Let's talk a little bit about how to communicate well, because one of the Communist mistakes is to become complacent about the amount of communication you're putting out. So just communicate, communicate really well use every means at your disposal. Because up to the point where people say that you're communicating too much, they will constantly moan, that they're not getting enough information. And they'll fill those gaps with gossip and rumors that are very disruptive to your change program. Your organization probably has newsletters, meetings, memos, email circulation, lists, conferences, and 1000 other channels for communication. And so your your average colleague will spend much of their working life trying to evade Much of this incessant flow of information, which they probably see it unnecessary, they'll filter out probably up to 80% of it.

So, if your vital communication doesn't dominate the flow of ideas, it'll easily get lost. Typically, between five and nine items register fully in our awareness at any one time. So your communication should be at least the fifth biggest flow of information to even get people's attention. To be deemed important, it needs to be towards the top. And that means representing some five to 10% of internal communications. The message to take away is simple, be absolutely clear about what change you want to create and then communicate it with passion and precision.

Excellent communication Always uses positive language it talks about what will be rather than what will not be. And it's always clear about what will change. Good change programs communicate well by telling people what the change will look like, when it's successful, what they'll see what they'll hear what they'll feel, what will be different for them day to day in their working life. And it tends to use simple sensory language. As managers and professionals, we often feel the temptation to hide behind technical jargon filled management speak. This alienates people, it creates mistrust, and this obscures our real message.

Use language a child can understand, because that's language that an adult can understand easily too. The tabloid newspapers know this. And it's a lesson that we need to learn. You should also be honest about the problems that your program is encountering. People know that they're going to have to cope with problems and possibly personal setbacks as a result of the change. So be scrupulously honest with them, they also know things will go wrong.

And if you try to pretend that everything is going well when it isn't, people will find out, they will start to miss trust the communications that you put out. But equally as well as addressing the problems, you need to spell out the benefits clearly, for each person, identify what's in it for you. Then present that information in as targeted a way as you possibly can. And that means communicating at a personal level. Now of course, the gold standard for human communication is one to one face to face communication. So invest in spending time with people, rather than hiding behind memos, reports and emails.

But if you can't spend time, one to one with people, at least personalize the messages that you're putting out. In short, you need to analyze people's needs and adapt your communication strategy accordingly. If you do that, then people will feel like they're getting the information they need. They won't need to speculate they won't need to gossip. They won't need to listen to rumors. And as a result, it will be much easier for you to get across the positive method that you need