Message House/Manager Resources for Staff
Interactions
The purpose of these pages is to manage the creation, refinement, publication, communication,
and distribution of the Message House.
Table of Contents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Table of Contents
Links
Problem
Outcome
Roles
Concept
Pre-Plan Considerations Table
Roadmap
Links
Problem
L2/3 Managers are expected to have staff interactions around the FY20 transition. Managers
might:
•
•
•
•
Not be onboard/skeptical about the new organizational structure
Not know their role in communicating and assisting staff in navigating the transition
Not know what to communicate to staff
Not know how to access the information they need for discussions with staff
Outcome
The outcome needs to align with broader change management and communications goals and
implemented in time for FY20 staff conversations. The output is to build a toolkit of resources
that can assist managers in their messaging and communication of what the organizational
change means to staff, with the outcome being a more engaged management team that can
champion the change management process.
Roles
Actions
Training
Center
Graphic Web
Comms Director
Translator
Coordinator
Directors
Artist Master
Concept
R, A
I
C
I
I
I
I
Brainstorm
Activity
A
I
C
R
I
I
I
Produce
Outcomes
R, A
C
C
I
I
I
I
Identify toolkit
Components
R, A
C
C
I
I
I
I
Create plan to
develop and
deliver toolkit
R, A
C
C
I
I
I
I
Message House
A
design
C
C
I
I
R
I
Collect/develop
R, A
other materials
C
C
I
I
I
I
Create webpage A
C
C
I
I
I
R
Write comms
plan for
distribution
R, A
C
C
I
I
I
I
Launch
Manager’s
Toolkit
R, A
R
R
R
I
I
I
Analyze results
for successful
R, A
outcomes and
revise approach
as needed
C
C
C
I
I
I
Concept
Center Directors actively participated in a messaging brainstorming activity 5/1/19. The purpose
of the activity:
•
•
Answer the staff question: “What does the Transition mean to me?”
How to increasing manager engagement with messages in the context of the upcoming
staff communications about how FY20 impacts them, and to formulate key points to
include in our change management communication.
Responses were collected and assembled in a “message house”. The central purpose of a
message house is to focus communications on simple, effective and structured messages. They
are usually constructed in three parts. First comes the ‘roof’, which is the overall theme or idea.
Then the ‘walls’ are created. These are the main messages which will form the heart of the
communication:
•
•
•
What’s in it for (staff) me (WIIFM)
What are the benefits for the centers/the organization
Responses to concerns/critics
Finally, we create the ‘foundations’. These are the facts, dates, etc. on which the messages
depend.
The results were brought to Comms for polishing prior to being revealed during the Executive
Steering Committee meeting. Comms were also engaged in order to assist in evolving a plan to
distribute the message house to L2 managers to assist with staff convos. The concept of a toolkit
in which the message house would be one aspect, was proposed… the other components of the
toolkit include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reporting structure for their staff and the larger org chart
Slides the Directorate uses to illustrate the overarching structure and timeline
Details on what policies and procedures are set to change, along with where and when
they will be available
What will be the nature of the upcoming training and when and in what format can they
expect it
A collaborative component will be provided to collect staff questions that managers can’t
answer
What are the working groups working on, and what their status is
This set of resources will evolve, including the graphic representation of the message house
itself, and can be seen as one subset of all the communication channels utilized to communicate
with staff. I was excited to hear about parallel efforts in the form of posters and other graphic
representations of the transition. Another suggestion that was discussed was getting the managers
in groups prior to their conversations with staff to participate in a similar activity.
Next steps are to produce a plan and send it for review, to inform/ensure I’m not duplicating any
efforts. Once the plan is drafted, other touchpoints for collaboration with others may become
clear.
Pre-Plan Considerations Table
Timel
ines,
Matri
x
Messa Org
HR
Gener
Struct
ge
Cha
Polic
al
ure,
House rt
ies
and
other
Visual
s
Need
an
introdu
ction
to the
toolkit,
how to
access,
what
it’s
for,
Tools/Technology
What is
the
timeline
Doe
Need
Document for IT
s
Farm
better
Acknowle committee
this presentation
graphi
dgement to analyze
exis s
cs
in Ultipro and
t?
decide on
uniform
tools?
Commu
Wor
nication
Collab
Train king
and
orative
ing Gro
distribut
FAQ’s
ups
ion of
toolkit
Types
of
traini
ng,
types
of
audie
nces,
timeli
ne,
Who
are
they,
what
are
they
wor
king
on,
and
how
Someo
ne
doesn't
have an
answer,
logs it
on
wiki. a
team is
alerted
and
Email,
announce
ments in
all
hands/A
MA’s,
Director'
s
cascade.
how to
use,
and
feedba
ck
mecha
nism
forma can
t
you
find
high
-lvl
statu
s?
Introd
uction
to
messa
ge
house,
invitat
ion to
for
each
manag
er to
add
their
won
messa
ge
based
on
frames
of
refere
nce,
center
specifi
cs,
etc.
Nee
d
grap
hic
desi
gn?
Need list
of policies
in review
Instru
A
ctions
menu
on
item
how
on the
to use
intrane
the
t
messa
Clic
kabl
e
with
link
to
mor
Complian
ce Officer
is the lead
on policy
revisions.
She works
to finalize
the
Toolki
t
seems
to be
formin
g into
an
online
resour
ce.
Access
ible,
manag
eable.
Conv
os an
oppor
tunity
to ask
for
traini
ng
Dani
el
wor
king
on
gath
erin
g
detai
ls,
Beth
may
have
list
of
grou
p
nam
es
provide
s the
answer
in the
form of
an FAQ
and
asker is
alerted
Provide
conversat
Conflu ion
ence or prompts
google to
docs a facilitate
possibl discussio
e
n
choice between
managers
and staff.
Who are
all the L1
and L2
Manager
s?
ge
house
e
info
Do we
need to
engage
a
webma
ster?
Ho
w
do I
fill
out
the
org
char
t?
Track
decisio
ns
(from
now
on)
Can
it
incl
ude
“wh
o to
cont
act
in
case
of
…”
?
Create
milest
ones
project
schedu
le/Roa
dmap
Mus
t be
livi
ng
doc
that
is
easi
ly
upd
ated
, but
who
wou
ld
be
resp
onsi
ble?
submissio
ns to the
Board.
Create
status
update
schedule
Create
action
item
list and
tracker
Lesson
s
learne
d and
handoff
Roadmap