Change Communications and the Coronavirus

If there was ever an important time to think in terms of change communication rather than communication in general, now is that time. Even if your business has been operating primarily in a virtual environment, much has changed in the past weeks, and it is likely that even more change will be occurring in the weeks to come. If you have traditionally been “bricks and mortar,” in person face-to-face operations, the changes have been even more significant and will continue to become more so. This is truly a time of global transformation. As one colleague said in an online meeting recently, “you can’t unbake the cookie.”

I have long followed and respected the communications capability of Caroline Kealey. Caroline and her company Ingenium Communications have been working on updating and relaunching her Results Map product for more than a year. Results Map consists of a series of handbooks, playbooks and guides for successful organizational communication. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Caroline has pre-released the Results Map® Guide to Change Communications free of charge to any organizational communications personnel, leader, etc. who may find it of value.

As a seasoned change practitioner, I have long found two fundamental truths about change communications.

1. It is incredibly difficult to get right. Even when the change management team can take charge of the communications, developing the right messaging, gaining the needed leader and sponsor engagement and support, and delivering the messages successfully is hard. It becomes more challenging when the institutional ethos is “corporate communications will handle it.”
2. Getting it right is critical to the success of every major change.

The hard truth right now is that some businesses have already failed as the result of the coronavirus; more will. But more than ever, now is the time to get your change communications right, and the “Results Map Guide to Change Communications” is the best resource available to help you do that. Caroline offers wise advice based on her decades of experience. She thoughtfully describes the various roles related to change communications. There is sound guidance on developing and executing your change communications plan. She provides counsel on how to engage the support that is required from leaders and sponsors. And, there are numerous templates and tools to support you and your organization as you plan, communicate, and execute your way through the pandemic. Among these are a “Working With Resistance Worksheet,” “Loss Analysis,” “Message Architecture Worksheet” and a “Change Communication Agreement” between you and the sponsor.

While the guide is in Caroline’s voice and is built on her own change management communications experience, she clearly draws on the work of other well-recognized change management professionals including Daryl Conner, Edgar Schein, and Jennifer Frahm. I highly encourage you to take advantage of the “Results Map Guide to Change Communications” to help guide your organization into the future on the other side of this pandemic.

Caroline Kealey, Principal & Founder

Caroline Kealey is the head and heart of Results Map®.

Caroline is internationally recognized as a leading communications strategist, change facilitator, trainer and author with over 20 years of experience in her field.  She is known as a “communicator’s communicator” for her unique insights and first-hand experience into the challenges and potentials of the role.

As Principal and Founder of Results Map®, Caroline has built her practice based on lasting partnerships with her clients. Through deep collaboration and an unparalleled ability to find clarity in complexity, she helps organizations chart a course toward new levels of performance and impact in communications. Her clients include the House of Commons, Universities Canada, Bayer, the Government of Northwest Territories and the United Nations.

She is driven by her unrelenting passion to set communications teams up for success by creating innovative tools, practical knowledge products and game-changing workshops.

Caroline is a pioneer in working at the intersection between strategic communications and change, serving as Director and Lead Instructor of the Institute for Strategic Communications & Change at the University of Ottawa. Named an International Association for Business Communicators (IABC) All Star presenter, she has won national and international awards in strategic communications and change, including IABC’s global Best of the Best and Distinguished Service awards.

A graduate of the Wharton School of Business executive program in Leading Organizational Change, Caroline is a Certified Change Management Professional (CMP) and is certified in the Conner Partners’ Strategy Execution methodology. She is fluently bilingual in English and French and holds a B.A. with Highest Honours in Communications and an M.A. in Political Science.