11.3 Messaging: Setting Context and the Tell, Sell, Include Approach

Setting the context for change

People need to understand the bigger picture and the wider context, so they can understand the 'why' behind change. Knowing how change links to wider organisational objectives and a bigger purpose helps people engage in the process of change.

CM3 adds a point that is easy to overlook and genuinely important:

Early communication also needs to set clear boundaries about what is fixed and non-negotiable. This helps people understand where they can contribute and co-design change.

This appears restrictive and is the opposite. Without stated boundaries, people either assume nothing is negotiable — and disengage — or assume everything is, invest effort in proposing changes to fixed elements, and become cynical when those are rejected. Naming what is fixed is what makes the genuinely open space credible. It is the practical safeguard against co-design degrading into consultation theatre.

Tell, sell, include

CM3 sets out approaches that can be used to communicate change, and when each would be used. The three form a spectrum of increasing participation:

Distinguishing them in exam conditions

The test is what the statement asks of the receiver:

• Tell — receive this information. It is a statement of fact or instruction. "Head office has instructed us" and "all staff will receive training" are both tell: neither offers a reason or invites input.
• Sell — accept this reasoning. It offers a benefit or rationale. "The new system will enable faster, more accurate processing" is a benefit claim, so it is sell.
• Include — contribute to this. It invites participation. "Workshops will be arranged to capture your ideas" is include.

A common trap is treating anything positive as sell. "All staff will receive training" sounds supportive but conveys no reason and asks for no participation — it is tell.

Choosing the right approach

The approaches are not ranked, and include is not automatically better. Using include where the outcome is actually fixed is dishonest and produces the resentment and cynicism CM3 warns about. Using tell where genuine participation was possible wastes the improvement stakeholders could have contributed and forfeits the buy-in that participation generates.

The honest sequence is to determine what is genuinely open — using the fixed-versus-negotiable boundary — and then match the approach to reality, which will typically mean different approaches for different aspects of the same change.

Developing key messages

CM3 gives a four-part structure for developing key messages, organised as four question areas:

The challenge

• The current environment — organisational challenges, threats and/or opportunities
• Reasons why we cannot stand still, using rational logic and appealing to emotions
• Potential losses and the extent of the challenges

Note both halves of the second item: rational logic and emotional appeal. And note that potential losses belong in the challenge section — the losses are stated up front, not buried.

What makes it worthwhile

• What achieving change will do for us
• The benefits resulting from the change
• What this will enable us to do more of — link to bigger purpose

Where we are heading

• What this looks like — a description of where we want to go, including what will change and what will stay the same
• When there is high uncertainty, describe the general direction of travel and ensure the link to purpose
• Demonstrate the sense of commitment of leaders or decision makers to this change

"What will stay the same" appears again here, echoing Bridges' endings guidance. It is one of the highest-value and lowest-cost things a change communication can include.

How we get there

• A practical approach to get there — with high-level steps and possible key milestones. This may be an emergent, evolving approach with short-horizon iterations
• Reassurance of support and resources that will be available
• Depending on the nature of the change and approach, an invitation for people to be actively involved and co-design the change
• What will happen next

This fourth area is, in change-formula terms, where D — practicality is established. A message that covers the challenge, the worth and the destination but not the route leaves people convinced and immobile.