0:00

It is the dreaded R word and an

0:00

organisation's worst kept secret.

0:05

I'm talking of course about restructures.

0:08

If you've ever worked in any

0:08

business of any size, you'll likely

0:12

have experienced one yourself. Maybe you were impacted or a friend

0:14

or family member was impacted.

0:18

Maybe nothing changed for you. Maybe you got a new leader.

0:21

Perhaps you joined a new team, or

0:21

maybe you even took a redundancy.

0:25

The thing is restructures are

0:25

like air conditioning or printers.

0:29

They're not a new thing. They've been around a really

0:30

long time, and yet we still

0:34

can't seem to get them to work.

0:37

And while communicators can't solve all

0:37

the problems inherent in how businesses

0:41

manage restructures, we can do our part to

0:41

make the transition as smooth as possible.

0:46

How? Well, that's what today's

0:47

episode is all about.

0:53

Hello, friend, and welcome to a

0:53

new episode of Less Chatter More

0:57

Matter, the communications podcast. I'm Mel Loy, your host, and I'm recording

0:59

this on the lands of the Yuggera and

1:03

Turrbal people here in Meanjin, Brisbane.

1:07

And today we're going to focus on the

1:07

role of communications in restructures,

1:12

or at least what our role should be.

1:15

And the reason we're focusing on

1:15

that is that I have worked on so many

1:19

restructures in my career and for

1:19

some reason ... organisations just

1:23

can't seem to get them right when it

1:23

comes to the change and comms work.

1:27

I wrote about this on LinkedIn a

1:27

couple of weeks ago and the post

1:30

blew up, so I took that as a sign

1:30

that we should talk about this more.

1:35

So first, let's start with some of the

1:35

common reasons why restructures fail.

1:39

And in my experience,

1:39

there's six key reasons.

1:42

The first is that there is

1:42

zero co-creation happening.

1:46

Senior leaders make decisions or they

1:46

bring in consultants to make decisions on

1:50

how the organisation should be structured.

1:52

But it's their view of

1:52

the world from up high.

1:55

They don't get the input from

1:55

the team members at the coalface

1:58

actually doing the work. And when you have no skin in the

2:00

game and no sense of control, it's

2:03

really hard to accept the change.

2:06

I want to make a point here

2:06

though, in Australia, at least

2:08

when changes like these happen. Uh, leaders do have to do consultation

2:11

with teams who are impacted by

2:15

the proposed structure; but the

2:15

thing is, consultation is not

2:18

the same thing as co-creation. Consultation tends to happen once the

2:21

structure has already been decided.

2:26

At best, they might take on some feedback

2:26

at worst and pretty commonly it's simply

2:31

just a tick box exercise and they go

2:31

ahead and do what they want anyway.

2:36

Number two, turf wars. I have seen C-Suite leaders get so

2:38

precious about their realm of control.

2:42

They don't want to give up

2:42

anything they currently control.

2:45

So rather than make decisions that are

2:45

in the best interest of the business

2:49

or the team members, they just make

2:49

decisions based on their own egos

2:53

and their perceived level of power. And that just creates more discord

2:55

at the highest levels, which of

2:58

course trickles down to team members. Number three, really poor communication.

3:04

It's communication that's insensitive,

3:04

sometimes it's deceptive, it's unclear...

3:10

it's delivered in a way that's not

3:10

the right channel or the right voice

3:14

for the people that it's going to. I've literally experienced restructures

3:16

where we were told that if our name

3:20

didn't appear on the org chart,

3:20

we were in the redeployment pool.

3:23

Like seriously, what the hell? Number four.

3:27

The impact of the change

3:27

is underestimated.

3:30

The work wasn't really done to

3:30

understand the impact on people,

3:34

teams, and ways of working. So when the restructure actually

3:36

happens, people suddenly realise

3:40

the support they once had within

3:40

the business has evaporated

3:43

overnight, or it's severely reduced.

