​Hey Reader,​

Growing up, my family played a lot of board games. Not a wide variety, but the same few very, very often: Clue, Pictionary, and Cranium. The rules of these three games are totally different, which is probably why we could get away with the crowd-pleasing combination of the three of them. Among the many differences in their gameplay is the journey from start to finish. Pictionary is one path, Cranium has the option for shortcuts like fast tracks, and Clue is, well, Clue.

But they have at least one thing in common: a clearly labeled place to start.

If you play these types of board games, you know you don’t plonk your game piece down in the middle of the board and start wherever seems best to you. You start from the beginning, even if it’s not the most exciting or convenient place for what you'd like to do.

Unfortunately, when it comes to change management communication, most leaders don’t know where and when the “game” really begins. They just put their piece down wherever they think seems best — usually wherever is most interesting or most convenient.

This is how leaders end up communicating change too late and through tactics like announcements or updates — and getting confusion, resistance, or apathy in return.

Change communication begins at the beginning

Even the most well-intentioned change leaders — the ones who create tools like stakeholder maps and key messages for managers and change champions — consider change too late in the game.

Before you even begin to navigate a change — when you’re still ideating — that’s when change communication begins.

What does this look like?

Say there’s a change — it can be planned, proactive, due to outside forces, reactive, big, small, whatever! — and a CEO or senior leader brings up the topic for the very first time with the rest of the leadership team (even if that leadership team is only a few people). This is the very, very, very first time words about this change are spoken.

They could say:

[CHANGE] is [happening, going to happen, needs to happen, should happen] and we can probably expect a lot of pushback from [specific employee group, department, everyone].

OR they could say:

[CHANGE] is [happening, going to happen, needs to happen, should happen] and we're going to need to pay particular attention to [specific employee group, department, everyone].

OR they could say:

[CHANGE] is [happening, going to happen, needs to happen, should happen] and this is a great opportunity to build trust with [specific employee group, department, everyone].

They can choose to say any of these three statements about the exact same change

Each one sets a different tone and influences the behavior of the rest of the leadership team.

If you say you expect a lot of pushback, it can pit leaders against their teams and create an us vs. them dynamic.

If you say that special attention should be paid to a certain group, what are you really saying? Good attention? Bad attention? Care? Caution? Does a statement like that get all of the leaders on the same page? Does it communicate something else between the lines?

And if you say that there’s an opportunity to build trust, are you being genuine? Are your behaviors actually going to match your words?

One simple statement can begin very different journeys.

Which means that each single statement is change communication — communication about change

And that is why your change communication strategy must begin from the very start.

Not in fun, exciting places like press releases or all hands meetings (or Clue’s library or Cranium’s purple brains).

Just the plain, old, boring start. In the game of change, strategy begins at the beginning.

Whether you have big changes on the horizon or you’re looking to increase your teams’ overall change capabilities, understanding how change communication really works (and whether you’re doing it right!) can be a game-changer for your day-to-day operations, your culture, and your long-term work toward your mission.

We’re doing a deep dive into change comms at our next Office Hours this Thursday, June 13th. You’ll have the chance to see whether you’re starting your change communication early enough, how you can make those initial messages and interactions as impactful as possible, and we’ll have plenty of time for questions (so if you already have one you know you want answered, just reply here so I can make sure to prioritize it).

Will we see you there? You can register here and feel free to share (and tag Commcoterie and me if you share on LinkedIn!).

Talk soon,

Caitlin Founder, Commcoterie

P.S. — Big plans for change with a tight timeline? Retreats or offsites — whether in-person or virtual — might be the way to go. But when you're bringing folks together, you want it to be meaningful, memorable, and you want to get your ROI.

Whether you're doing strategic planning or need to get everyone aligned to move into your next phase of growth, it helps to have a strategic partner and program designer on your side. If you're looking for someone to build a thoughtful agenda around engaging and impactful content, reply here and tell me about your team.

(This could be you: "Caitlin, you are incredible. The amount of work and thought you put into the program — it's wonderful. You really supported us. Thank you.")

Resources for all types of growth

Fundraising Mindset Office Hours with Kirin Kalia of Grow Through Strategy My pal Kirin Kalia is a startup veteran and communications expert with 25+ years of experience across journalism and marketing. As a communications partner for growth-stage startups, she helps founders master their messaging skills so they can raise more money, grow their revenue and strategic partnerships, manage their board and hire the best talent. She hosts these Office Hours because she believes a strong mindset is especially critical for communicating clearly and confidently with everyone in and around a fast-growing business. Even if you’ve raised money before or you’re a serial entrepreneur, your mindset — the way you think about raising money — has made or is making the process MUCH harder than it needs to be. Her Office Hours is your safe space for learning ways to level up your mindset so you can get what you want for your business (investment and everything else) faster. Register here

Creating Compiler's Parental Leave Policy by Shelby Miller of Compiler In early May 2021, Shelby excitedly looked forward to joining the Compiler team as its third Managing Partner (and only parent). The week before she started the job, she looked down at two lines on a home pregnancy test; she was pregnant. At the time, Compiler didn't have parental leave — so when Shelby joined, she wrote the policy, a two-year, eye-opening, mind-boggling, rewarding endeavor that resulted in Compiler’s first parental leave policies getting officially adopted in September 2023. Compiler, one of my very favorite clients, designs services and solutions that are equitable and accessible, and they believe that should be extended to employees in addition to their clients. Still, navigating the logistical and legal hurdles of providing leave was no small feat. In this post, Shelby describes how they created parental leave and wage replacement policies for their remote, multi-state team. Read more here

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