Example – IT Service Management Communication Plan
ITSM Communication Plan
Apply the Four P process to gain commitment to change.
Resistance to change is natural and should not be ignored. Fear of the unknown can lead to wild speculation and is a contagion that will spread through the employee base. Instead educate employees about the change initiative and address common concerns up-front.
- How the change will affect me?
- Is my job security threatened by these changes?
- Am I going to lost control over my daily activities?
- Why is the change occurring?
- Do I agree with the direction of the change?
We must acknowledge and manage these feelings for our change efforts to be successful.
Four P’s; Purpose, Picture, Plan, and Part.
ITSM provides guidance on best practices for communicating change to gain commitment from employees:
- Purpose – Why we’re doing this
- “Leaders need to remind people of this not because they aren’t smart enough to understand, but because when they face the first bit of resistance or pain they are naturally going to forget that reason.”
- Leaders need to explain the basic purpose behind the outcome they seek
- People have to understand the logic of it before they turn their minds to work on it.
- Remind them why the change is necessary even when the reason seems obvious
- Picture – What will it look like
- “Here’s how life will be better when we get through this. Here is a visual, vivid image, of how your life and our situation in the organization will be better once we get through this change.”
- Create visual imagery, leaders should paint a picture of how the outcome will look and feel. People need to experience it imaginatively before they can give their hearts to it.
- Can’t just ask them to trust you
- Plan – How will we get there
- “People need to understand the plan. The step-by-step understanding at a major big picture level of how we’re going to get there.”
- Leaders should lay out a step-by-step plan for phasing in the outcome. People need a clear idea of how they can get where they need to go.
- Communicate frequently, communicate revisions to the plan as soon as possible.
- People don’t want to be left in the dark and need to understand how the dots are connected
- Part – Give them an active role
- “Get them involved. Because if they are involved they are feeling like part of the solution and they are going to spend more of their energy helping the change take place rather than questioning what is going on around them.”
- Assign a specific active role
- Leaders should give each person a part to play in both the plan and the outcome itself.
- People need a tangible way to contribute and participate.
Implementation Suggestions:
- Create a communication and education page on the ITSM project site.
- Include all formal communications and announcements, FAQs, glossary and company specific training material for ITSM.
- Ask for feedback along the way and give employees an option to post anonymously.
- Also create discussion board/suggestion board to facilitate two-way communication, this allows even passive team members to play an important role
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