3:45

And then you have these shadow roles

3:45

that pop up in different areas of the

3:49

business, and you're back to where

3:49

you started a decentralized model.

3:53

I've seen this happen before, but

3:53

there are ways to work with this, but

3:56

we will save that for another episode. The fifth common reason

3:59

is a lack of flexibility.

4:02

So there seems to be this idea that

4:02

once the structure is in place,

4:06

there can be no further changes. That's it. But the reality is your business

4:09

landscape will continue to change.

4:13

So your structure needs to be flexible

4:13

enough to keep evolving as well.

4:17

And sometimes it's not until that

4:17

new structure is in place that people

4:20

realise it's not actually working.

4:23

So there almost needs to be like a bit

4:23

of a probation or experimentation period.

4:28

And the sixth reason, poor leadership. This is where we see leaders making

4:30

decisions, then back flipping on

4:34

those decisions, sometimes multiple

4:34

times, or making decisions that are

4:37

pretty rash and emotional rather

4:37

than slower, but well thought out.

4:42

Now, I'm sure there's plenty more you

4:42

could add to this list here, but they're

4:45

my top six, so they're the challenges.

4:49

What role can communications play

4:49

in helping to mitigate some of them?

4:52

If not, address 'em entirely. There's five things communicators

4:55

should do when supporting

4:58

restructures, so let's go through them. Number one.

5:02

Call it what it is. Stop using stupid jargon, right sizing,

5:03

downsizing, reorganising, optimising,

5:08

whatever you're trying to call it. Just stop it. People are not stupid.

5:12

And if you want to get people on side

5:12

during a restructure, then you need

5:15

to follow those three principles of

5:15

change, communication, transparency,

5:20

thoughtfulness, and timeliness. I remember once, many years

5:22

ago in a corporate job.

5:25

The C-Suite brought in one of the big

5:25

four consulting firms to help with a

5:29

restructure, and they called it the

5:29

Business Improvement Program, or bip, BIP.

5:34

Now, apart from the fact that we

5:34

all knew they were just trying to

5:37

put lipstick on a peak here, BIP

5:37

became a verb in and of itself.

5:41

So for example, if your

5:41

team was being restructured.

5:44

We called it getting bi. It was not a great look for that change.

5:48

So when you're transparent and timely

5:48

and thoughtful, you help to build trust.

5:53

It's that trust that is going to

5:53

make the path smoother, even for

5:57

people who are negatively impacted. Being transparent means not hiding behind

5:59

the corporate speak and the weasel words,

6:03

and simply being open, honest, and clear.

6:06

It's also about using concrete

6:06

rather than abstract language.

6:10

Concrete language means it's super clear

6:10

and interestingly through the research

6:15

they found that concrete language can

6:15

improve, recall audience satisfaction, and

6:21

improve the credibility of the messenger.

6:24

If you use abstract language, that's

6:24

words like anticipate, or we believe, et

6:28

cetera, all you do is erode trust With

6:28

that language, people can see through it

6:33

and begin wondering what you're hiding. So if you are responsible for

6:35

communications to support a restructure

6:39

or you're coaching others, and

6:39

encourage them to stop hiding behind

6:43

the jargon and be really clear and

6:43

call it what it is, a restructure.

6:49

Now, number two, like I said earlier,

6:49

many times the consultation undertaken

6:54

by leaders in HR is little more than

6:54

a tick box exercise designed to give

6:59

the impression that they give a damn. So they go out, they talk to teams,

7:01

they share the proposed structure,

7:04

ask for feedback, nod wisely, and

7:04

then go away and ignore everything.

7:09

Now imagine being the team member in

7:09

that situation and wondering why you

7:13

bothered wasting your time and energy,

7:13

giving feedback if it wasn't listened to.

7:17

And apart from feeling pretty

7:17

exasperated, it would also give the

7:20

impression that the leaders who hold

7:20

your job in their hands don't care.

7:25

And again, that's not a great basis for

7:25

a smooth transition to a new structure.

7:30

So as comms pros, even if you can't

7:30

control the consultation itself,

7:34

you can try and influence it. So for example.

7:38

In your draft comms strategy and

7:38

plan, demonstrate how leaders

7:41

will need to communicate before,

7:41

during, and after consultation.

7:45

And that includes things like sharing

7:45

the key themes that came through during

7:49

consultation, what was taken on board and

7:49

why, what wasn't taken on board and why.

7:54

And provide multiple ways for

7:54

people to ask questions and share

7:58

feedback and multiple ways to share

7:58

those inputs and the responses.

8:02

So for example, an intranet page with

8:02

all the questions and responses, and

8:05

keep it anonymous if you need to. If you can do this before,

8:07

that's the co-creation piece.

8:10

That's the piece that helps to

8:10

influence the proposed structure before

8:14

anybody sees a proposed structure.

8:16

One of the things you can do, which, uh,

8:16

we're doing with a client, uh, at the

8:20

moment, we implement them about six months

8:20

ago, and they're going really well, are

8:23

holding these, ask us anything sessions.

8:26

They've been invaluable. So basically people are able to

8:27

submit their questions anonymously

8:31

just through a Microsoft form. And then every month

8:33

we have these sessions. They're 30 minutes.

8:36

Just held on Teams, and the senior

8:36

leaders then answer those questions,

8:39

live one by one, and they can also take

8:39

other questions during the session.

8:43

Now, the benefit of doing it this way is

8:43

that people know that there's gonna be

8:47

this outlet to ask questions, but also as

8:47

a communicator, you get this really good

8:52

sense of what's on people's minds, where

8:52

you need to be clearer with your messaging

8:57

or where the gaps are in the messaging.

8:59

And it can also show leaders

8:59

that they need to step up.

9:02

But that's a story for another day. So that's the second tip.

9:06

Demonstrate how feedback

9:06

is being listened to.

9:10

Now, the third one is

9:10

communicate with empathy.

9:13

As I said earlier, there's

9:13

those three T's of trust for

9:16

transparent, thoughtful, and timely.

9:20

Thoughtful is what we're talking about

9:20

here, and that means a few things.

9:23

First of all, as I said, empathy,

9:23

remember, you are talking to humans,

9:27

not robots, and humans have feelings.

9:30

And during a restructure they'll

9:30

have a lot of them and they could

9:34

be very valid feelings as well. I've heard leaders say things

9:37

like, it's not personal, it's

9:40

business when communicating that

9:40

someone's job is on the line.

9:43

Well, sorry mate, but that's

9:43

pretty personal for that person.

9:46

Or I've also heard, I hate

9:46

having these conversations.

9:49

I feel awful. Yeah, well, the person you are

9:50

talking to probably feels worse.

9:54

Leaders often need communication

9:54

coaching, not just understanding

9:58

what their HR obligations are. When they're leading a restructure.

10:02

So instead of making it about

10:02

them, they need to focus on

10:05

how the team member feels. It means asking how they're

10:06

feeling, asking what they need,

10:10

what questions they want answered. And in doing that they need to

10:12

be okay with not always having

10:15

the answers because you won't. But leaders can commit to finding

10:17

the answers for their people.

10:22

The other part of being thoughtful

10:22

is tailoring the communication to the

10:26

individual and the teams involved. There is no one size fits all approach and

10:27

a blanket email just ain't gonna cut it.

10:33

Individual conversations need to

10:33

be tailored for each individual, so

10:36

if they're a person who needs time

10:36

to process before asking questions.

10:40

Give them that option if they're

10:40

likely to ask a lot of questions.

10:44

Be prepared for that. Have lots of detail.

10:46

Uh, some people need to talk through

10:46

a role or structures others need that.

10:50

Visual leaders should know their

10:50

team members' communications

10:53

preferences, and tailor accordingly.

10:56

Now, that doesn't mean they should stray from the message. The essence of what's

10:58

being said is the same.

11:01

It's consistent across the organisation,

11:01

and the focus is on that clarity.

11:06

But the way the message is given will

11:06

change depending on who the audience is.

11:11

So that's number three. Communicate with empathy.

11:15

Number four, be clear on

11:15

the impacts in any change.

11:20

People crave certainty. We love the status quo.

11:23

We love a feeling of control. We are more likely to go for a sure bet

11:25

than an uncertain outcome, even if the

11:30

uncertain outcome could be better for us.

11:33

What that means is we can't. Provide certainty.

11:37

And so people become fearful. And when people become fearful, they

11:38

become defensive, resentful, and upset.

11:44

So where possible, we need to get

11:44

really clear on the change impacts.

11:47

As communicators, we need to work with

11:47

the relevant stakeholders to find out,

11:51

well, what is changing for each team? Apart from the structure, it could

11:54

be the work they do, where they'll

11:57

be located, who they'll report

11:57

to, the tools they use, and so on.

12:01

That very granular impact information

12:01

has to happen because we need

12:06

to make sure the message is as

12:06

certain as possible, and it's also

12:10

about asking what's not changing.

12:12

Now, if you've been following me for

12:12

a while, you'll know that this is

12:15

one of my top tips in change comms;

12:15

talk about what is staying the same.

12:19

It helps to anchor people to

12:19

something solid, something.

12:23

Like the status quo. That gives them some relief.

12:26

So again, ask what's not changing?

12:29

It could be their leader stays the

12:29

same, the tools they use aren't

12:32

changing, their location, their

12:32

internal clients, whatever it is.

12:35

Be really clear on both what's

12:35

changing and what's not changing,

12:39

and also what's still unknown. That high level of clarity and

12:41

transparency, people will thank you for.

12:47

Okay. The fifth tip, well, this is

12:47

the one that everyone always

12:52

forgets about the communication

12:52

after the structure is launched.

12:57

What tends to happen is we go, today's the

12:57

day our new structure comes into effect.

13:00

Yay. And then carry on. The problem though is that people

13:03

are then left wondering, well,

13:07

who do I go to about what now? So for example, I used to go to Jane

13:09

in IT to help with this particular

13:12

platform, but Jane isn't there anymore. Who do I go to?

13:15

Or I used to have a dedicated

13:15

communications manager working with

13:18

my team, but now we have to share

13:18

that resource with three other teams.

13:23

So there's a little bit of stakeholder

13:23

mapping that leaders will need to do

13:26

here alongside the communication they

13:26

need to figure out... who their new

13:30

stakeholders are in the business, set

13:30

up conversations to build relationships.

13:35

They need to be clear on the services

13:35

they offer and don't offer anymore,

13:38

and they need to find out who their

13:38

key supporters are in the organisation

13:42

if they have changed, and communicate

13:42

that to their team members too.

13:47

This also plays into what I said

13:47

earlier, that we need to treat a

13:50

new structure as a test or as an

13:50

experiment, not a fixed construct.

13:56

This is the probation period where

13:56

you'll find out what's working and

13:59

what's not with the new structure,

13:59

and you'll tweak it accordingly.

14:02

That flexibility has to be built into the

14:02

project, but also communicated broadly.

14:07

And like I said earlier,

14:07

you need to show that you're

14:10

listening to that feedback too. And my final tip, it's

14:13

short, but it's sweet.

14:15

Remember, you cannot communicate

14:15

your way out of poor leadership.

14:19

If leaders keep flip flopping between

14:19

decisions, they aren't clear on

14:23

what's changing and what's not, why

14:23

we're changing in the first place.

14:27

Our role is to advise them about

14:27

the risks to their reputation.

14:31

We can't just rub a bit of comms on

14:31

it and make everything seem okay.

14:34

When the reality is chaos,

14:34

people see through it.

14:38

And oftentimes it's enough just to

14:38

mention the words reputation damage to

14:43

them to actually get them to listen. Alrighty, it is time

14:46

for your episode recap.

