3 Ways to Meet Stakeholder Needs When Communicating Change

Here are three exercises you can add to your planning agenda to get the ball rolling:

For more information about employee communication, visit us at www.davisandco.com/services

Develop a map

Ask the right questions during your next planning session

©Davis & Company

Brainstorm objectives

when communicating change

When developing a change communication plan, you need to identify key stakeholders and analyze their needs. That way you can design your program to set stakeholders up for success.

Create messaging

3 ways to meet stakeholder needs

Develop a map of stakeholders the team will need to communicate with:

Using Post-It notes, develop mind map of groups on the wall (or white board)Review mind map to clarify communication needs and levels of influence (e.g. of project needs: time/ commitment, budget, advocacy, awareness, buy-in)Identify similarities and differences among the groups

Brainstorm communication objectives for each stakeholder group:

Individually, participants generate as many Post-It notes as possible to convey communication objectives for each stakeholder group, answering the following: Using Post-It notes, develop mind map of groups on the wall (or white board)Review mind map to clarify communication needs and levels of influence(e.g. of project needs: time/commitment, budget, advocacy, awareness, buy-in)Identify similarities and differences among the groups

Influencers

Leaders

Here’s an example of common stakeholders and questions you can use for each:

For any new project, employees are most affected by changes. Consider:What their role is in the change?What are the employee’s needs and preferences?What has been their change experiences—good, bad and ugly?How will those experiences affect their response to this initiative?

What their role is in this change?What are the objectives? How do you define success?Who will be involved in managing the change?What do leaders need the employees to know/believe and do?

What their role is in the change?What are the employee’s needs and preferences?What has been their change experiences—good, bad and ugly?How will those experiences affect their response to this initiative?

For most leaders, introducing a new project focuses on deadlines and approvals rather than the experience. Think about:What their role is in this change?What are the objectives? How do you define success?Who will be involved in managing the change?What do leaders need the employees to know/believe and do?

Key influencers are your IT folks, design team, admin assistants, etc. They don’t own the project, but influence the success. Review:What their role is in this change?What are the objectives? How do you define success?Who will be involved in managing the change?What do leaders need the employees to know/believe and do?

For any new project, employees are most affected by changes. Consider:

For most leaders, introducing a new project focuses on deadlines and approvals rather than the experience. Think about:

Create messaging for each stakeholder: How will we tell our story?

Employees

Break into groupsBrainstorm questions that each stakeholder group might have and write them on flip chart paperDevelop answers for top five questionsShare top questions and answers

Want information about employee communication?

LEARN MORE

We hope these exercises will help you ask the right questions and give stakeholders importance!

3 ways to meet stakeholder needs when communicating change

Using Post-It notes, develop mind map of groups on the wall (or white board)Review mind map to clarify communication needs and levels of influence(e.g. of project needs: time/ commitment, budget, advocacy, awareness, buy-in)Identify similarities and differences among the groups

Individually, participants generate as many Post-It notes as possible to convey communication objectives for each stakeholder group, answering the following: