Communication Strategies for Organisational Change: Designing and Delivering the Perfect Webinar

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Never has there been such a challenging time for organisations to speedily assimilate information, solve problems, implement solutions, and adapt to changes in the environment. With business recovery taking longer than anticipated, many organisations are forced to make critical decisions almost daily to ensure that they are operating at peak efficiency and effectiveness.

The challenges they face focus mostly on maintaining their Client and Customer base.  In the public sector pressure is worse with demands from consumers and many pressure groups for increased quality in delivery of services.  All sectors are impacted.  And even if the right decisions and strategies are actioned, the impact of these strategies is ultimately measured by how well theses strategies and implementation plans are communicated to external stakeholders and customers as well as internal customers, staff, and the supply chain that feeds the organisation.  Never before has it been so important to focus on effective communication.

Organisations and businesses have long recognised their need to be able to respond speedily to changes in their marketplace with their clients and their staff.

This article will focus on two key issues: the effective design of a communications strategy and its delivery of useing web based technology such as Webinars.  The authors will outline the process behind the perfect design and delivery of a Webinar as an example of how web based solutions can have major benefits for organisations.

It should be noted that the process outlined is applicable whether a company is going through a growth spurt – developing and delivering new product portfolios or whether it is downsizing, ceasing or directing operations to another global or regional location, merging or forming joint ventures, restructuring or building a customer focused organisation based on the best principles of culture change.

How Webinars support the Speedy Introduction of Change

Generally, the requirement for change requires organisations and businesses to be more alert and adept at communicating to their external clients, customers, consumers, end users, stakeholders and their internal customers their staff and their suppliers.

In many sectors, organisations are working hard to manage relationships with their internal and external partners.  This is even more difficult if the organisation’s marketplace is hugely dispersed in terms of geography, time zones and level of knowledge.  Many organisations are now looking to technology to help with the challenge of both reducing costs while meeting these complex communications challenges.

The fastest growing and most compelling technologies for this challenge are web conferencing, webinars and webcasting technology. These are becoming increasingly popular in Corporates as they allow Organisations to meet a number of the complex meeting and training challenges that are currently being serviced by ‘In person’ meetings.

The advancement of this technology in the consumer world has led to many variations  appearing in the Corporate or B2B world.

As always, there is a bewildering selection of technology that can help organisations and many vendors offering different services. What we have found through our consultancy business is that the starting point for an Organisation is not in the selection of the technology, but in the definition and objectives specific to requirements and that, in turn, defines the service and technology required.

The technology available today typically allows presenters and hosts to present or ‘broadcast’ presentations, software demonstrations and increasingly video content to a global audience in either a ‘Live meeting’ or as ‘On Demand’ content. As consumers we have become increasingly familiar with this mechanism through services like BBC iPlayer and Sky Player and we have become increasingly comfortable watching Live or Recorded programmes on our computers as an alternative to Television.

Different Uses for On Line Content L&D

Where training, learning and information dissemination are becoming an ever increasing requirement, there are a many options available for transmission. There are a number of areas where the use of this type of technology could be relevant and help meet some of these core business objectives. In the following sections and  we will highlight examples for their use with ‘case studies’.

On Line Meetings and Presentations

With travel budgets coming under increasing pressure and the improvement of the technologies identified, On Line meetings are growing in popularity. Through web conferencing technology, small groups of people can ‘meet’ on line and share both audio and visual content.  Typically, this technology is useful when there is corresponding collateral to discuss, such as documents or presentations.

One to Many Training sessions

Unfortunately, traditional classroom training is becoming cost-prohibitive, and many alternatives, such as CDs and training manuals, are not always available to all people, anywhere in the world. The ability to now deliver this content on line has created many options. Typically, the training content for industry is either document or presentation based but there is an increasing requirement to train users on systems and software specific to their industry and to use video as training asset. There are some systems now available that enable the delivery of a hybrid of this content with the trainer able to use a mix of content such as documents, presentation, software demo and video content.

The unique requirement of training is that of tracking both who has attended the training and checking the level of understanding of the recipients of training either formally or informally.

The key to this is to understand who is invited or registered to attend a training session and then to track through who actually attended the training (this can be complex if there is a large number of attendees). There are then many ways to check understanding including polls, surveys and questionnaires that can be done either live or after the training has finished. It is vitally important that the trainer(s) are able to access all the reports after the session to track the individual against their understanding, and many systems are now able to adhere to performance and regulatory standards.

Pre-recorded Training

One of the fastest growing areas that we see is the requirement for participants to access training content On Demand. This is very compelling, as one of the challenges is to get all the people who require training to the same place at the same time either as a physical training session or on line session.  WorkCast has delivered systems to clients who pre-record all of the training content and then make it available to the audience in a controlled way for the audience to watch On Demand. Again, the key to this method is to make sure you are tracking who is registered to watch the training and then to be able understand, not only who has watched the content, but track the understanding through relevant Q&A and Questionnaires.

Again, the benefit of prerecording content rather than delivering it live is that it can be tailored specifically for the training or education purpose for which it is required.

Low cost Training Films

There are many scenarios in L&D presentations where simple presentations or animated demonstrations are not an appropriate medium for the subject matter being covered. In many cases, a physical demonstration has historically been required to show people what to do or not do.  In many instances, this training has to be delivered in many locations and on a regular basis due to staff changes. We have seen an increasing demand for this training to be captured as a training video. Whilst this concept is not new, the method for distribution has advanced dramatically. Historically, the video would be sent as a DVD and the appropriate staff then gathered in a room to watch it. The advent of online video has meant that this content can be distributed much more widely and viewed by a much wider audience in an On Demand way through pc’s.

Again, it is possible to track and measure that viewings of this content has taken place to ensure compliance is met.

Branding and Security

A key consideration of any of the above methods of using on line training is the maintenance of Corporate Identity and Branding and also the security of the content. Many training companies or the ‘content’ owners want to make sure that the firm or client’s brand is represented correctly and that only those ‘authorised’ to watch the content can indeed do so. Historical methods of distribution such as the dissemination of a dvd or a presentation make this control of brand and distribution very difficult. With online video this has now become really quite easy. Many suppliers of webcasting services can now offer complete control of brand within brand guidelines on the systems and content that is distributed. The brand can be represented through all the communications surrounding the registration process as well as the in the viewing of the content itself.

Security of certain types of content are of obvious concern and the content can now be protected with a number of different access control mechanisms through many suppliers. Registration, usernames and passwords are obvious ways to control and protect the content as well as being a good way to track attendance and viewings, but content can be protected even further if required by using similar techniques to online TV and music such as Digital Rights Management, meaning the ability to watch the media expires after a certain number of views or period of time.

Many of the methods identified are growing constantly in many industries. As budgets, including marketing and training, coming under increased pressure, the use of webcasting technology is a highly effective alternative to consider either as a replacement for some types of training or to help reduce the number of times ‘In Person’ training has to be delivered.

Core Characteristics in Designing Webinar Communication Strategy

1. You Cannot Not Communicate

For individuals, not communicating is almost impossible, because every action, utterance or gesture has some meaning for those receiving it.  Even in a silent room – people are still receiving and forming opinions from body language, facial gestures etc.  It is almost the same for organisations.

Top teams may not want to disclose information but all the time they do.  Not releasing a press release when the public are expecting it creates all sorts of rumours, grapevine chat and public speculation.

In times of Joint Ventures and mergers and acquisitions, often because of fast breaking news stories and the plot changing by the hour, it is difficult to keep a hand on communication and that is why we both, as experts in our fields come together to agree that you have to “start with the end in mind”.

2. Communication: Start with the End in Mind

Central to designing webinars is the need to agree the desired outcomes and the impact the webinars will have on your audience.  This is especially important when talking with customers, potential customers, those in Investor Relations and the general public.  (We discuss this a little later in more detail.)

3. Specific Communication for Specific Audiences

Leading top teams sometimes have a reluctance to communicate to their public and their core stakeholders, for the simple reason that they don’t know what to say or they are confused about the general messages they are sending out.  Designing Communication Strategy is not “one size fits all”.

Organisations have a variety of stakeholders all with different needs.  For instance, large Government bodies will have to communicate with their staff, the end users of the service or products, a supply chain, regulatory and statutory bodies, sponsors and the general public.  Any announcement about change in work practise and service delivery has to be carefully crafted to a specific audience.  This is one of the key issues that many forget when they are constructing any web based delivery – have specific objectives to appeal to specific audiences.

