A Mini Case Study
In this mini case study we’ll look at a brief scenario and discuss the approach to getting started with identifying and reaching out to stakeholders to get them on board with the project.
Scenario: You want to implement a 360 feedback process into the organization. The organization is receptive to providing feedback. In fact, regularly, the leadership team sends out a survey to inquire how they are doing from the perspective of the employees. Executives, therefore, certainly supports this initiative. However, Department Managers are concerned that their staff will be providing feedback on their performance and the majority of them (5 out of 7) do not believe this is appropriate (they are “old school.”) The other two department managers (HR and Finance/Administration), however, have been through this process before and find it a very valuable experience. They are thrilled with this initiative!
Your approach: You have identified your key stakeholders as follows:
- Current employees
- Department managers
- Executive team
Other stakeholders include:
- Customers: they will indirectly benefit from this process as by utilizing the information gained in the 360, the organization will be able to better support its customers
- Future employees: a 360 feedback process shows that the organization is committed to professional development and honest and open sharing of information – this will be attractive to new hires
Your break your department managers down further as follows:
| Champions (2) |
Resisters (5) |
|
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What you do: You develop two communications plans to share information about this initiative – one for champions and one for resisters. Your goal is to convert your resisters to champions – spending more time with them individually to understand their concerns and get them comfortable with the process before you start the 360 feedback project. Even with executive support, you don’t want to move forward just yet – you want the support and buy-in of those five department managers who are concerned about the process.
Your first step in your communication plan is to meet with all seven of the department managers as a group to talk about the initiative and the value to the organization as a whole, the individual departments and employees and managers. Prior to this, you’ll ask your champions (HR and Finance/Administration) to talk about their experiences with a 360 assessment process and the value they found from such a process.
Your goal is to begin to help the other five managers who are not yet champions to listen to others who have gone through the process, ask their questions and address concerns/issues raised. You don’t expect to turn all resisters into a champion in just one meeting, but this is a starting point and will enable you to determine how you need to position communications moving forward.
Stay tuned for part II of this post where we’ll outline further communication plans for the department heads and for the rest of the employees in the organization.
