THE RIGHT PHRASE FOR EVERYSITUATION . . . EVERY TIME Employees respond to organizational change with worry, fear, and sometimeseven panic. Your job is to keep them motivated and focused―so you mustchoose your words carefully during times of upheaval. Perfect Phrases for Communicating Change has hundreds of ready-to-use phrasesfor ensuring your employees make the transition with clarity, commitment, andskill. Learn the most effective language for: Articulating new company initiatives - Responding to questions with confidence - Easing employees' fears - Clarifying roles and responsibilities - Addressing resistance and performance problems Praise for Perfect Phrases for Communicating Change " Perfect Phrases for Communicating Change is a wonderful book, filled with practical, solid advice, suggestions, and examples for how to communicate effectively in a time of change.” John Krajicek, Executive Professor and Assistant Director of Business Communication Studies, Texas A&M University "Communication during organizational change is everything. The right words at the right time can make all the difference between a successful and unsuccessful change initiative. This is a wonderful resource for finding the right words and sentiments to convey any type of change." Robert J. Marshak, Ph.D., author of Covert Processes at Work: Managing the Five Hidden Dimensions of Organizational Change “Finding the right words to communicate change is challenging, even for the best of managers. In this user-friendly text, Lawrence and Antoine provide hundreds of practical phrases to better prepare managers for the task. The book is rich with insightful suggestions on change messaging considerations and construction.” Edward Ferris, Assistant Professor, The New School for Management and Urban Policy "In my over 20 years of running companies and corporate divisions I have seen a direct correlation between the quality of communication of my managers and their success in the business world. If you aspire to be an effective, efficient, and productive leader then I highly recommend this book. It is an outstanding reference guide and road map for pragmatic yet inspirational communication techniques." Mitch Pisik, President and CEO, Breckwell Products Lawrence Polsky and Antoine Gerschel are managing partners at PeopleNRG, a change-management consultancy firm in Princeton, NJ. Lawrence Polsky and Antoine Gerschel are managing partners at PeopleNRG,a change-management consultancy firm in Princeton, NJ. PERFECT PHRASES for COMMUNICATING CHANGE Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases for Maintaining Focus and Productivity During Organizational Change By Lawrence Polsky, Antoine Gerschel The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Copyright © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-07-173831-6 Contents AcknowledgmentsChapter 1 Laying the Foundation for Communicating ChangeChapter 2 Perfect Phrases for Communicating a New Organizational StructureChapter 3 Perfect Phrases for Communicating a New ProjectChapter 4 Perfect Phrases for Communicating as a New LeaderChapter 5 Perfect Phrases for Communicating a New Organizational StrategyChapter 6 Perfect Phrases for Handling Resistance Excerpt CHAPTER 1 Laying the Foundation for Communicating Change The title of this book could be How to Deliver—What May Be InitiallyPerceived as—Bad News . Change at work is often hard to stomach.Employees tend to focus on what they are losing rather than the newopportunities change creates. We have written this book with that in mind andhave tried to write the phrases in a way that makes them easy to hear during astress-filled time. In several sections, words and phrases are included that may be more empathicand soft than one might normally use. The purpose is not to force you to usethose words, but to help you remember that such an approach may make employeesmore open to the content of what you're saying. This also means you may not be able to use the phrases literally. For example,in some sections, there are lists of phrases that are choices. Pick the onesthat match your style and situation. Then again, some of the phrases might needto be used and repeated, changing the emphasis each time. During change, emotions run rampant, which clouds listening. People might onlyhear the downside of the message the first time, the next time they might hearmore of the rationale, and the third time they might finally get "what's in itfor me." Key messages need to be repeated over and over again. If you don't havethe luxury of repeating something so many times, use active listening skills andask back to find out how your message was received by the person you are talkingto. In addition to providing you with phrases to use, our intention is to offer somemanagement training at the same time. Reviewing the content of phrases in anysection also serves as a checklist, inspiration, and reminder to cover certaintopics in your co