Further, the medium of delivery should also be reviewed so that we can create a matrix of audience types, desired outcomes of the communication, methods for attracting and retrieving valuable feedback etc.  Design is everything.

4. The meaning of the message is the response you get

When designing the Webinar it is critical to ensure that you define your outcomes, and more specifically, the messages that you want people to take away.  Do you want the audience to be aware of you only, or do you want them to think in a particular fashion, which later may require them to take action, which they would not have taken had the Webinar not been broadcast?  We see it everyday in corporate communications.  A team will send out a general communication once and expect instant action.  What’s more, they become annoyed that they have to resend the same material in a different format.

In reality, what is required is to repeat the message very clearly.  In the contexts of education, learning and development and also in sales presentation skills the phrase “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them” is a very clear outline for anyone charged with being the key communicator.

Experts in communication with staff and customers tell us that most people have what is known as a ‘convincer’ strategy.  That is, very few people will be convinced to believe or take action after one simple reference of action to a specific point or issue.  Most of us don’t buy something like retail purchases straight away.  We shop around for the “best deal” unless we are buying simple commodities like bread and potatoes.

With retail items where choice is available, we run the buying decision through our minds a few times and then take action. Why do you think a lot of people take retail purchases back to the shops for a refund after the initial purchase?   What happens is that most of the time they probably did not allow their ‘convincer’ to run through its decision cycle three or more times that the specific item was the ‘one’ they really wanted to purchase.

This also applies to corporate communications.  What appears logical and straightforward may be received in a different context from the one intended.  Are there phrases or buzzwords to avoid? What core messages need to be imbedded in the Webinar and how should these be reinforced visually i.e., through PowerPoint, Excel or using other graphical means.

5. Communication is not what you Send but what is Received

Even with the utmost care what is sent and what is received is often very different.  The tone of the communication and sensitivities are also critical in a webinar.  Because most of the webinar will be presented by people using the spoken and written word can convey very different messages.  Where and what the presenter emphasises in a sentence can put different meaning for the audience that may not appear consistent to the same members of the audience – that’s why rehearsal is critical.  This becomes even more critical if the Webinar is being video-streamed.  Does the body language match what and how things are being said.  Does body language reinforce the message or distract?  Are any PowerPoint slides or bullet points sufficiently simple to be congruent with the spoken words.  These are all areas we cover in our planning, training and delivery with clients.

6. Learning & Listening and with the Ability to Respond

When delivering any L&D work we always ensure that we break the message down into key points which are of sufficient length so that the audience can process the information.  Too short, and the audience may not understand the conclusions they should draw from the communication.  Too long, and the ability to pay attention and a falling off the ‘learning or attention curve’ is the natural response.  This is why we put so much effort and energy in designing the Webinar.  It is just too easy to record an event that has minimal impact, and creates massive distraction and confusion with the audience.

7. Measure communication of what is Received and Retained

We have left feedback loops to the final point but here we have to agree how we are going to measure what has been received. What can we do to build feedback processes into the webinar?  How are we going to collect information about the participants prior to the event?  What does our client want us to do to ensure that the audience signs in and, more importantly, responds to the webinar?  There are multiple processes that can be built in at the design stage to ensure the client can track Webinar attendance.  After, all a Webinar should not be simply a broadcast but an opportunity to interact and ask questions in live sessions.  Webinars can always be viewed after the live session – but you’ll want to collect information on when and for how long the audience member was On-line.

8. Feedback is the breakfast of Champions

What many companies and organisations fail to realise about communication with their public, is that communication without feedback is a waste of time and energy.  To complete the communication loop various feedback mechanisms designed into the webinar to ensure that ‘the initial communicator’ receives a quality response, so better to test the accuracy and planting of the key messages.

In conclusion, what we have found is that adoptions of many of the methods identified are growing exponentially in many industries. As budgets including marketing and training come under increased pressure, the use of webcasting technology is a highly effective alternative to consider either as a replacement for some types of training, or to help reduce the number of times training has to be delivered in person.

Historically, eLearning solutions have been expensive and difficult to implement due to production of the content and the technology required to disseminate and track the performance of the participants. Webcasting service providers are starting to unlock the barriers to this through their ability to deliver many different types of content in a cost effective way without all the historical technical barriers.