Communication planning

After establishing the strategies that will promote positive change enablers, and having understood the level of commitment within the organization, Service Transition must ensure that there is a detailed communications plan that will target information where it will be most effective.

When announcing information during a Service Transition change, the following considerations should be made for each statement you need to communicate:

• How should the information be delivered? All at once or divided into segments and released over a period of time? If it is going to be released in segments, then what are the component s and what is the sequence of timing for the communication message delivery?
• How should the information be delivered? (See paragraph 4.7.5.2.) What tone and style should the message be conveyed in – upbeat, cautious, optimistic?
• What actions could be taken before the communication that will increase the understanding and the acceptance of the information given?
• How and when will groups be involved during the cascading of the communication information to other levels in the organization?
• Are the communications successful in overcoming the particular communication barriers on this Service Transition (e.g. cultural differences, the added structure of large teams, the additional requirement s associated with geographically dispersed personnel)?
• Is there consideration to address the communication needs of other stakeholder s in the project (e.g. decision makers, opinion leaders, system user s, internal and external regulatory bodies, and any other persons impacted by the implementation of the new Service Transition)?

Figure 5.1 shows an overview of the key elements for consideration when planning for effective communication.

Figure 5.1 Example of communications strategy and plan contents

To ensure that a communication strategy is effective, surveys and measures should be determined for regular monitoring. This will take the form of feedback from those people that have had any communication. It should also include how people are feeling on their ‘change cycle’ to establish that the target is right. At this point there may be individuals that are identified that should have more personal contact from the Service Transition Team in order for them to achieve an acceptable state.

To obtain an appreciation of the sequence of event s, a communication path diagram such as the one shown in Figure 5.2 helps the planning of the communication process.

Figure 5.2 Example communication path

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29