As organizations navigate internal changes, the impact on external stakeholders is often underestimated, yet it can be the key to success or failure.
In this interview, panelists from the IABC and Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) joint webinar, Change and Communication Collaboration: When Internal Change Extends Externally, share ways to manage change beyond internal teams. From addressing change fatigue to fostering collaboration across teams, they offer strategies to ensure external audiences are informed, engaged, and supported throughout the process.
Addressing External Impacts
What will attendees learn about identifying and managing the effects of internal changes on external audiences?
Bonnie Caver: Identifying and managing the effects of internal change on external audiences involves strategies such as ongoing listening, reputation risk assessments, strategic communication, training, and customer experience teams.
Caroline Keely: We’ll explore how to plan for change and communication coherently in an environment where there is no longer a firm line between internal and external audiences.
Isolde Kanikani: Effectively managing internal change improves employee relations with customers, creates better working conditions, and helps organizations focus on driving value rather than being distracted by ad hoc changes.
Amanda Schmoldt: Managing the effects of internal change on external audiences shouldn’t be an afterthought. You must consider the impact on key external audiences from the beginning so you can build both your communications plan and your solution with their acceptance in mind.
Dealing with Change Fatigue
How can communicators help external stakeholders cope with frequent change in today’s business environment?
BC: When we think of how much change is going on internally, our external stakeholders are seeing change in almost every organization they deal with — so change is constant for them. Consumers, especially, have choices; if they have to change anyway, they may see it as an opportunity to take their business elsewhere.
We must meet our external stakeholders where they are. They need to understand exactly how the change will impact them and how to get training and support, while feeling valued and cared for along the way. Every touchpoint is an opportunity. Change being communicated via email alone is a perfect formula for losing stakeholder trust, and eventually, business.
CK: Change overload and fatigue is a critical risk facing organizations today. We’ll explore practical strategies for addressing this head on, including adopting a portfolio approach to leading change and introducing deliberate strategies to reduce noise.
IK: Awareness and strategic planning are essential when managing the volume of messages being sent. I regularly see clients struggling with the sheer number of communication channels and messages, especially in complex setups where they must provide a seamless omnichannel experience with limited resources.
AS: Mitigating change fatigue in external audiences starts before the communication itself. You should also consider who you are communicating with when crafting the message to minimize its impact on external stakeholders.
Improving Collaboration
What strategies will be shared for better collaboration between change management and communication teams to support both internal and external groups?
BC: We are seeing the lines blur between change management and communication teams, but they are highly focused on internal changes. External change takes even longer to process and prepare for, requires bringing together different parts of the organization (sales, customer experience, marketing), and the risks to the business could be even higher.
The biggest challenge may be more on the collaboration between internal communication, external communication, and other external-facing departments. Cross-functional teams are as essential for external changes as they are for internal changes — just with different parts of the organization that aren’t necessarily used to change management processes.
CK: Many organizations struggle with role clarity and coordination between change management and communications, particularly as we work in increasingly distributed teams. We’ll introduce some practical tips to create synergy and reduce disconnects.
IK: I would add marketing to this if it's not implicit in the communication team. Many changes are aimed at improving the return on investment (ROI) and enhancing the customer experience. Recognizing this highlights change capability as an organization-wide skill that should be developed through role specific training. Change management incorporates many communications and marketing best practices, so the exchange of knowledge goes both ways.
AS: Collaboration between change and communication teams shouldn’t be a turf war. With plenty of work to go around, working together makes the process smoother and more effective.
Effective Messaging
What will attendees learn about creating communication strategies that connect with external audiences during periods of change?
BC: We will explore various models and how they can be applied to external audiences, focusing on the role of communication professionals in guiding the process. The first challenge may be fostering collaboration and breaking down internal silos.
CK: We’ll explore the importance of slowing down to speed up in managing change communication. That includes techniques for developing a message architecture, using content mapping, and adopting simple frameworks to guide clear, compelling, and consistent messaging.
IK: Keep the purpose of the change in mind — it’s essential to align impacted stakeholders with the desired outcomes so they can actively support and contribute to its success. Stakeholder mapping and analysis help tailor campaigns to genuinely address the target audience’s interests. Two-way communication loops are vital for ensuring messages are received as intended, training materials are accessed, and stakeholders remain engaged. Simply pushing out information without feedback risks low adoption and missed objectives.
AS: Change communication is often thought of as operational, but it’s most effective when it aligns with both your company’s strategy and culture.
Learn More About the Panelists:
Bonnie Caver, SCMP®, is the founder and CEO of Reputation Lighthouse, a global change management and reputation consultancy with offices in Denver, Colorado, and Austin, Texas. The firm, which is 20 years old, focuses on leading companies to create, accelerate, and protect their corporate value.
