Transcript
[00:00:05.320] - Imogen
Hello and welcome to Dear Comms, the coffee break podcast where we tackle your biggest corporate comms challenges. I'm Imogen.
[00:00:12.230] - Amanda
And I'm Amanda. We're here to give you practical, no-nonsense advice so you can focus on the things that will really drive influence, engagement, and impact.
[00:00:24.540] - Imogen
Now, today we're starting a new 5-part series and it's going to be focused all on communicating through change. The fact that any business is going through change shouldn't be too much of a surprise. You've got restructures, mergers, new systems, new strategies, new CEOs.
[00:00:43.600] - Amanda
And it's ever-changing, isn't it? Otherwise, business won't succeed, it will stall. You know, we've got market shifting, priorities shifting, customer expectations changing all the time. So I think in of itself, change isn't the problem, we expect it. It, but it doesn't always make it feel comfortable. And people don't wake up excited about a new restructure or an operating model. You know, even positive change can feel unsettling when it lands in the middle of what is already a busy situation. But it can be made easier, and that's what we're going to explore over the next 5 episodes.
[00:01:27.570] - Imogen
Yeah, we're going to look at how people react to change and why they might have that reaction, all the way through to how you manage the process of change before, during, and after.
[00:01:38.550] - Amanda
We're going to start with the human reaction to change because it gets underestimated all of the time. You know, we communicators, leaders, spend a lot of time thinking about the strategy, the timeline, the business case, but much less time thinking about what it actually feels like to be on the receiving end of it. Our emotional response to change shapes how we hear information, what we trust, what we ignore, and indeed, whether we're willing to move on and change at all.
[00:02:11.570] - Imogen
Yeah, I think it's really underestimated, the whole emotional part of change. And maybe it's because our leaders are quite driven by data and logic and tend to sort of step back away from the more touchy-feely. Emotions. You know, one of the biggest frustrations that we hear from clients is that their team is, quote, being difficult about a big change. You know, they're ignoring communication, perhaps they're disengaging, the morale has taken a dip. But the fact is, in most of these situations, the team isn't being difficult. They're just, they're being human.
[00:02:50.580] - Amanda
Yeah, and humans aren't always logical, are they? I mean, we treat it that way, and we communicate as if people are gonna process it rationally and calmly. You know, we send the deck out, here's the logic, this is why it makes sense for the business, now go off and do it. And then we get confused when people just don't accept it. Well, you know, people don't experience change as a spreadsheet, if you like. They experience it through the lens of their own life, their own, securities or insecurities, their own sense of stability. As you said, we're human.
[00:03:30.690] - Imogen
No matter what kind of change it is, it's actually about a loss, a loss of something, even good changes. So there's obviously the loss that comes with redundancies, for example, but even kind of a good, good change that will make the business stronger or that will make your job easier, there is still an element of loss in there. It could be that you lose a role and change to a different setup. You could lose a team that you've liked working with. You could lose a specific way of working. But there is always loss, and because of loss, we have to remember that people need to It's almost grieve that loss and come to terms with that loss before they can then move forward and deliver the way you want them to.
[00:04:24.930] - Amanda
Yeah, you've gotta give them space to do that. And there's some very raw emotions that come with change. And I think the first one generally you will see is denial. Businesses have been through a round of changes. People convince themselves that it won't really happen or somehow it's gonna pass them by. You'll hear things like, "They said that last year," or, "It's probably just a rumor." And it's really easy to dismiss that reaction as avoidance, but actually, people are just trying to protect themselves whilst they catch up and process what's going on. Some people move through that quickly, hours, and others take much longer, weeks.
[00:05:08.650] - Imogen
It's a survival mechanism, as you say. It's about their brain kind of protecting them. From changes around them. And it's really important to understand that when people are in denial, they are not hearing anything else. Your colleagues are not hearing what you're telling them. And it's okay. You need to keep communicating, but you also need to give them time to let them understand, process that information. You can't expect them to suddenly jump on board and be okay. You need to have empathy and understanding and meet them where they are in that denial.
[00:05:50.600] - Amanda
Yeah, and I think that sometimes that denial sort of morphs into anger. And this, that feels quite uncomfortable really, 'cause it's loud and noisy. You know, people challenge decisions, they question motives, they push back hard.
[00:06:11.040] - Imogen
And it is quite different from denial in the fact that they believe the change is happening, but they're just really not very happy about it. And they're not shy on telling you, you know, this is unfair, who decided this, why wasn't I consulted, this is stupid. They will be vocal in their anger.
[00:06:31.240] - Amanda
And the thing is, don't see this anger as resistance or pushback. Obstruction, it usually means people care, and it means that the change is probably personal to them. Something matters enough that they're reacting to it. Now, that doesn't make the difficult behavior acceptable, but it does usually mean there's something underneath worth understanding.
[00:06:57.120] - Imogen
Yeah, there's at least that sort of acceptance that the change is going to happen. So, when we're communicating with an angry audience, we need to acknowledge that anger. And we need to acknowledge that anger, much like in personal circumstances, much like when you're out with your friends or even in an airport and you've missed your flight, that anger that's being shown is masking some other kind of emotion. So it may be fear or betrayal or a sense of powerlessness.
[00:07:32.250] - Amanda
Do you know, somebody once told me that you can't remain angry for very long because it's a hormonal response, unless you keep poking it and stoking the anger. It actually dissipates quite quickly.
