In our last blog post we explored how we can best communicate Ai and robotic changes to business teams and leaders.
Good communication means people feeling excited and positive about an upcoming change and a smooth project implementation. The following is a brief set of step-by-step guidelines that you can use to internally communicate the implementation of AI to support your activity, and ensure a smooth transition towards the future of maintenance.
1- Plan
As with most significant steps in business management, laying down a roadmap of how you’d like to research, communicate, implement, and review the new robotic solutions helps you foresee eventualities, prevent blind spots, and stay on course. Try to begin the planning phase early, to give yourself ample time for adjustments and redirections that may occur during the implementation process.
2- Research
Before you start with any communication, it’s essential to find out as much as possible about the planned project. Ask yourself the following questions:
What are you implementing?
Why are you implementing it?
When is it going to be implemented?
Where and how will the workplace be affected?
Who will be affected by the changes? How will they be affected?
Having strong answers to questions will ensure your ability to stay reactive and coherent throughout the implementation and follow-up stages.
3- Delegate and Appoint
If you are in a managerial or directorial position, appoint someone who will lead the communication efforts. This could be someone with a comms background, usually in the comms/ marketing team. Or sometimes, individuals in the real estate/ facilities team have experience in this area too.
It is also advisable to appoint ‘change champions’ within the affected teams. Consider these for all workplace change projects as they are the eyes and ears on the ground and a great source of understanding people’s challenges. They can provide instant feedback about how the comms plan is working, allowing the comms lead to adjust the plan if needed.
Keeping several sets of fingers on the pulse of workplace during a time of change could make a difference when it matters most.
4- Develop Messaging
Once you have all the information to hand, it’s time to start drafting the key messages. Identify all the benefits that the workplace change will bring to both individuals and the business and include them in the messaging. This could centre around creating a better environment for employees, making their life easier, creating more value for customers, eliminating repetitive tasks.
You will need different messages for different stakeholders. For example, if you run a cleaning business your corporate team will be more interested in the effects the robots will have on the bottom line, or how they will be implemented in the current workflow; your cleaners will be more interested on how they will be trained to use the robots, and how their jobs will be made easier.
Reassure your workforce. Put things plainly. This is an opportunity to reinforce an environment of trust in the workplace.
Plan for any resistance. By having key messages and answers ready for any difficult questions, you won’t be caught on the back foot.
5- Implement
Once a team has been delegated, a roadmap has been drawn and messaging has been drafted informed by adequate research, then the communication can begin. Depending on how much the change will affect daily activity, we recommend adding a human touch through in-person presentations, on top of the more impersonal email communications (which is still essential for your teams to process the information on their own time).
6- Follow up
Don’t stop communicating once the project is complete. Get feedback on how people feel about the changes and use that information to improve. Don’t hesitate to involve staff in decision making and adaptations. Listening to what those on the field have to say and implementing advice will further harness an environment of trust. Update your teams on the progress of the project, let them know when it is going well! Share your wins with your team and they will keep striving for more.
At SoftBank Robotics we can help with the implementation of robotic solutions as your trusted partner. Contact us for more information and guidance for implementation in your business here.