The project: "Streamlining to a single tech stack"

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The summary: Through a number of mergers and acquisitions, the organization had different companies on separate tech stacks, many of which did not "talk" to each other. In an effort to create a more cohesive work environment and workforce, the company decided to embark on a 2-year project to pare down the amount of tech tools and bring the majority of employees to a centralized set of technology offerings.   

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The challenge: The nature of the mergers and acquisitions meant that each "separate company" had their own C-suite, including CTOs, CISOs, and entire technology, change management, and communications divisions. This meant that not only did we need to plan and execute the complex streamlined technology rollout and sunset plan but we had to do it with buy-in, sign-off, and coordination from multiple departments, at all levels, cross-functionally.

 

Because the cultures of each company had not been blended, each change and communications plan needed to be tailored to each employee base. However, in keeping with the original mandate for this "singular tech stack" - making the workforce more cohesive - it was important for the communications to be similar, as we were moving to a more cohesive culture as well. 

 

Sitting centrally, we decided to create blueprints for each of the rollouts. This meant essentially creating change management project plans, communications timelines, and engagement opportunities in a T-minus structure so teams could mix-and-match recommended outputs. 

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This took intense relationship building to gain trust and agreement. This also took an understanding of each business' culture, employee personas, and how each organization "talked" to their employees. And, it came with what we think is what makes large-scale change successful - meeting employees "where they are at" by providing a variety of mediums for them to absorb the information, in a voice they recognize.

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Conclusion: Internal communications need to feel "authentic" to the organization's culture and its employees. Even when it is necessary to have cohesive messaging across an organization, finding the balance, creating additional messaging/hands-on experiences, and having a plan that is flexible leads to the best outcomes for the project and the employees.