How do you foster collaboration and trust among different teams and departments during a change process?

The missing element here is the 'when'. Finite time-frames with key dates represent some stability in times of change. If your teams are aware of the milestones you are working towards they can feel that the change is being carried out with them, not to them.

This perfectly aligns with the proven Prosci change management methodology known as ADKAR which is an acronym for: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement as how individuals undergo successful change adoption. Start with AWARENESS before assuming there is a Desire (support, sense of ownership) or heaven forbid jumping immediately to Knowledge (training). If you have not "onboarded" folks with awareness to a problem to solve, a different way of working, launching a new "product/process/purpose", etc. - you will be facing an uphill battle and high probability of change failure.

Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! Then, Communicate some more! The role of leaders in change management requires care, communication and commitment. Leaders are the bridge between organizations and the envisioned change. If they understand their roles and the expectations around it, clarify their vision, communicate effectively, and hold themselves and others accountable throughout the change process, they can successfully navigate even the most disruptive change.

I agree that helping teams and departments play an active role in change is important if done well. But remember that true transformational change is absolutely terrifying for many people, and as human beings we are largely challenged by the concept of separating our own needs and fears out from the larger demands of the organization. Sometimes solutions need to come from leadership, not from the ground up. Knowing where the organization can be used collaboratively to get at better answers, and where management needs to take a more top-down approach, is a sign of true leadership.

Collaboration and trust are critical to the communications process, whether in periods of transformative change or relative stability. Creating multiple spaces to collect feedback and discuss solutions broadens reach to all employees across an organization—and more importantly, broadens the perspective of the change manager to how deep the change process actually goes. In my practice, I share how I plan to use collected feedback and set a plan to follow up with those who’ve provided it. Not only does this close the communication loop during periods of change, but it builds rapport, values each contributor for their time and reflection, boosts transparency, and encourages continued collaboration.

It’s also important to level set prior to starting this process, as “empowerment” means different things to different teams — and the individuals within those teams. Some may feel empowered with hands-on contribution to every decision, while others may prefer structured sessions that give them the space to share candid feedback — without having to “make the first move” and figure out how to provide inputs into the process. Of course, as communicators, listening is everything!

Involving those that are impacted or who may have expertise and insights to identify or create a solution, this is a game changing element to change success. Inviting people to collaborate and trusting them to strive for the best is getting folks on the highway to expedited and joint success. Think "speed of trust" by Franklin Covey.

Change leaders use the talents and skills of the employees they're leading to help them make effective changes. Successful change leaders resist traditional methods of giving instructions and making decisions and invite all employees to involve themselves in change processes.

If you want to go even further, create an employee advisory committee to help engage employees throughout the change. Call for volunteers or select a cross-sectional group to bring ideas and feedback. Create a charter for this group and be sure everyone understand their roles - what it is and what it isn't. If you go down this road, make sure you are committed to listening and acting on feedback and input from this group. and explain why certain feedback can't be acted upon. If the commitment isn't there, don't do it as it will only deteriorate trust.

It's helpful to identify quantitative data points as the reason for a change, where possible. This helps avoid the perception that one party or the other sees a subjective reason to change (with which the other group may disagree). Further, establishing mutually beneficial objectives for the change can help anchor the project and ensure that everyone is working toward a common goal.

Allowing folks to be a part of the circle of influence lowers stress and anxiety. There are no promises that views, perspectives and suggestions are incorporated but simply enabling the opportunity to speak up and provide input establishes open channels of communication. It goes a long way to helping people adapt to change and lower resistance.

Here to add that in a successful change management project, one always should highlight and acknowledge the often exhausting "messy middle" part of that change curve. Give teams a space to share feelings - just being heard is already helpful - and take them seriously, even if there isn't a way to 'fix' every feeling.

Trust is a two-way street and must be earned. Feedback is either anonymous or it isn’t. If anonymous feedback is requested, the data should be used to gauge the situation but not to judge or retaliate against the individuals. When executive leadership attempts to create a spin campaign around hard news, employees see through it often making difficult situations into a worse climate. Transparency and honest communication about a tough situation can lead to true employee engagement and teamwork for positive change.

Resistance/conflict is feedback from your team and is often perceived to be negative, but it can be one of your most valuable tools in communicating change. Often friction comes from an honest perspective and can give you valuable project insight and allow you to adjust your communication planning early in the process. These issues usually need more collaborative engagement with enough time in-between touchpoints for people to truly digest the message.

Gaining clarity on what is most difficult or uneasy for your audience to change can inform how future communication, training, and support can be provided to decrease friction. Inviting people to express their fear and uncertainties allows the change practitioner to know what to address head-on rather than delay the inevitable pains and frustrations later in the change process. Although scary, better to know now rather than later.

Buy-in is crucial for change management. Change management needs to happen at all levels of an organization. In today’s uncertain climate, leaders at all levels in the organization are involved in managing change. While senior executives set the organizational tone, those in middle management, leaders on the frontlines, and team leaders also play critical roles.

The role of leaders in change management requires care, communication and commitment. Leaders are the bridge between organizations and the envisioned change. If they understand their roles and the expectations around it, clarify their vision, communicate effectively, and hold themselves and others accountable throughout the change process, they can successfully navigate even the most disruptive change.

1. Clear vision, simplified communication, over-communication when needed, transparency and above all continuous trust building. People/ teams will appreciate all of this.

Measure for desired behavior and outcomes. You want to know you are achieving (or not achieving) change success so you can adjust or proceed with confidence. Every change management experience leads to learnings whether it is success on the first try or a need to pivot for another effort. Never leave an opportunity to learn by not measuring or reinforcing what is proven to work.

I’m a firm believer that “if you feed them, they will come”. So, recently I instituted “Food for Thought” luncheons with various masterminds/subject matter experts from different departments who rarely get the opportunity to collaborate. In these meetings we enjoy a hot, catered lunch while we brainstorm hot topics, new services, innovations, etc. Prior to the meeting, I like to send some thoughts, ideas, or questions that are relevant to our agenda so the group can arrive prepared with some ideas of their own and then we see where it takes us. The last session we held produced one of our team’s greatest innovations to date and I can’t wait to see what we cook up next!

Communicate more than you think you need to. Identify your different audiences, and create a communications plan that aligns with the overarching change management plan to address the needs and fears of each of your audiences. Remember to use your change champions for your communication as well -- people trust people!