Recently, we were working with a business leader in a large organization on a major initiative and we asked him what his plan was for implementation. His answer? “Oh, we’ve got that under control. We’ve got a project website set up, a focus group scheduled and an email campaign ready to go.”
We get this type of response all the time. In fact, in our 35+ years of Change Management Consulting, one of the most common mistakes we see is when organizations, like this one, are fooled into thinking a communication plan is the same thing as an implementation plan. The truth of the matter is having a communication plan is important, but it is just one piece of a full change management plan.
What’s the Source of this Confusion?
There is a commonly held belief that if we just tell people about the change, and tell them more often it will be enough to get buy-in and even behavior change. This assumption is grounded in the belief that if people just understand the business logic and rationale behind a change they will get on board. Unfortunately, it is never this simple. Think of it this way, if we could change behavior just by communicating people wouldn't smoke and everyone would be at their ideal weight!
The second and related source of the confusion is the inherent (and misunderstood) belief that getting any change installed is the same thing as getting it implemented. It is easy to rely on communications alone if an organization stops at the point of installation (getting a change launched) rather than at the point of achieving adoption and Return on Investment. Installation is important, but not enough; a communication plan is important, but it is also not enough.
Third, when we look at the intersection of change management and project management, there is a general lack of knowledge about the critical elements that really must be a part of any true implementation plan.
Key Elements of an Implementation Plan
Is having a communication plan important? Absolutely. But, it’s not enough. A sound change management methodology like the Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM) certainly includes communication planning—but if you look at the AIM roadmap you will see communication is only one of the ten elements for managing the human side of organizational changes!
When building a change implementation plan there are several key steps that must be addressed. At a minimum, a full implementation plan must include:
Providing a clear path for the future with a full implementation plan helps create clarity out of the chaos that is so common in change. Communication is certainly one area to plan for, but it needs to be integrated with the other elements of a solid change management approach such as Defining the Change, Generating Sponsorship, Creating Readiness to manage resistance and Developing a Reinforcement Strategy. These core principles will guide your way through the technical, business and people-side of any change implementation.