Part 2: Design and build
STEP 1
Call for comments from stakeholders and impacted audiences
No matter how smart you are, you can never be as smart as the whole room working together. That’s why inviting comments and feedback is so valuable.
Learn more about how to gather input.
For all projects
Reiterate key details (e.g., problem statement, business requirements) in your requests for feedback. Help everyone understand who is doing what, when it will be done, and any related boundaries for doing it.
Be specific about the type(s) of feedback you’re looking for and who is making the decision(s). Expectations should be clear but should not set overly restrictive boundaries for feedback, in order to protect creative thinking.
Encourage contribution from other teams and locations, remote associates, and less vocal associates. Invite objections and differences of opinion. Remember: disagreement is productive, as long as shared commitment exists. Have a plan for consolidating feedback and sharing it with everyone.
Additional notes
For standard projects
Let your communications plan guide you. Share information through a combination of in-person (e.g., 1:1, meetings, focus groups, conference calls) and electronic channels (e.g., surveys, mailing lists, chat rooms) that work well for the stakeholders involved. Ask team and department leaders who can provide feedback on behalf of their group. Prioritize feedback from subject matter experts and departments most impacted.
For less complex projects
Keep it simple.
For more complex projects
Let your communications plan guide you. Groups most impacted, those with potential for resistance, or individuals with unique subject matter expertise should be engaged directly. Ensure that their voices are represented and heard in all discussions.
STEP 2
Highlight changes made in response to feedback
When people see that feedback shapes the outcome, they feel more confident in your decisions.
For all projects
Communicate this information to everyone via various channels used throughout the initiative. Help feedback contributors understand how their input affects the process and outcome. Be sure to include rationale for using feedback (e.g., numerous people offered related input, the idea addresses multiple facets of the initiative, someone raised a previously overlooked impact).
Additional notes
Standard complexity
Make yourself available to answer any questions or listen for any concerns that remain, now and in the future.
Less complex
Keep it simple, but also remember that taking the time to engage in 1:1 or small conversations with passionate Red Hatters will yield long-term benefits.
More complex
Equip your initiative sponsors and ambassadors to help answer questions and listen for any concerns that linger, now and in the future.
STEP 3
Explain why unused feedback was not feasible
It can be confusing or upsetting to people when you ask for their feedback and then do not accept all of their suggestions or ideas.
Publishing a summary of all feedback can help people recognize that you have received many good ideas and cannot incorporate them all.
It can also help to address the issue directly.
For all projects
Acknowledge unused feedback in meetings and in your common fact base. Acknowledge that some decisions are personal preference or a judgment call. Remember that you may be wrong, or you may need to reverse some decisions later. That’s okay. Do not tie unused feedback directly back to the contributor when addressing it publicly. Reconsider ideas or concerns that you dismiss early on, if they are raised repeatedly over time.
Additional notes
Standard complexity
Consider meeting with contributors whose feedback was not used, if they feel discouraged or disregarded. If you have a large volume of feedback and ideas, provide a general rationale for why feedback was not incorporated and offer to address any specific questions.
Less complex
Consider meeting with contributors whose feedback was not used, if they feel discouraged or disregarded.
More complex
Engage with the leaders of teams who seem to be unhappy with where the initiative is heading. If you have a large volume of feedback and ideas, provide a general rationale for why feedback was not incorporated and offer to address any specific questions.
STEP 4
Publish regular updates.
Even when you’re not actively seeking feedback, publish regular updates about your initiative. This helps impacted audiences and key stakeholders remain aware of your progress and confident in your process.
Everyone should know when the conclusion will come based upon the feedback timelines and progress updates.
For all projects
Return to your common fact base (the shared document, slide deck, or intranet page you created in phase 1), and update or enhance as needed. Share updates in periodic emails or town halls, making it easy for everyone to follow along.
Additional notes
Standard complexity
Maintain and continually reference your common fact base so impacted associates and stakeholders know where to find information. Consider creating a recurring newsletter to provide updates on your initiative and gather additional feedback between major milestones. Evaluate other forums (e.g., functional newsletters, manager meetings) for opportunities to reiterate key updates.
Less complex
Keeping your common fact base updated and sending any stakeholder updates with at least a sentence or two at a regular cadence are great starting points. Supplement that with additional, more detailed updates after major milestones or decision points.
