Who moved my . . .

I was recently at a meeting (not related to Hillcrest) where the leadership announced a major change that would affect everyone, and would affect everyone soon. The change will significantly alter how this organization operates on a day to day basis (the bad news) but is also a major cost saving measure (the good news). While it is certainly relevant to discuss and debate the merits of this change (or any change, for that matter), most of the room was caught off guard by the swiftness and the suddenness of the change. Looking back, I think a couple of items could have made the meeting (and the communication) go smoother:

• Widen the first group you tell about the change- I was surprised by some people in the room who didn't know anything about the change (and I thought they would have known about it). I think those people were surprised as well that they weren't in on the first round of communication. If there are key people who will need to be ok with a change before making it, better to tell them as soon as you can so they can advocate for it and not rally against it.
• Anticipate potential questions-I was also surprised at how little thought went into anticipating some of the questions that the change raised. Some of the questions seemed basic and reflexive- just a bit of forethought could have provided good information as well as assured the asker of the question that things are good. Instead, the "we'll note that down" and "we'll have to see" only created more confusion and drew more questions.
• Highlight benefits- I admit that there is a fine line between highlighting the benefits of a change and over promising or manipulating or whatever, but it seems like we can do better at explaining how a potential change could be good for us, the team, the organization, etc. These are 'big picture' moments. With everyone trying to filter the change through how it affects them, if the leader can bring them back to the big picture, people might just sacrifice some for the good of a good team.