Caver is a lifelong learner. She has achieved the highest professional certification for a communication professional, the Strategic Communication Management Professional (SCMP), an ANSI/ISO-level distinction. She is also a certified strategic change management professional (Kellogg School of Management), a certified crisis manager (Institute of Crisis Management). She holds an advanced certification for reputation through the Reputation Institute (now the RepTrak Company).
She is a past chair of the global executive board for IABC. She serves on the board of directors for the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, where she leads the North American Regional Council and is the new technology responsibility and AI director. Caver is the vice chair for the Global Communication Certification Council (GCCC) and leads the IABC Change Management Special Interest Group, which has more than 1,300 members. In addition, she is heavily involved in the global conversation around the ethical and responsible use and AI implementation and led the Global Alliance’s efforts in creating Ethical and Responsible AI Guidelines for the global profession.
Caver is passionate about the communication profession and the Global Standards that guide professionals. She has traveled the world to meet with business leaders and educators to advocate for the Global Standards for the Communication Profession and ethical and responsible AI use within the profession. She recently represented the Global Alliance in a delegation to the United Nations focused on the role communication plays in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Caver enjoys mentoring young communication professionals and frequently speaks on branding, reputation, M&A, the future of communication and business trends, change management, ethics, and thought leadership topics.
As a seasoned professional, Isolde Kanikani is known to be a driving force and initiator who gets a lot of satisfaction from seeing a job well done. Since 2018 she worked on complex global projects focused on organizational development and governance, often working with HR or ERP implementations. In her early consulting years, there was a focus on small and medium businesses. She now serves as the founder and executive of organizational development at the NeuroDiversity Foundation.
As an entrepreneur, she has founded two successful businesses and considers herself a world citizen after many years of extensive professional travel meeting new cultures and ways of viewing the world. Sparked by mixed roots in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, having lived in Argentina and Spain, finally putting down roots with her partner Fred in the Netherlands. She loves to learn, create community, and grow things. Everything from governance structures during an M&A transition to the jungle of plants in her home or the network she has been attentively building with change professionals globally. The search for knowledge and growth through new experiences has led to a masters degree in human resources management and pro bono consultancy in the non-profit sector. Isolde has written her first book to be published in September, founded the change management co-create group FUTURE: CM, and organized a regular program of change-related discussions and webinars.
Passionate about helping new people enter the change profession and innovating current best practices with experienced peers. Working with the belief that there is no right change method, instead focusing on tools that best serve the client's needs. A true believer in building community and the idea that we are stronger together.
Over the last twenty-five years, Caroline Kealey has built a worldwide practice in team facilitation, training, coaching, and consulting. Her focus is on solving complex business problems collaboratively and imaginatively. Caroline brings a refreshing blend of expertise, enthusiasm, and rigor to her assignments. Her signature is designing high-impact interventions that deliver long-term results — getting teams unstuck, recharged and aligned. She has particular expertise in offering co-creative sessions in the areas of strategic planning, communications, and change.
Caroline’s clients include Shopify, Loblaws, Export Development Canada, the House of Commons, World Duty-Free Group, the Asian Development Bank, and the United Nations.
Known as a “communicator’s communicator”, Caroline is driven by her unrelenting passion to empower and equip communications teams up for success. She is the developer of the Results Map® methodology codifying strategic communications and change which is used by thousands of communicators worldwide. She is also the founder and program director of the Leadership Development Program for Communicators at the University of Ottawa.
Caroline is recognized internationally as a pioneer in working at the intersection between strategic communications and change. She has been named an IABC all-star presenter and has won national and international awards in strategic communications and change, including IABC’s global Best of the Best and Distinguished Service awards.
A graduate of the Wharton School of Business executive program in leading organizational change, Caroline is a Certified Change Management Professional (CMP) and is certified in the Conner Partners’ Strategy Execution methodology. She is fluently bilingual in English and French and holds a bachelor's degree with the highest honors in communications and a master's degree in political science.
Amanda Schmoldt, CCMP®, has more than two decades of experience in organizational change management, human resources, communications, and organizational effectiveness. She has been a member of the ACMP board of directors since 2019, having previously held positions such as ACMP conference chair, a member of the FY2020 Strategy Task Force, a member of the CSNE Committee, and president of ACMP Texas.
Currently, Amanda serves as senior director of change and transformation enablement for Halo Branded Solutions. In her current role, she leads a team that is dedicated to building enterprise change capabilities and supporting the people side of the company’s change and transformation efforts. Before joining Halo, Amanda held various leadership roles at Neiman Marcus Group, USAA, Caterpillar, Archer Daniels Midland, and the State of Illinois. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.