Organisational change communications — good ones — need finesse and experience. Conveying intricate ideas with clarity isn’t easy. As a student of this game, I understand that it’s not easy to influence hordes of often indifferent, time-poor people. I’m happy to share the meagre crumbs that I know about the tools helping me.
My foray into Artificial Intelligence tools for change:
The journey begins by acknowledging the potential of AI tools. A skilled bike rider chooses an e-bike to conquer challenging terrains. I ride a Brompton fold-up bike and love it. Yet I had a go at the e-bike equivalent and saw how it supercharges my journey. An organisational change professional harnesses AI to navigate the complex landscape of communication. AI augments my writing and graphic design skills.
If you have a visionary bent, AI brings your ideas to life much more easily. Rather than trawl through stock photos or scan through other people’s content for great turns of phrases, AI helps. Writer’s block or waiting for creative inspiration is now redundant. You still need to do the hard work — the proverbial peddling of your bike. Yet AI is the electric charge that kicks in and is like a gust of wind pushing your bike along. So too with your change communications campaigns. If I can do it, so can you.
If you don’t have a visionary style, and like to play it safe, AI helps too. You can shape your work under the artificial eye of an on-demand editor. You can begin by creating impactful content with tools such as the Hemingway App and Grammarly.com. Crafting effective messages in organisational change communications is like planning a trip. I start with the Hemingway App. I often create an outline of a message. Later I add details to make it interesting and clear.
Elevating Communication Strategies:
The fusion of human expertise and AI-powered tools cultivates exceptional communication strategies. We begin by crafting a visual journey with Ideogram.ai and Midjourney, turning words into compelling images. AI becomes our muse when inspiration wanes, courtesy of ChatGPT 4 and its plugins. You can generate ten variations of a change message, and prompt Chat GPT to shape your message. Add vital variables to prompts for better outcomes.
For instance:
- What are the likely pains and gains employees face from your change
- What are we moving from (your current state)
- What are we moving to (your future state)
- Why (an organisation-wide rationale)
- What’s in it for a given stakeholder?
For instance, you might use a Chat GPT prompt like this:
Draft a brief, compelling email suitable for IT team leaders based on the following data: 1. Moving to [System B] and decommissioning [System A]. 2. Pains: discomfort of learning new skills and ways of working — although we will provide you with training and support at every step. 3. Gains: more intuitive user interface and no more manual calculations and system time-outs. 4. Why? [XYZ Corp] has invested in better IT systems to support your productivity. 5. What’s in it for [Stakeholder A]: simpler systems and less administration work each week. Write at Grade 6 readability suitable for a business audience. Mention how readers can learn more information.
What quality of response do you get?
Ugh. The response might be something like below. First, the wording is a bit slick and rich in selling and over-the-top optimism. Time to downplay this. Remove needless capitalisation. References to “good stuff”? You know your readers better than any AI tool; would parts of the below message seem patronising?
Subject: Exciting News: We’re Upgrading to [System B] for Better Efficiency and Easier Work!
Hello Team Leaders,
I’ve got big news! We’re switching from [System A] to a new and better one, called [System B]. This change is all about making your work easier and more efficient.
Why Are We Doing This? [XYZ Corp] is always looking for ways to help you do your best work. That’s why we’re investing in [System B].
What’s the Good Stuff?
- Easier to Use: [System B] is way easier to use than what we have now.
- No More Manual Math: The new system does calculations for you!
- No More Waiting: Say goodbye to annoying time-outs when you’re trying to get stuff done.
What About the Hard Parts? Change can be tricky. You’ll need to learn new ways to do things. But don’t worry! We’ll give you all the training you need.
What’s in it for [Stakeholder A]? Good news! [Stakeholder A] will find the new system simpler and will have less paperwork to deal with every week.
How to Learn More? We will have info sessions and training workshops soon. You can also reach out to us anytime with questions.
We’re really excited about this change and think you will be too. Let’s work together to make this switch a big success!
Best, [Your Name] [Your Position]
Downplay and reword into something you’re comfortable sending. Using other tools like Hemingway and Grammarly polish off rough edges, as does your team’s critique.
Transforming Ideas into Reality:
The journey doesn’t end with crafting content; we can turn ideas into captivating visuals. Engaging employees is vital. A single, unconventional image may attract their attention span for vital seconds. You can use these vital seconds to compel them to read the headline of your message.
