Want People to Embrace Change? Start by Using Other-Centered Communication

Other-Centered Communication for Change: How to Build Buy-In During organizational Change
Experienced change management consulting professionals have learned — often the hard way — that successful change requires far more than communicating the right message. Change communication should certainly be:

• Simple.
• Clear.
• Timely.
• Relevant.
• Repeated.
• Visibly reinforced by leaders.

But even excellent communication can fall short when the people most affected by change do not believe in the need for it.

That is where other-centered communication for change matters most.

Instead of asking, “How do we convince people to support our change?” effective change leaders ask, “How do we meaningfully involve people in shaping the change?”

That shift from persuasion to participation in change can make the difference between change resistance, reluctant compliance, and genuine commitment.

Why Traditional Change Communication Falls Short
Leaders can certainly try to persuade stakeholders that a proposed change is in their best interests. But persuasion alone can be slow and difficult. Employees often resist change when they do not understand it, trust it, believe in it, or feel that they have a meaningful voice in how it will affect them.

Change management training experts know that a more powerful approach is to actively involve stakeholders early in the change process — ideally while the change is still being shaped.

Research from Bain has found that engaging key stakeholders during strategy design is strongly associated with successful strategy implementation. The principle makes sense for organizational change as well. Our experience in the field and data from our change management simulation consistently reinforce a simple lesson: people are more likely to commit to changes they have helped to shape.

Create a Change Vision People Can Believe In
Think of a compelling change vision as an inspiring picture of a better future — one that feels possible, positive, clear, and personal.

The word personal matters.

Few employees fully commit to workplace changes simply because those changes are strategically important to senior executives. People want to understand what the change means for their work, their team, their customers, and their future.

Rather than trying to manufacture change urgency or buy-in after key decisions have already been made, involve the people closest to the work in defining the need for change, shaping the desired future, identifying potential barriers, and determining how to move forward.

Embrace Other-Centered Communication for Change

The best change leaders understand that change communication is not something you do to people. It is something you do with people.

One-way communication explains, announces, and informs. Other-centered communication for change listens, explores, challenges, and involves. It creates the opportunity for people to question assumptions, raise legitimate concerns, contribute ideas, and develop a sense of ownership.

That requires leaders to ask meaningful questions and genuinely listen to the answers. For example:

—  What about the proposed change worries or excites you?
—  How could this change benefit you, your team, and the organization?
—  What risks or obstacles do you think we may be underestimating?
—  What would make this change more successful?
—  What would you recommend if you were in my shoes?

The goal is not to make everyone agree or give everyone veto power. The goal is to create enough involvement, transparency, and dialogue for people to understand the change, influence what they reasonably can, and commit to moving forward.

Keep the Conversation Going
Building initial commitment is only the beginning. Sustainable change requires ongoing constructive debate as reality inevitably challenges the original plan.

As implementation unfolds, transparently share progress toward the goal, ask for help as change obstacles emerge, and visibly celebrate change wins along the way.

Most importantly, keep listening.

Other-centered communication for change should not disappear once implementation begins. The people doing the work often see emerging problems and opportunities before senior leaders do. Maintaining an authentic two-way conversation allows leaders to learn, adapt, and sustain change momentum.

The Bottom Line
When it comes to organizational change, sometimes you need to go slow to go fast. Change is often necessary and rarely easy. Leaders who rely primarily on persuasion risk creating compliance without commitment. Leaders who meaningfully involve stakeholders in defining the need, shaping the vision, solving problems, and implementing the change create something far more powerful — shared ownership. Other-centered communication for change turns communication from an announcement into a conversation and stakeholders from recipients of change into participants in its success.

Ready to turn change communication into genuine commitment? Discover how to engage stakeholders, reduce resistance, and build ownership by downloading Why Change Efforts Fail — and 5 Science-Backed Ways Leaders Can Get Change Right

by Tristam Brown: CEO

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.