Change management is the ability to lead and manage change initiatives to drive organisational outcomes and benefits. Communication is essential to this.
What is communication?
Communication is the ability to effectively convey information, ideas, and messages to others in a clear, concise, and impactful manner, tailored to suit audience needs. It encompasses a range of skills, strategies, and behaviours that facilitate the exchange of information and understanding between individuals or groups.
Essential for:
- All types of transformation
Knowledge
- Understanding of the vision and strategy
- Contextual awareness
- Understanding of key communication channel and approaches
Skills
Able to:
- Think strategically: When creating communication strategies and delivery plans, ensuring they have a golden thread from organisation strategy and outcomes.
- Map and analyse stakeholders: To understand their motivations, needs and influence and how that may impact on the effectiveness of the delivery of the change.
- Be creative: Telling stories effectively to ‘make transformation real’ and mean something to the audience.
- Develop simple key messages: That have resonance with the audience, that are delivered at the right time.
- Create effective and impactful content: That engages the audience and can be consumed in different ways.
- Communicate effectively: At all levels, in verbal and written form.
- Actively Listen: To stakeholder feedback and adjust the content and approach to best suit the audience.
- Be emotionally intelligent: By recognising, understanding, and managing emotional responses effectively in the achievement of outcomes when working with stakeholders impacted by and leading change.
- Create and implement evaluation methods: For the effectiveness of the communication.
- Interpret data effectively: To understand how the message is landing and adjust strategies and plan appropriately.
Behaviours
- Audience centric
- Accountable
- Collaborative
- Consistent
- Act with integrity
- Decisive
- Authentic
- Empathetic
- Inclusive
- Resilient
- Solution focused.
- Adaptable and pragmatic
- Committed to continual learning.
Link to Leadership and Change Management maturity index.
Related roles
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All roles
Change Management – maturity index
The index below sets out the typical Change Management characteristics demonstrated by councils at each stage of their transformation maturity.
