Change in society and the economy is leading to change in companies. However, many change projects fail - partly due to resistance from employees. In her article "Communication as a success factor" in the anthology "Mastering transformation projects with the Enterprise Transformation Cycle", Benjamin Steinegger and Peter Steinhoff explain why communication is so important. The two authors provide an initial insight in the interview.

Change projects: "There must be a sense of urgency"

Beate Greisel: Since the turn of the millennium, significantly more change management measures have been and are being implemented in companies in all sectors. In your opinion, what are the reasons for this?

Benjamin Steinegger: For me, dynamic market behavior is one of the fundamental factors behind the increased need for transformation in companies. Change management is an important part of any transformation, because a company can only change if its employees are engaged and feel committed.

Peter Steinhoff: The pace of change in society, politics and companies has increased dramatically in recent years. Many companies that were very successful on the market until recently have disappeared into insignificance at breathtaking speed. Digitalization, globalization and many other megatrends require a consistent rethink in companies in order to continue to operate successfully on the market.

BG: And why do you think the majority of these change projects fail?

BS: Change projects fail because employees are often not given sufficient explanation of the purpose of a change project. They do not understand the "why". It is therefore a Communication problem.

PS: There are countless reasons for this, but let's talk about the success factors. Change works best when there is a need for change and therefore a sense of urgency. The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated this well: All of a sudden, the digitalization of collaboration became incredibly relevant. Overnight, concerns were thrown overboard. There are also many other success factors, such as the unconditional will of the leadership, a clear change objective and a consistent commitment to change. All of this must be aligned with the corporate culture. The book provides valuable tips on this.

Communication must convey meaning

BG: You both dedicated a joint article in the second ETC volume to the topic of "Communication as a success factor" with regard to change projects. How would you first summarize in a few words the role that communication plays in successful change?

PS: Change only works if everyone is on board. To achieve this, I have to convince those involved that the change makes sense. The employees must support the project both through their point of view and their behavior. To do this, it is imperative that they understand exactly what kind of change is necessary for what reasons, how exactly it is to be achieved and who is responsible for it. For this to succeed, I have to communicate and communicate again.

BS: In my opinion, communication is at the heart of change projects. But even when it's not about change projects, I have found that communication can be a success factor during my work. Incorrect or misunderstood messages or content can disrupt the workflow and jeopardize the success of a project.

BG: In your article, you refer to this key element as "change communication". What characterizes change communication and how can it respond to the specific pain points that the company is struggling with?

BS: With change projects, it is common in practice for there to be an initial "outcry" and for people not to "want" to understand why a change is necessary. To solve the problem, it is necessary to convey the right message with the right content to the right target group. This is done via specific communication channels and ensures that people are taken on board.

PS: Good communication is convincing in its simplicity, it uses images, comparisons and examples. Communication also needs repetition, a dialog and not just the one-sided communication of content. The most important thing, however, is that the changes are exemplified by personalities in the company and are consistent with the communicated messages. They must do what they say. If that doesn't work, they can communicate whatever they want. Employees will see through this immediately.

Adapt communication to stakeholders

BG: Various stakeholders are involved in change processes or are affected by the changes. Does the communication need to be adapted to the respective stakeholder group - for example, employees, middle management, business partners? How?

BS: Yes, communication must be adapted in a targeted manner, as each stakeholder has different interests in a transformation project. Middle management needs reporting on the change project, while employees need a motivational boost for the change, provided they are the key stakeholders of the change. In order to create transparency for stakeholders, the first step is to identify all stakeholders. This is done through a stakeholder analysis. All stakeholders should then be grouped and prioritized. In theory, there is a very efficient power interest matrix that shows which stakeholders should be communicated with and how closely. Communication channels and intervals can be derived from this.

PS: It is also important to align communication with the different personalities of the stakeholders. Based on Schrader's learning types, we have developed six communication types, each of which requires or expects a different type of communication.

There is the nerd, who has very high demands on communication and a high need for information. The pragmatist's demands on communication are not very high, and their acceptance of change tends to be lower. However, they can be motivated by rewards, for example. One type of communicator that is increasingly common in companies is the denier. They do not accept change. They can hardly be reached through normal communication.

BG: Mr. Steinegger, Mr. Steinhoff, thank you very much for talking to us.

The interview with Benjamin Steinegger and Peter Steinhoff was conducted by Beate Greisel for the TCI editorial team.

"Mastering transformation projects with the Enterprise Transformation Cycle" - published August 2020

The Transformation Consulting International has been supporting national and international transformation projects in companies for many years. Based on this extensive wealth of experience in practical implementation, the second volume entitled "Transformationsvorhaben mit dem Enterprise Transformation Cycle meistern: Projekte erfolgreich planen, durchführen und abschließen" (Mastering transformation projects with the Enterprise Transformation Cycle: successfully planning, implementing and completing projects) has been published by the renowned Springer-Verlag. As a continuation of the first volume, it takes into account further wishes and suggestions from readers and presents concrete transformation projects and situations in which TCI experts use the ETC in their daily work. The editors of this 500-page volume are Mario A. Pfannstiel and Peter F.-J. Steinhoff. You will find numerous theoretical and conceptual contributions as well as practical case studies on the "Enterprise Transformation Cycle".

Source cover image: © fizkes | Adobe Stock