Communicating change and consulting stakeholders

Once you’ve developed a change management plan, your next step is to communicate your proposed changes to stakeholders. Your stakeholders are the people affected by the changes, and anyone who might influence the success of your plans. Examples of stakeholders include staff, volunteers, trustees, and funders.

First, you need to understand who your stakeholders are. Understanding your audience will help you plan what, when and how you’ll communicate with and involve each group. For example, if you’re proposing changes to someone’s role, you’ll need to ensure you consult fully and sensitively with them.

Draw up a list of all people who will be affected by the change, or who might influence the success of your plans. For each group consider the following questions.

• How will they be affected by the changes? Are you proposing changes to their role, for example?
• How might they react to change? What might be an insignificant change for you might be a massive upheaval for someone else, and vice versa. For guidance with this, read our page on managing resistance to change.
• How will they measure the success of this change? What do they want to see?
• How much influence do they have? Could they help you bring others on board? Could they stop or seriously undermine the change if they want to?

Be clear about what you’re proposing and how it might affect your stakeholder group. Keep your language plain and simple and avoid jargon. For example, phrases like ‘continuous improvement’ don’t mean much to people.

Which parts of the message have particular importance for the person you’re communicating to? Take the time to get this right.

Part of good communication is choosing the moment when your audience has the time and space to hear what you want to say. A message communicated to someone rushing to pick up their children from school, or preparing for an important meeting, is unlikely to be heard.

It’s also a good idea to repeat information, to ensure your message gets through.

Which channels will be most effective for reaching your stakeholders? Sometimes a phone call, email or instant message is fine. But if you want to be sure, meet with people face to face or over a video call.

This can take more time, but it’s the best way to know your message has been received. And it could save wasted time and misunderstandings later.

Often, following up in writing is helpful too. It reduces the risk of miscommunication and gives people the chance to reflect on what you’ve shared.

Communication is a two-way process. When communicating your plans, make sure you provide clear avenues for feedback. You can do this through:

• questionnaires or surveys
• internal communication channels, such as emails, newsletters and noticeboards
• meetings or workshops.

You may hear criticism but you’ll also uncover good ideas and surprising allies. Listening and being flexible will help you to refine your thinking.

When meeting with stakeholders, ask open questions and listen to their responses. Pay close attention to non-verbal communication too. What does their tone of voice or body language tell you? What does yours say to other people?

Don't assume the other person has heard what you think you’ve said. Ask open questions to check they have the same understanding as you. And make sure you create plenty of future opportunities to carry on the conversation.

Once you’ve consulted with staff and collated feedback, ask yourself:

• What has the feedback and consultation showed you?
• On balance, is the change better for staff and/or volunteers?
• Is the change better for service users?

Make any necessary revisions to your change plans and communicate these changes to your stakeholders. Remember, people respond to how they’re treated. If you genuinely engage with their concerns and give them a sense that they matter, you could change the atmosphere and establish stronger support for change.

Once you’ve communicated your change plans, sought feedback, and shared your revised plans with stakeholders, you’re ready to implement your changes.