Communication is something I enjoy doing. I was part of a large software rollout and had plenty of opportunities to get buy-in and engagement through communication.
This article will share a case study in project management: A time when we used creative solutions to project comms, and then got creative with video.
Beyond Newsletters: The Countdown To Launch
How to Create a Video
The ResultsCost
Viewing Statistics
Conclusion
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The project was going fundamentally change how people do their jobs. This was something we knew from the beginning. It was also something we knew was going to happen regardless of what. We were even looking forward to it, if that was possible. This is a huge challenge for any project.
I set up a lot of communication strands and my comms planning template was loaded with all the stuff we were doing.
My monthly newsletter was the main channel for communication, apart from staff briefings and conference calls. This was sent to the heads of departments to be passed on to their teams.
I was often able to see the newsletter printed and displayed on the wall when I visited other offices. It was a great experience. Some teams went beyond that with their local change champions managing a noticeboard displaying relevant information.
We didn’t have much budget so I used a lot cheap ideas for workplace communication to get a lot done. However, we wanted to spend some money on a videographer to do this.
Beyond Newsletters: The Countdown To Launch
While the newsletter and other passive communication were great for most of the project, they were less appropriate for when we needed staff to begin preparing for the change. We knew we needed more when it came time to go live.
I had a conversation with the project sponsor about how to best engage everyone, mainly because we were asking them to do something difficult. We knew that this was going to be a difficult task.
We knew it would happen, and the business case was strong. The challenge was to bring people along, and communication was crucial to achieving that level of engagement.
We decided to give an in-person presentation so that we could discuss the impact and answer any questions from a broad range of stakeholders.
We did some planning. We worked out the logistics. We realized that it would take us two months to get around everyone and to do the presentation twice at each location in order to reach the most people.
How to Create a Video
It was not practical to spend so much time on managing the project that we could only focus on making face-to-face presentations.
We made a video of what we would have said to them face-to-face.
Although it took creativity to make a video about the launch of new software interesting, it was still better than a presentation in some ways. We also included video interviews with key stakeholders from each area.
They explained in short clips why the project was important to their team and how they were supporting it. We wouldn’t be able to get them there in person.
Screengrabs taken from our project communications video. This is me in the corner talking to the camera. Back in the day! We included screenshots of and photos of everything, from the new servers to the panning shots of people working hard on testing code.
Many of the people who were videoed had never taken part in a professional shoot. It was fun to be involved and it also had the side benefit of engaging the project staff.
The Results
We must weigh up the results of the round. I don’t think anyone doubted the fact that a face to face presentation series would have been just as good, if perhaps better. But you can only do so much with what you have.