14:48

So today we focused on all things

14:48

restructures because they are

14:51

a hot mess most of the time. We talked about some of the common

14:54

issues, including lack of co-creation.

14:58

So this means that the consultation

14:58

happens after the structures

15:01

have already been decided. Don't get me wrong.

15:04

Senior leaders do need to look at the

15:04

business regularly and ask if it's

15:07

set up properly for the future and

15:07

make decisions about the strategic

15:10

direction and what a structure could

15:10

look like to help achieve that.

15:14

But they're usually too far removed

15:14

from the coalface to really understand

15:18

what every team contributes to the work.

15:21

Two turf wars happen where leaders worry

15:21

more about power and responsibility

15:26

instead of worrying about is

15:26

the business set up for success?

15:30

A third challenge, really poor

15:30

communication that can be insensitive,

15:33

unclear, deceptive, or managed in

15:33

the wrong way by the wrong people.

15:39

Fourth, the impact of the change is

15:39

underestimated because nobody's bothered

15:43

to do an in-depth impact assessment,

15:43

and that comes back to bite the

15:47

organisation later when they realise

15:47

they don't have the skills and resources

15:51

they used to have and that they need. Lack of flexibility in the structure.

15:55

It's a my way or the highway kind of

15:55

scenario, rather than taking it as

16:00

a test and learn process and making

16:00

sure it's really set up to be able

16:04

to adapt again in the future as

16:04

the business environment changes.

16:08

Number six, poor leadership leaders

16:08

are not walking the talk, not taking

16:12

responsibility for their role, making

16:12

poor decisions or constantly changing

16:16

decisions that have been made and so on. So then I shared five things

16:19

communicators could do to help

16:22

mitigate some of these issues. And the first is ditch the

16:24

jargon in all your comms.

16:27

Call it what it is. It's a restructure.

16:29

People will see through you when

16:29

you try to use any other language,

16:33

and it doesn't help you build a

16:33

sense of trust from your audience.

16:36

They will appreciate the clarity. Number two, demonstrate how feedback has

16:38

been listened to show that consultation

16:43

was more than a tick box exercise

16:43

and share the feedback received.

16:48

Talk about what's been taken on

16:48

board and why, what hasn't, and why.

16:52

And this helps us to ensure that

16:52

sense of transparency, but also that

16:56

everybody's voices are valuable.

17:00

Number three, communicate with empathy.

17:02

Remember, we are talking to humans,

17:02

not robots, and they'll have a lot

17:06

of feelings during a restructure. Make the communication

17:08

about them, not about you.

17:12

Number four, be clear on the

17:12

impacts, what's changing,

17:15

but also what's not changing. Talking about what's not changing

17:17

helps people to anchor to something

17:21

while being clear on what is changing

17:21

helps to alleviate some uncertainty.

17:26

And number five, keep communicating. After the structure launches, talk

17:27

about what's working, what's not.

17:31

Encourage two-way communication from

17:31

leaders and demonstrate that you are

17:36

an adaptable, flexible organisation.

17:39

And of course the bonus tip was

17:39

remember, you can't comms your

17:42

way out of poor leadership. Use the words reputation

17:44

damage and see what happens.

17:48

Okay, that's all for this week's episode. But before you go, I have two more

17:49

things I'd love to share with you.

17:53

Number one. My new book launches next week.

17:55

Hooray. So Less Chatter, More Matter

17:57

introduces a new framework to

18:00

help get your communication to cut

18:00

through the noise with techniques

18:04

backed by behavioural science. I really hope you love it.

18:07

Please go check it out. We'll put the links in the show notes.

18:09

There's also a bunch of launch deals

18:09

as well, so make sure you check

18:13

those out and take advantage of them. And number two, if you love this show.

18:17

Please share it with somebody

18:17

else who might love it or take

18:20

a moment to become a reviewer. It only takes about six seconds

18:22

to rate and review, but makes a

18:25

lifetime of difference to the show. Alright folks, that's all for today.

18:30

Thanks again for tuning in. Keep doing amazing things and bye for now.