More complex
Maintain and continually reference your common fact base. Create a newsletter or other method of pushing updates to associates and stakeholders on a regular basis and seek opportunities to share your updates in other existing forums (e.g., functional newsletters, manager meetings). Equip the leaders of impacted groups with slides, talking points, and other insights so they can help communicate your progress and their support.
Step 5
Continuously engage key stakeholders
The stakeholders you identified in phase 1 will serve as a powerful tool for your initiative, but only if you engage them regularly. This requires more than just sharing updates—it means making an intentional effort to engage them at each step of your initiative.
For all projects
Review your Stakeholder Assessment to ensure that you’re checking in with leaders, sponsors, partners, customers, associates, and other stakeholders appropriately. Consider adding peer-to-peer or anonymous channels if you’re only hearing positive feedback.
Additional notes
Standard complexity
Schedule routine check-ins with your stakeholders to reiterate your initiative’s updates. Gather their feedback and log it in your Stakeholder Assessment worksheet. Review your stakeholder list to determine whether any key perspectives are missing from the conversation.
Less complex
Reach out to your key stakeholders after each update you publish. Direct their attention to the updates and invite them to discuss or share feedback after major milestones or decision points.
More complex
Schedule a combination of 1:1 meetings and group conversations with your stakeholders to ensure that you’re gathering a range of feedback. Supplement these meetings with anonymous feedback channels and log what you’re hearing in your Stakeholder Assessment worksheet. Review your stakeholder list routinely and in partnership with your team to determine whether any key perspectives are missing from the conversation.
STEP 6
Define the process for getting support and sharing feedback after launch
No matter how much you communicate about your initiative during the planning phases, people will still have questions and concerns after launch. New hires will join Red Hat after launch too.
Set up a responsive and easy-to-navigate system for gathering and responding to associates. This will ease fears, address barriers, and ensure a more successful launch period.
For all projects
Create a process that prioritizes ease of use, transparency, and responsiveness. If you’ve already established a good system for sourcing and responding to feedback during the planning phases of your initiative, consider what, if any, changes you might need to make to that process to carry it forward beyond launch.
Additional notes
Standard complexity
Consider putting together a short survey where associates can identify the general topic of their concern and ask specific questions. This will allow you to more easily track common areas of concern and address them in follow-up communications.
Less complex
This may be as simple as asking associates to email you directly with questions or concerns, setting up 1:1 conversations, or putting together an open-ended survey.
More complex
Put together a short survey to share concerns or explore tools to keep track of support requests. Enroll and equip members of your project team or key stakeholders in the support process, to help field and respond to concerns in a timely manner.
STEP 7
Determine and communicate whether any aspects may be revisited
It’s not uncommon to have to revisit elements of your initiative after its launch. Business requirements or other factors may have resulted in the initiative needing to be implemented before it was fully tested. Unforeseen concerns or barriers that need to be addressed show up after launch.
Although you can’t always predict what will need changing, you can put certain parameters and processes into place to handle post-launch changes.
For all projects
Identify elements of your initiative that may be revisited after launch and the conditions for doing so. Share your timeline or criteria for revisiting the entire initiative, if possible. Return to and build on your Sustainability Plan to more clearly articulate the processes for evaluating and communicating any post-launch changes.
Additional notes
Standard complexity
Make sure you’re clearly articulating what can and cannot be revisited in all communications immediately leading up to and following your initiative’s launch. Convey how changes will be evaluated and communicated.
Less complex
This can be as simple as a few additional clarifying lines in an email or a small group discussion with your team.
More complex
Make sure you’re clearly articulating what can and cannot be revisited in all communications immediately leading up to and following your initiative’s launch. Convey how changes will be evaluated and communicated. Create an easy-to-navigate change request submission system that works in tandem with your broader post-launch support process.
STEP 8
Prepare stakeholders, leaders, and collaborators to address questions and misunderstandings
If you’ve done the work of keeping your stakeholders engaged throughout the planning process, activating them to respond to questions or concerns post-launch becomes a natural extension of their role.
For all projects
Enlist project team members or stakeholders to serve as ambassadors for the decision or change. These should be people who believe in the initiative and are invested in its success. Remind everyone that change is hard; people will need support. Determine who will monitor Memo List and other popular, informal channels, as you will need to redirect issues and questions to proper support channels. Gather feedback on your plans and drafts for communication, training, sustainment, and any marketing materials.
