Organizational Change Management Plan - Customer Success

Questions addressed

Page 1:

• What is an OCM

communications plan?

• What do you need to

include in an OCM

communications plan?

Page 2:

• Is there a best practice

process for building an

OCM communications

plan?

• Who needs to be

involved in building an

OCM communications

plan?

Page 3:

• What does a good

OCM communications

plan look like?

How do I build an OCM communication plan?

An organizational change management (OCM) communication plan is a documented strategy for how you will tell your

organization about the changes that are occurring as part of the ServiceNow implementation. A good OCM

communication plan details how you’ll provide detailed information about your ServiceNow project—and why it’s

beneficial—to the right people at the right time.

An effective, targeted communication plan is critical to ensure that the people in your organization aren’t just simply

aware of your project and how it will change their work but are convinced to actively support and commit to the change.

In your plan, define the: Why is this important? Start by asking yourself:

Target audiences Understanding your audiences lets you to target

communications to specific groups and improves

the chance that you reach them.

What different groups do we need to

communicate with? About what?

Appropriate messaging

and tone

You need to sell your project’s value without

causing anxiety and concern about the change.

Make sure to distinguish between strategic,

tactical, and operational audience/messaging.

What’s the most important thing I

need to communicate? Are there

any sensitivities I need to avoid?

Delivery formats

You’ll reach more of your intended audiences by

using multiple channels, like town hall meetings,

videos, internal project websites, etc.

What channels should we use when

communicating with this audience?

Timeline and cadence Timely communications can help people see

and internalize your messages.

When do we communicate with this

audience? How frequently?

Responsibilities and

assignments

Clearly defining who is responsible for certain

communication tasks ensures they get done.

Who is responsible for leading

communications with this audience?

Evaluation plan Always evaluate the effectiveness of your

messages to identify how to improve them.

How can we track how effective our

communications are?

Is there a best practice for building an OCM communication plan?

Follow these four steps to make sure you involve the right people at the right time and finish with an approved plan that considers all the

components defined on page 1:

Who needs to be involved in building an OCM communication plan? (by process step)

• OCM program lead –

Responsible for setting

goals

• Now Platform owner

and project manager –

Informed of

communication goals

• OCM program lead – Responsible for

defining and documenting OCM

communication plans or delegating

responsibilities to other roles

• Marketing/communication groups –

Involved as needed to support

OCM communication planning

• ServiceNow Champions – Consulted

as representatives of your audiences

to inform planning

• Executive sponsor –

Responsible for

approving OCM

communication plan

and vetting with peers

• OCM lead and project

manager – Work together

to review and finalize plans

• ServiceNow champions –

Consulted to review

communication plans

Approve

• Submit the plan to your

ServiceNow executive

sponsor for final

approval.

• Ask your executive

sponsor to vet the plan

with leadership peers.

Review and finalize

• Review your

communication plan with

project leaders and

audience representatives.

• Incorporate feedback and

finalize the plan for

approval.

Establish goals

• Set and vet goals for

what you need to

accomplish with

communications.

Explain why you’re

doing this.

Document the communication plan

• Articulate messaging for each

audience.

• Document how you plan to deliver

on your communication goals.

• Define your audiences, messaging,

formats, timelines, responsibilities,

and evaluation plan (see page 1).

How do I build an OCM communication plan? (Continued)

What does a good OCM communication plan look like?

The most effective OCM communication plans are built in a project plan format that includes information across all plan components in one place and

can be easily updated to track communications efforts over time. We recommend the format below (populated with example information).

Activity Communication objectives/message Audience Delivery format Time frame Responsibility

(ownership)

Status

Initial

announcement

• Create a buzz and drive awareness

• Announce kickoff event

Entire

company

Email ASAP, followed

up with

biweekly emails

Communications

team and OCM

program lead

Planned

Kickoff for all

hands (event)

• Exec sponsor speaks to the project’s

value

• Provide overview of what to expect

• Introduce theme and have some swag

Departments

affected by

the change

Town-hall style

meeting and

webinar for

remote workers

At beginning of

project

Executive sponsor

Planned

…

Related resources

• Success Playbook and Checklist – Create a change management plan

• Success Quick Answer – How do I start organizational change management?

• Success Quick Answer – How can I assess if my organization is ready for ServiceNow?

If you have any questions on this topic

or you would like to be a contributor

to future ServiceNow best practice

content, please contact us.

How do I build an OCM communication plan? (Continued)