Canva’s Magic Draw sparks creativity, propelling us to design captivating visuals. Runway.ML injects life into static images, turning them into engaging videos that capture attention. Check this out — our original image for this article (from Ideogram.io) went through Runway’s “Image to Video” function. This static image gets brought to life, if only for a few seconds. Yet can you extend this time for more video footage? Yes!
Even good ‘ol PowerPoint has the AI-driven Designer tool, adding a touch of sound graphic design to your slides. These tools aren’t mere add-ons; they’re companions that amplify our creativity.
It’s easy for you to parlay the written word into brief videos too. Organisational change videos are becoming easier to create by solo change practitioners. Instead of going to an agency, AI is coming to the rescue. For instance, Synthesia.io adds a lifelike human presence to presentations. Even Canva lets you add presenters into a video, via the D-ID app (or you can go to D-ID directly).
Will AI replace our job? What might be the ethics around AI use at work?
AI tools don’t replace our expertise; they bridge the gap between theory and practice. We weave the theoretical knowledge of AI’s capabilities into our daily routines. By sharing real experiences, such as the way I personally use these tools, we unlock the potential of AI for others. Yes, an e-bike empowers a cyclist to conquer challenging terrain with less effort. AI empowers us to elevate our communication strategies with ease.
Will AI replace the job of organisational change managers? I remember the blood draining from my face when I realised the power of AI. Having helped a project team draft a Request for Information (RFI) document, we cobbled together research from various sources, some hard thinking about risks and concerns, and followed a structure over two weeks. Yet Chat GPT comes out a week after we painstakingly compiled our RFI. And created a tepid yet workable RFI document in five minutes. All it needed was some tweaks from someone who knew our organisation, could join a few disparate ideas and use our organisation’s terminology and context.
Yet nearly a year after this mildly terrifying example, my answer is firm and confident. No. You can see from the above Chat GPT response, AI cannot walk in the shoes of your stakeholders. It learns from what you “feed” it via prompts. Yet would an AI produce a final draft that your team would applaud? I’ll leave this answer to you.
Like a spreadsheet helped accountants, instead of replacing them, AI is similar. Accountants could perform complex modelling with spreadsheets. Savvy operators could structure spreadsheets to do amazing work. Their clever thinking freed up time for more sophisticated, value-adding work. The real whiz kids discovered automation via Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The cleverest out of these whiz kids got their full-time jobs done in mere hours. They joined the dots and reaped the benefits.
So too with facilitating organisational change. Structuring clever prompts for your AI tools is now a source of competitive advantage. Ironically, one AI tool like Chat GPT 4 can write amazing prompts for other tools like Midjourney. Yes, download a Midjourney plug-in for Chat GPT 4, and you are good to go.
You now have the power of graphic designers, editors and researchers at your fingertips. There’s no need to procrastinate if you don’t feel like creating anymore. AI can pull up mock versions of your work for you to tweak. From the novel to the mundane and formulaic approaches to writing, AI tools cover your first draft.
Should there be ethics around AI use in my workplace? Absolutely. Don’t add your organisation into ChatGPT prompts, for starters. Never accept what spits out of ChatGPT verbatim, without shaping this content with your experience and context.
I’ll share with you: this article fused together two Chat GPT prompts to produce a first draft. Like bland, mass-produced food, it lacked flavour. Flavour in the form of my real-world experience, unique turns of phrases and imperfections in the way I write. Imperfections are interesting; they have a soul. For organisational change communications, a degree of “bland, mass-produced” is OK for a first draft. Then add a little seasoning and fresher ingredients. So too with this article. The end result is markedly longer and different to the original stuff that spat out of AI earlier tonight.
Your readers will in time habituate to the fruits of your AI tools, just like they have with stock-standard emails about a new system or way of working. Yet novelty, unconventionality- and understanding your readers well — will never go out of style. What people would habituate to another’s empathy, genuine and gentle curiosity and capacity to truly hear and understand them? Would people tire of clever, thoughtful storytelling about change?
By embracing AI tools, we navigate uncharted waters with confidence. The integration of AI and human ingenuity gives birth to strategies that resonate and captivate. AI becomes our partner in crafting impactful change communications that drive lasting transformation.
Over to you now. How might you unlock the power of AI for better communication outcomes this week?
Our book — The Change Manager’s Companion — is available now. You can also check out our online course on Change Management.