How do you know if your change communications are effective?

As communicators, we spend a lot of time ensuring what we put together is perfect, yet all that work goes out the window if it’s not read or if it doesn’t resonate with your audience.

Here are a few ways you can assess the effectiveness of your efforts:

1. Small-group discussions
2. Next-day feedback
3. Survey

 Small group discussions

Gather a small group of employees and ask them to share their thoughts about the communications. Employees are more apt to share their feedback in smaller groups without leaders. Ask them questions to understand if they’ve read the communications, if they understand the change, what questions they have and if they know where to find additional information. This is a great way to ensure your next communications cover the topics raised in the small group session. This group could also evolve to become a sounding board by providing feedback on communications before they are distributed.

Next-day feedback

After a high-profile communication, call or IM several randomly chosen employees. Ask them questions, such as: 

1. Do you remember seeing the communication (sent from. on date. with the subject line of. . . )?
2. What do you think was the main message?
3. What communications would they like to see more of?
4. What communications would like to see less of?

Survey

You can survey all or a random sampling of employees. To keep the survey ou can ask employees to rate their level of agreement from strongly agree to strongly disagree. A survey like this will measure the effectiveness of the case for change, the role of the sponsors/leaders, organization/process alignment, role changes and communications. Some questions to ask include:

1. I am aware of the objectives of this project.
2. I have a clear understanding of the project. 
3. I understand how this project will benefit the business.
4. I understand how this project will improve services we provide to our customers.
5. I believe that our business is doing the right thing by implementing this project.
6. I understand how processes and roles may change with this project.
7. My team is effective at adapting to change.
8. I understand how this project will impact my team’s work.
9. I understand how this project will impact my job.
10. I see leaders demonstrating their commitment to the project’s success.
11. My leader encourages me to complete tasks/training for this project.
12. I have opportunities to get my questions answered.
13. I have received information about this change in many ways (e.g., presentations, small group meetings, 1:1s, emails, newsletters, intranet, etc.)
14. I trust the information I receive about this project.
15. This project is a top priority for my team.
16. I am committed to making this project a success.
17. The activities and milestones of the project have been clearly communicated. 
18. Overall, I’m satisfied with the information I receive about this project.
19. I know where to go if I have questions about this project.
20. What other feedback would you like to share about the project? Allow employees to leave comments. 

While clicks and reads are still important measurements, using these methods will allow you to receive better, actionable data to continue to adjust and improve your efforts as you go