Whether it’s a full-blown crisis or a slow-burning issue to be managed, alignment at all levels of the organisation is critical. Effective communication and management cascades can help potential chaos into coordinated, harmonious change.
Burning platforms come in all shapes and forms: from the seriously existential, such as a major financial or reputational crisis; to events that are less serious but can’t be ignored. Whatever their nature, burning platforms have a couple of things in common – they can’t be left to burn out of control; and they require some serious kumbaya action to be resolved.
What do we mean by this? Simply put, when your house is on fire, it’s critical that everyone in the organisation is aligned and heading in the same direction. Think of it as orchestrating a fire drill: everyone knows their role, their route and the destination. In reality however, creating that alignment is easier said than done – but it can be achieved.
For burning platforms, all the general rules of effective internal communication apply. Provide enough of the right information to the right people at the right time, given that the absence of information is likely to be filled with misinformation by the informal rumour mill. Don’t fall into the dreaded “good news culture” trap – no matter how tempting it might be to paint a rosy picture for people during a challenging situation.
Perhaps most importantly, now is the time to activate your various layers of management. An experienced change manager can help you do that by acting as a facilitator and enabler of your management team, with a focus on building the right messaging and artefacts and getting these tools into the right hands.
Alongside these general principles, let’s take a look at three ways that owners and sponsors of burning platform projects can help to create alignment with the change.
Create a management cascade to support the change
In larger organisations with multiple layers of management, cascading important information through the various layers is an important strategy for disseminating important information. Consider how differently a cohort of workers would handle finding out their jobs are no more via a mass town hall with the CEO, versus information delivered one-on-one with a direct manager. It cannot be all top down.
If the burning platform requires a solution that will create significant disruption across the organisation – such as role changes, restructuring or other workforce impacts – it’s essential to have a clearly defined cascade of who will be delivering what information, and when. A general rule of thumb is that most people prefer hearing about the strategic, “big picture” information from senior leaders (why are we making this change?); and the more tactical, individual impacts from direct managers and leaders (what does it mean for me?).
Even if your burning platform doesn’t involve dramatic workforce changes, the cascade style of communication through affected teams is still an important strategy to gather advocates for the project. Your managers will feel empowered as they are “brought into the tent” with information ahead of time; and their team members will appreciate having access to a trusted person who can answer questions and explain any direct impacts on them.
Work with managers who need upskilling and support
In an ideal world, every line manager in every organisation would be an expert communicator, with an innate ability to deliver complex, sensitive news to their teams. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
Once you’ve established your management cascade, the next step is to consider the individuals who will be tasked with passing on the information and identifying any who may need upskilling and support. In particular, look for those who are relatively new to management roles, as they may need coaching in having sensitive conversations (particularly if jobs are impacted).
Also consider managers who may be personally impacted by any changes and managers of teams that have a heavy workload to maintain amidst the process. In both cases, targeted support is likely to be required.
Stick to the KISS principle where possible
While we’re always supporters of the KISS principle, it’s particularly important during times of substantial change. Even if there’s a lot of complex work going on behind the scenes in the core project team, keep it as simple as possible for those outside the tent.
Why is this? It goes without saying that change can be overwhelming. The more change your burning platform is going to create, the more overwhelm and fatigue your workforce is likely to experience – particularly if the schedule is prolonged. Simplicity can help to prolong the staying power of your workforce.
Depending on how your workforce is used to receiving information, you may like to introduce regular stand-ups with the management cohort to deliver manageable chunks of information for dissemination. Everyone should leave each stand up with a clear understanding of what actions they need to complete with their team, and by when.
Remember, the aim is to keep everyone pulling in the same direction and aligned with the solution to your burning platform. If things feel too complicated, teams might start looking for their own solutions – which could spell disaster for the success of the project.
Turning havoc into harmony
While every burning platform might seem like a raging inferno ready to consume your organisation, you can transform the potential for chaos into order (and even opportunity). So, gather your managers, keep it simple, and get everyone singing from the same kumbaya hymn sheet – because when it comes to extinguishing a burning platform, harmony beats havoc any day.
To find out more about how Quay Consulting can help your team with change management, please contact us.
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