Question

Reflect on the communication failures you have witnessed in organizational change efforts, and answer the following:

• What was communication failure?
• What communication needs were not met?
• What was the result of these failures in communication?
• What needed to be done to correct this problem?

Answer 1

1) My organization which is a multi billion dollar IT giant was going through organization change where our in house sales tool was getting overhauled. The change effort was not successful since most of the sales person never changed the tool preference and kept on working on the previous tool which was still supported till next one year.

2) The primary communication need was to send a constructive message to the end user and convey it clearly regarding why the new sales tool was better than the previous one. The basic user training on the new tool was also not communicated clearly to the users of the tool.

3) The whole transformation effort was a waste. Not only the money went down the drain but also the efficiency of sales cycle which was about increasing the turn around time of the sales cycle never improved. End user kept on using the old tool.

4) First of all, since we were talking about more than 5000 end users, a clear mass communication drive had to be planned and strategized. The communication should have been tailored so that it can be consumed easily amongst the 5000 sales person who were the end users of the tool. This could have easily happen with communication campaign beginning right at the outset of organizational change been formalized. Also, there should have been a clear communication channel which should have propagated the efficiency related problem of the old tool and it should not be used anymore right after the new tool was launched.