management

Master Impactful Communication in Digital Transformation

/ Hans van 't Riet / Leave a comment

Why Communication Is the Lifeblood of Transformation Communication is more than a soft skill—it’s a strategic lever. Miscommunication or a lack of timely information can erode trust, stall progress, and sow confusion. According to McKinsey, 70% of transformation programs fail, and poor communication is often a silent contributor. Impactful communication aligns stakeholders, drives engagement, mitigates resistance, and reinforces progress. It is how leadership earns trust, how teams stay focused, and how change becomes real.

1. Why Communicate: Purpose, Alignment, and Momentum At every stage of a transformation, communication serves a purpose:

  • Clarify Purpose: Explain the “why” of the transformation—the vision, strategic drivers, and burning platform.
  • Create Alignment: Ensure all stakeholders understand their role in the broader narrative.
  • Build Momentum: Regular communication reinforces progress and sustains engagement.

Example: Continuously link messages to how the topic supports the overall strategy and purpose of the transformation.

2. What to Communicate: The Three Strategic Narratives

  • Purpose: Why are we doing this? Lay out the rationale, desired future state, and expected benefits.
  • Progress: What’s happening now? Share timelines, milestones, and any course corrections.
  • Proof: What’s working? Highlight quick wins, user stories, and lessons learned. Success stories inspire belief.

Example: A transformation dashboard updated monthly with progress visuals and a rotating spotlight on team success stories creates transparency and boosts morale.

3. How to Communicate: Channels, Formats, and Tone

  • Stakeholder-Focused: Tailor content to audience needs. Executives need strategic updates, while frontline teams need clarity on operational impacts.
  • Formats: Mix videos, infographics, text updates, and live events. Use storytelling, visuals, and humor where appropriate.
  • Tools: Combine traditional (emails, town halls) with digital (Yammer, Teams, digital signage).

Example: A short animated video used to explain a new agile model across the company generates more engagement than a 10-page slide deck.

4. Where to Communicate: Choosing the Right Channels

  • Channels: Leverage both formal (newsletters, intranet) and informal (team meetings, social platforms).
  • Internal and External: Don’t forget partners, customers, and external stakeholders when relevant.
  • Beyond Standard: Use unconventional methods like pop-up booths, floor ambassadors, or interactive kiosks.

Example: Place screens in break rooms with FAQs and video testimonials from users. Often, employees read external communication (e.g. LinkedIn) more attentively than internal channels.

5. Who Should Communicate: Roles and Responsibilities

  • Leadership: Sets the tone and provides credibility.
  • Program Teams: Share updates and own the transformation story.
  • End Users: Involve them in co-creation and let their stories become advocacy.
  • Champions/Change Agents: Act as trusted messengers within the organization.

Example: (Team) Leaders deliver tailored talking points to their teams after town halls to reinforce key messages locally.

6. When to Communicate: Cadence with Purpose

  • Routine Rhythm: Weekly newsletters, monthly video messages, quarterly town halls.
  • Event-Driven: Go-live updates, milestone achievements, leadership transitions.
  • Embedded Moments: Integrate into standups, one-on-ones, and performance reviews.

Example: A transformation team sends a short Friday note every week with “Top 3 things to know” – brief, consistent, and effective.

7. Making Communication Two-Way

  • Feedback Loops: Open Q&A forums, feedback forms, sentiment pulse checks.
  • Listening Mechanisms: Focus groups, digital suggestion boxes, skip-level meetings.
  • Empower Managers: Train and support them to act as translators and listeners.

Example: Run quarterly listening sessions where employees can anonymously submit and vote on questions.

8. Measuring Communication Effectiveness

  • Quantitative Metrics: Email open rates, intranet views, video play completion, attendance.
  • Qualitative Feedback: Employee surveys, pulse checks, sentiment analysis.
  • Behavioral Indicators: Are stakeholders taking desired actions (e.g., using a new tool, adopting a new process)?

Example: Use employee surveys to check communication effectiveness. Include questions on whether the why, who, what, where, and when of the transformation are well understood.

Conclusion: From Messaging to Meaning

Impactful communication is not just about delivering information—it’s about shaping perception, building trust, and enabling action. It’s a leadership discipline that requires intent, empathy, and agility. In digital transformations, where uncertainty is the norm, communication becomes the connective tissue that keeps strategy and execution aligned. For senior leaders, investing in communication is not optional—it’s foundational to transformation success.

Balancing between Balcony and Dance Floor – Tip for Leadership in Digital Transformation

/ Hans van 't Riet / Leave a comment

The “Balcony and Dance Floor” metaphor, introduced by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky, offers a powerful framework for balancing hands-on leadership with strategic oversight. Leaders must be immersed in execution (the dance floor) while also stepping back to gain a broader perspective (the balcony). Striking this balance is crucial for digital transformation success.

