Change Management and Posters
by Ver proposed a major change at your company, got a lot of buy in at the outset, but after a few weeks the old way of doing things had taken hold again? This is a very common problem when it comes to managing change in an organization. The “old way” already has momentum. You have to fight for the “new way” while also phasing out the old. This can be a real challenge!
Recently John Kotter released a clever little book called “Our Iceberg is Melting” in which he tells a story about a herd of penguins having to shift to a new iceberg. One of the keys to successfully helping the penguins who had grown up on the iceberg understand the core issues was to keep posters in front of them. This helped remind them of the problem every day so the sense of urgency remained.
Whenever change takes place, people (and penguins, apparently) need to be reminded of the sense of urgency for why the change needs to take place. It’s just too easy to get frustrated and quit trying the “new way.” Taking a tip from Kotter, why not implement a change management campaign using poster printing?
Poster Tips
Posters can help remind your employees about the need for change, how the change will help the company, and even what to change. Whether you are making a massive change to the corporate culture or are implementing a new password policy, posters can keep the change in front of your people.
Keep your message simple when designing posters. Don’t describe the process all over again. Instead, consider a simple slogan to remind everybody about the key issues and let them fill in the blanks.
Your imagery should be consistent with the message of your posters. Don’t skimp on color. Full color poster printing is much more effective than black and white. If the change is a long-term process, consider plastic poster printing.
Place your posters in prominent areas. At the end of a long aisle at work, in the restroom, on bulletin boards. The goal is to remind the team of the change, not bludgeon them. Keep your placement tactful, but obvious enough that the message is seen.
Final Thoughts
Change management is difficult. You may have a great change management team, manufacture some short term victories like Kotter recommends, but still fail at the stage where people get impatient. Use posters to help your staff keep the relevant issues at the forefront. A steady pressure on the change process can help push the change through, and posters are a great way to passively help this happen.
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