The sign on the white van parked outside the main entrance to our office read ?Rapid Renovation:?Specializing in Commercial Spaces? with the tagline, ?When it needs to be done in hours, not days.?? The logo ? a clock with a single sweeping hand.
My first thought was, ?What a great way to differentiate your company.? My next thought was more cynical. I let out a guffaw (as an aside, don?t you love that word?). I?ll share the joke, with the caveat that you understand I really, truly like our property management company.
Great people. Built out a beautiful space for our business. When we moved in, they were already committed to building out a first-class lobby and public area, transforming the former 1960s space then devoid of anything you would have described as stylish.
The guffaw was about the timing of this truck?s arrival on the scene. The lobby was supposed to be done, finis, wrapped up, completed, tied up and delivered with a bow on top in APRIL. We?ve been living with dust and suffering the constant, unending drone of jackhammers for seven long months.? And the end is not in sight.
As it often goes in major renovations, they dreamed, drew up the blueprint, hauled out the sledgehammers, knocked down walls, and only then did the building reveals its scary? inner secrets. The big surprise was something to do with the bearing weight of the new staircase, I think.? Whatever they found, it sent the guys in hard hats back to the drawing board. The place went from loud to deafening silence.
As the days passed we entered side doors we never knew existed, and maneuvered our way down hallways with nothing but a few measly hanging work lights, all while tracking the dust onto our own brand new light grey carpet.
So you can imagine what I was thinking when the ?rapid renovation? guys arrived that day.? ?Where have you been for the last seven months?? I asked.? A bewildered-looking guy in a faded blue t-shirt and work boots stared back. He clearly didn?t know the history of our misery.? Or maybe he just didn?t want to make trouble, in case anyone from the management company was within earshot.
I think about this in the context of change management challenges. Often the biggest complaint people have when our consultants come in (midway) through a change initiative is that there?s already a lot of debris on the floor. The plan rolled out without enough communication around it. Well-intentioned, talented managers dutifully have had that jackhammer slamming away on walls and floors, not anticipating the big surprise -denial, resistance, inertia, delay, cost overrun, blame, etc.
You have to take people through denial and resistance to the point where they are ready to experiment, try, get on board and become part of a solution. A great communication plan accelerates that process. You get the job done, on time and on budget, without so much fussing.
I like to think of our team as the rapid renovation truck. Get us in there early enough and we can chart the pain points, identify all the stakeholders, clarify their real objections, map out the communication channels, and talk to them the right way with the right messages and tone.? Putting the ?rapid? in right from the beginning can accelerate the project and safeguard you from having to make costly changes to the blueprint, again and again.
As I always say, every business plan needs a communications plan to drive it forward.
If you have more interest in this topic, go to our website and look for the package of information you can download on change management communication.
I sure as heck hope I see that truck out there again tomorrow.
Suzanne Bates is author of the new book ?Discover Your CEO Brand:? Secrets to Embracing and Maximizing Your Unique Brand as a Leader,? just out from McGraw-Hill. Founding CEO of Bates Communications, a firm that transforms leaders into powerful communicators who get results, Suzanne is also author of The Powerspeaker? View?full?profile
Source: http://www.business2community.com/strategy/rapid-renovation-change-management-communication-0219400
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