Understanding the Metaphor in a Digital Transformation Context

  • The Dance Floor: This represents the daily execution of digital initiatives—overseeing system rollouts, engaging with teams, managing stakeholder concerns, and addressing immediate roadblocks. Leaders who remain solely on the dance floor risk being overwhelmed by operational challenges, losing sight of strategic priorities.
  • The Balcony: This vantage point provides the necessary space to assess overall progress, identify patterns, and anticipate challenges. A balcony perspective allows leaders to ensure that digital initiatives align with long-term business goals, rather than being reactive to short-term operational issues.

Applying the Concept to Digital Transformation Leadership

  1. Maintaining Strategic Alignment: Leaders must continuously step onto the balcony to ensure digital transformation initiatives align with broader business objectives. Without this, transformation efforts may become disjointed or lose executive sponsorship.
  2. Balancing Execution with Reflection: While hands-on engagement is necessary to drive momentum, leaders should also create time for reflection, whether through strategic reviews, executive meetings, or external benchmarking.
  3. Empowering Teams While Providing Vision: Leaders should guide digital transformation by setting a clear vision from the balcony but allow teams to execute with autonomy on the dance floor. This approach fosters innovation while maintaining alignment with the strategic roadmap.
  4. Leveraging Data and Insights: Digital transformation generates vast amounts of data. Leaders must use this data to inform their balcony perspective, identifying trends and adjusting strategies as necessary.
  5. Ensuring Adaptability: Transformation initiatives rarely go as planned. A leader’s ability to move between the dance floor and balcony ensures they can adjust strategies dynamically, responding to challenges without losing sight of the ultimate goal.

The Leadership Imperative

Effective digital transformation leaders seamlessly transition between execution and strategic reflection. Those who remain only on the dance floor risk micromanagement and burnout, while those who stay only on the balcony may become disconnected from execution realities. By mastering this balance, leaders can guide their organizations through digital transformation with clarity, resilience, and adaptability.

In an era of rapid technological evolution, adopting the “Balcony and Dance Floor” approach is more than a leadership technique—it is a necessity for driving sustainable digital change.

Enhance Project Success with Pre-Mortem Techniques

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A pre-mortem is a proactive risk management exercise that helps teams anticipate potential failures before they occur. Unlike traditional risk assessments, which often focus on known risks, a pre-mortem encourages teams to imagine a scenario where the initiative has already failed and work backward to identify the causes. This method:

  • Uncovers hidden risks that might otherwise be overlooked.
  • Encourages open and candid discussions within teams.
  • Enhances risk mitigation strategies early in the process.
  • Strengthens team alignment and shared accountability for success.

What Are the Outcomes of a Pre-Mortem?

When executed effectively, a pre-mortem delivers several valuable outcomes:

  • A comprehensive list of potential failure points.
  • A prioritized risk register with mitigation actions.
  • Stronger team cohesion and ownership over the initiative’s success.
  • Improved decision-making, ensuring proactive rather than reactive responses to risks.

How to Execute a Pre-Mortem

Follow these structured steps to conduct an effective pre-mortem:

  1. Set the Stage: Gather the key stakeholders, including project sponsors, team leads, and operational experts. Ensure a psychologically safe environment where candid discussions are encouraged.
  2. Define the Scenario: Present the hypothetical situation: “It is six months (or an appropriate timeframe) in the future, and the project has completely failed. What went wrong?”
  3. Brainstorm Failure Points: Each participant individually lists reasons for failure, considering strategic, operational, and technical factors.
  4. Share and Categorize: Consolidate and group similar failure points into themes (e.g., governance issues, resource constraints, external disruptions).
  5. Prioritize Risks: Use voting, ranking, or a risk assessment matrix to determine which failure points are the most critical.
  6. Develop Mitigation Actions: For each high-priority risk, define preventive measures and contingency plans.
  7. Integrate into Governance: Assign ownership for risk monitoring and integrate these insights into ongoing project reviews.

When and With Whom Should You Conduct a Pre-Mortem?

  • When: Ideally, before finalizing the transformation strategy or at key milestones in major initiatives (e.g., post-planning, before execution phases, during major pivots).
  • With Whom: A cross-functional group including executives, project managers, functional leads, risk officers, and frontline implementers.

By embedding the pre-mortem approach into your transformation governance, you significantly improve the likelihood of success by proactively identifying and addressing risks before they materialize.

This technique not only improves project outcomes but also builds stronger teams through enhanced communication and psychological safety.