I was with, I was responsible to collect proof of residency documentation from up to 250 employees every year. And not just one document, in some years, it was up to FOUR documents to prove residency, every fiscal year.

Don't be afraid to make changes, but do make sure you set your teams up for success by looking at the problem from a few angles, asking the right questions, and communicate early, and often.