Additional notes
Standard complexity
Develop an executive summary of the initiative and FAQs for the main project team, executive sponsors, leaders of impacted associates, and any other project ambassadors. Schedule a final meeting with your stakeholders prior to launch to discuss your hope for their role as ambassadors, clarify expectations, and answer any questions.
Less complex
Connect with any stakeholders one more time before launching your initiative. Reaffirm your appreciation for their support thus far and ask that they continue to advocate for your initiative going forward.
More complex
Develop an executive summary of the initiative and FAQs, supplemented by specific talking points, and share with your stakeholders. If your stakeholders will be directly involved in responding to support requests, ensure that they understand the process and tools you’ll be using and are aligned on expectations for response time.
STEP 9
Confirm readiness and address additional resistance
Now it’s time to double-check your task lists and plans, and make sure you don’t miss anything important before launch.
For all projects
Review all of the worksheets in your Change Management Workbook. Make sure your training and support mechanisms are ready for launch. Look closely at your Stakeholder Assessment to identify and remedy any lingering gaps. Investigate options and accommodations for negatively impacted stakeholders (don’t delay or defer this task!). Involve stakeholders in the process of determining how to address areas where they may be negatively impacted. Think through how you could respond to upset individuals on Memo List, Twitter, and other channels. Draft a few proactive responses and enhance your FAQs. Consult your Sustainability Plan and confirm that all collaborators are aligned for handoffs, knowledge transfer, and shifts in roles and responsibilities.
Additional notes
Standard complexity
Conduct a "pre-mortem" with the project team and stakeholders who offer good input or unique insights. Pretend it's launch day and people are surprised or upset. What triggered it? Identify changes you would make or points you might clarify in response, and proactively make or clarify them instead.
Less complex
Take a deep breath and get ready for the go-live date.
More complex
Ask your stakeholders whether any final change readiness assessments are needed. Make sure your hypercare and support processes are prepared to handle unexpectedly high volumes of requests.
Conduct a "pre-mortem" with the project team and stakeholders who offer good input or unique insights. Pretend it's launch day and people are surprised or upset. What triggered it? Identify changes you would make or points you might clarify in response and proactively make or clarify them instead.
STEP 10
Evaluate whether anything important is being overlooked
Check your work once more before you launch. Communicate the conclusion of the initiative to the team and your stakeholders.
Recognize that it is impossible to anticipate every problem or concern prior to launch. Plan to make further adjustments as you observe how your initiative looks in the real world.
For all projects
Review the information in all previous steps for any missed opportunities or potential oversights. Ask:
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What might prevent this initiative from succeeding?
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What concerns will your team have?
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What are we missing?
Focus on identifying concerns and issues that have been overlooked, rather than rehashing topics that have been settled. Tell the team and stakeholders that you are preparing for launch.
Additional notes
Standard complexity
Include others in the evaluation process (e.g., project team, important stakeholders). Invite the project team and key stakeholders to identify and communicate risks and concerns that might have been overlooked. Categorize risks and issues based on topic or stakeholders impacted.
Less complex
You can probably do this step on your own, with perhaps a little input from any collaborators or stakeholders.
More complex
Include others in the evaluation process (e.g., project team, important stakeholders). Invite the project team and key stakeholders to identify and communicate risks and concerns that might have been overlooked. Categorize risks and issues based on topic or stakeholders impacted. Consider supplementing these conversations with a larger public forum for impacted audiences.
How should I gather input?
Consider beginning with a survey and following up with interviews or focus groups based on survey results.
Surveys allow you to efficiently gather information from a broad audience, but can lack qualitative detail.
Interviews and focus groups provide rich qualitative information, and the personal communication can be meaningful, but both can be more time consuming to conduct and analyze.
Share a report, or better yet, present your findings in a recorded town hall, and you will receive even more fine-tuned feedback as people react to this data.
Why include so many people?
Put your red hat on. Inclusivity is an important part of Red Hat culture. It takes time and effort to seek out diverse perspectives, and to ensure that all voices are heard, but it is always worth it.
Without this effort, your decisions will almost certainly have unintended impacts. And you run the risk of yielding to the loudest, most familiar, or most persistent voices.