[00:07:50.700] - Imogen
But that's what they teach people in airports. Do you know this? So when you've got your woman behind the check-in and there's someone shouting at her because the bag's overweight or they've missed their flight, you'll notice that they've actually been trained to be very calm in the face of anger.
[00:08:05.780] - Amanda
Yeah.
[00:08:06.040] - Imogen
Because it's very tiring to keep being angry at something that's not giving you any feedback. And it's something that we teach in media training as well. Yes, she's absolutely right. If you've got someone aggressive coming at you, you have to step back and stay calm because they won't be able to sustain that aggression. Anyway, there we go.
[00:08:29.260] - Amanda
Now we know how to, uh, work in airports. Um, so what we're saying is really, if you try and shut that anger down too quickly, you're, you're actually going to stoke, uh, the fire. And I think it can also go underground, really. Frustration breeds, doesn't it? And it comes out in other ways like disengagement, gossip, quiet resistance. So I think the better question is really, what's driving this reaction? What about— going back to what you're saying about losing something, what are they worried about losing here? And find ways to address it.
[00:09:09.920] - Imogen
And also, yeah, when people are faced with change, I see a lot of people trying to negotiate their way out of it, which is probably the approach that I take towards change most of the time. You know, could we just try this? Or, What if we focused on something else? Or maybe I should have an exemption because, and it's a way of trying to circumnavigate the change, avoid the change, and therefore make it less personal and less painful.
[00:09:43.410] - Amanda
In a way, this is healthy, right? Because your team is already— I hope so. Well, I think so, because you're looking at changing the way that you're working, you're exploring options. And you've started to work out how you could live with it, quite frankly. So, I think you can work with that. Filter the curiosity and see how you can apply the innovation to actually implementing the change. You know, sometimes those conversations surface useful ideas that you haven't considered.
[00:10:15.620] - Imogen
I think the hardest reaction to change that we see is the one that we see the most often, and it's quite, quite dispiriting in the fact that it's doubt and resignation almost. And we see this a lot when you have a group of people who are just tired of change and tired of all the different changes going on.
[00:10:40.770] - Amanda
Yeah, you're fatigued, aren't you? This is the quiet one. It's not resistance, but you know, checking out really. Absenteeism, disengagement. You know, quite often you'll hear things, they'll say, well, they're gonna do it anyway. The decision's already been made, I don't matter.
[00:11:00.690] - Imogen
Yeah, or what's the point in trying to do anything? 'Cause it's not gonna change. And it's really easy for leaders, communicators to get frustrated at this point. But actually, it's probably one of the most critical stages and needs to be addressed. And once you start to recognize this doubt, this resignation, this disengagement, it's time to really lean in and follow up with the team and listen to them and hear what they're saying. And it's at this point that you reinforce positive action and try and help the team see how this change can work for them.
[00:11:42.490] - Amanda
Yeah, yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, sometimes you do have these rare sparks of light where you get people who reach acceptance really quite early. Not because they love the change or agree with it, most people don't, but because they've mentally moved into, I can see what's going on, how do we make it work? And those people are really important because they're often the steady voices that others look to. Especially in teams where emotions are still running high, I think.
[00:12:12.740] - Imogen
I mean, it's not really excitement as such, because who gets excited or that excited about work? It's probably not even agreement with change, but it is a willingness, as you say. And that acknowledgement and willingness to move forward is an important thing to harness, but you have to remember that The pace at which you're gonna get people to this stage of acceptance is gonna vary wildly. So, your leaders, your CFO, for example, might be there in a week, but your ops team might take absolutely months to get to that stage.
[00:12:49.960] - Amanda
Yeah, and your frontline team even longer. Everybody's gonna have different timelines, and I think that catches us out time and time again. I think when you are in the middle of it, you're a leader or you're a communicator that's helping a business through change. You've had weeks or months to process it. So by the time it's announced, you're already mentally ahead, but not everybody's hearing it in the same way, and not everybody's at the same point in the journey. Some are quick, others need time. I think you've got to remember that it's a process, and that people's emotional reactions are are just part of that process. It's not about poor attitude. No.
[00:13:37.200] - Imogen
And I think too often we get stuck into pushing people who aren't ready to change instead of supporting those people who are ready to change. You know, our job as communicators is not about spin and convincing people that change is good. Actually, we need to shift that approach and think about supporting people to move through something that we know is hard. And that's about being honest and consistent and patient.
[00:14:10.370] - Amanda
Yeah, I agree. It is hard. We're not there to make people instantly love that change. And I think we've got to give people the space and information they need to process it. You know, we need to give as much clarity as we can. We need to be honest, we need to be consistent. And it goes back to that sense of loss. Again, it's a real thing, and we need to support them through that.
[00:14:36.360] - Imogen
Yeah, I think the takeaway here is that we need to be, we need to stop being frustrated that people aren't moving at our pace, and we need to manage the expectations of our leadership team, and help them realize that, you know, people aren't just being difficult, they are being human.
[00:14:55.460] - Amanda
Yeah, we can't force them to move faster than they're ready to go, but we can make the experience less, less isolating and less confusing. Next time, we're going to talk about what needs to be in place before the change happens. That's the planner in Imogen. How we get the foundations. Exactly. Having the foundations of that change right from the start.
[00:15:17.770] - Imogen
Yeah, proper preparation, etc. If you would like further support in navigating change, do get in touch with us. But until next time, see you later.
[00:15:27.860] - Amanda
See ya.
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