Initial Change Communications Right: 4 Research-Backed Steps

Initial Change Communications – Get It Right from the Start
Don’t become part of the 70% of organizations whose change initiatives fail. Too many leaders — and too many participants in change management simulations — underestimate how much rigor is required at the very beginning. Strategy, planning, and communication are treated as boxes to check rather than as levers to drive real commitment. Effective change leaders know better. They leave nothing to chance.

Poor initial change communications are one of the most common — and most avoidable — reasons change efforts stall. When leaders fail to clearly articulate the why, what, and what it means for me, they lose the opportunity to win hearts and minds early, when it matters most. Once skepticism sets in, recovery becomes far more difficult.

When employees are asked why change communications fall flat, the feedback is consistent.

• Leadership’s vision often lacks accuracy, urgency, clarity, and relevance.
• Messages feel abstract instead of grounded in reality.
• The tone signals obligation rather than purpose.
• The communication cadence is reactive instead of intentional.

The result is compliance at best — not commitment.

The data reinforces this gap. Only 13% of U.S. workers strongly agree that their leaders communicate effectively, and just 2% more believe their leaders generate enthusiasm about the future. That is not a messaging problem. It is a leadership problem.

Strong initial change communications do more than inform — they align, energize, and set expectations. They make the case for change in plain language, acknowledge tradeoffs, and address what people are worried about but reluctant to say out loud. Most importantly, they connect the change to a credible future state that people want to be part of.

If you want change to stick, start by getting the opening conversation right. Everything that follows depends on it.

4 Research-Backed Keys to Better Initial Change Communications

To dramatically improve change communications from the very beginning, change leaders must get disciplined about a few critical moves — before announcing anything, before launching a plan, and before asking for buy-in. Here is what actually makes the difference:

1. Create the Right Change Context
   Seasoned change management consultants know that change context is everything. Without it, even well-crafted messages fall flat. Before communicating any change, leaders and key stakeholders must align on a shared understanding of where the organization truly stands and why staying the same is no longer an option.
   
   That means doing the hard work upfront to:

   • Clearly understand the current reality — including performance gaps, constraints, and competing priorities.

   • Gauge dissatisfaction with the status quo — not just at the executive level, but across the stakeholders most affected by the change.

   • Articulate a compelling vision for change — one that is concrete, credible, and grounded in business outcomes.

   • Establish real change urgency — tailored to each stakeholder group, not a generic “burning platform.”

   • Align on near-term actions — with clear first steps over the next 30, 60, and 90 days to demonstrate change momentum and seriousness.

   When leaders take the time to create the right context, initial change communications stop feeling like an announcement and start feeling like a necessary and shared commitment.

2. Communicate for Impact
   Communicating for impact means telling a better, more honest story — one that is grounded in reality, relevant to the audience, and clearly connected to meaningful action. It is not about polished messaging or clever slogans. It is about moving important work forward while building trust, credibility, and confidence along the way.
   
   For change leaders, impact is created in the cumulative effect of hundreds of everyday interactions. Each conversation, meeting, email, and update reinforces — or erodes — a broader narrative about your integrity and leadership. Over time, those moments determine whether people believe you, follow you, and commit to the change.
   
   That is why clarity matters. Effective change leaders are explicit about why the change matters now, what is different this time, and what people are expected to do differently as a result. Before communicating, they pause long enough to answer a few fundamental questions — every time, without exception:

   • What am I communicating — and what am I not?

   • Who is the audience, and what do they care about most right now?

   • What are the one or two messages that must land?

   • What action or decision am I asking for?

   • What does success look like if this communication works?

   • What objections, distractions, or fears could get in the way?

   • Why is this communication important in the context of the larger change?

   When leaders communicate this intentionally, messages stop sounding like noise and start driving alignment, momentum, and follow-through.

3. Connect Vision with Purpose
   Every change initiative must clearly advance the organization’s purpose — not compete with it or sit awkwardly alongside it. When people cannot see how a change meaningfully supports why the organization exists, skepticism is inevitable.
   
   Change leaders should pressure-test the initiative against the organization’s stated purpose and strategic intent. If the connection feels forced, vague, or overly abstract, that is a warning sign. It often means the rationale for change is incomplete or misaligned — and that gap will eventually surface in your communications.
   
   Before asking for commitment, ensure the vision for change credibly strengthens the organization’s mission, values, and long-term direction. When vision and purpose reinforce one another, change feels necessary and coherent. When they do not, even the best messaging will struggle to overcome doubt.
   
   
4. Make It a Group Effort
   Effective change is done with people, not to them. When stakeholders are treated as passive recipients of decisions already made, resistance is predictable. When they are engaged as contributors, change acceptance and commitment increase dramatically.
   
   The more leaders involve people in shaping the change, the more credible and durable the outcome becomes. Early participation helps stakeholders understand the rationale, surface practical constraints, and see their fingerprints on the solution — all of which reduce friction later.
   
   Invite involvement early and often through interviews, surveys, focus groups, working sessions, and open forums. These channels do more than gather input; they reveal concerns, assumptions, and risks that would otherwise remain hidden. Some change resistance is inevitable, but it is far more productive to address questions openly than to react to skepticism that festers out of sight.
   
   When people feel heard and involved, change stops feeling imposed and starts feeling shared.

The Bottom Line
There is no secret sauce to successful change. It requires disciplined thinking, honest communication, and sustained leadership attention. Our change management training participants see this firsthand — meaningful change takes real work upfront to clarify the story, courage to tell it persuasively, and patience to maintain momentum long enough for new behaviors and results to take hold.

To learn more about being an effective change leader, download The 5 Science-Backed Lenses of Change Leadership that You Must Get Right

Tristam Brown

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.