{"id":10698,"date":"2019-08-12T21:15:10","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T01:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/?p=10698"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:09:16","slug":"guardian-of-change-communications-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/guardian-of-change-communications-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"STOP! Were We Even In The Same Meeting?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Guardian<\/a>

How often have you found yourself in the hallway after a meeting wondering what happened?<\/span><\/strong><\/center><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Daniel Pink\u2019s<\/a> <\/span>newest research proves that the end of a meeting is more important than the beginning. Endings leave lasting impressions. Recency triumphs over primacy. And yet, how often have you found yourself in the hallway after a meeting wondering what happened?<\/strong> What did we agree to? Or worse, you disagree with someone who thinks the results are different if not diametrically opposed, to what you think. Enter, the Guardian of Change.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Nobody wants more meetings<\/a> but we still meet a lot. We meet for a purpose. Successful meetings have an end in mind. Some call it \u201cDONE\u201d. Others call it a deliverable. Either way, the meeting purpose is satisfied once the objective is reached, once we have the object<\/em> of the meeting. Notice that the deliverable of meetings is a noun, never a verb. You cannot hand off a \u2018verb\u2019 to someone else, but you may hand them a \u2018noun\u2019 or an object.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if the deliverable is a plan<\/a> of actions (verbs) to take when the meeting is over, those actions need to be documented, and that document is called a plan. Any plan details WHO does WHAT<\/a>. The plan is the object or deliverable, not the action itself.<\/strong> Meeting objectives sets plans in motion so that the real work begins after most meetings end.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you ask a group of ten people, \u201cWhat is a process?\u201d or \u201cWhat does a single requirement look like?\u201d, you will assuredly get ten different responses. All of them are correct for their respective contributor. Indeed, there is more than one correct answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Frequently, however, it\u2019s a good idea for participants<\/a> to echo the same message so it sounds like they were in the same meeting together. The importance is critical when you have a multi-national organization where translation issues cause misunderstanding and turbulence.<\/span><\/p>\n

For major initiatives such as\u00a0strategic planning<\/a> or\u00a0project\u00a0launches, it is wise to invest a few hours to build a robust communications plan, but most meetings do not afford that much time. Rather than skip the activity entirely, Use the\u00a0MGRUSH<\/span><\/em>\u00a0Guardian of Change<\/em>\u00a0tool to consensually build quick and simple messages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guardian of Change<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

When your meeting or workshop is complete, take a moment to get participants to agree on what they will tell others they got DONE in the meeting. We call that activity the \u201cGuardian of Change\u201d<\/strong> and it should be included in the Review or Wrap<\/a> agenda step of nearly every meeting you attend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how it works for most meetings, and it only takes five minutes. For critical and public workshops such as strategic planning, this activity may be pulled out of the Review step and made an entirely discrete agenda step. Most would call that step a \u201cCommunications Plan.\u201d More about that, later.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before participants depart from a standard or even a standing meeting, facilitate their \u201cwater-cooler\u201d \u201ccoffee pot\u201d or elevator speech\u201d with a simple T-Chart. Allowing for two stakeholder groups, usually, one that looks upward (eg., superiors) and another that looks across or downward such as \u201cEmployees\u201d. Your appropriate group titles are placed at the top of each column in your T-Chart.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Two-column<\/a>

Two-column (T-chart) Guardian of Change<\/span><\/strong><\/center><\/p><\/div>\n

Next, working one at a time, simply ask:<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n

\u201cWhen you walk into a Superior in the hallway and they ask you what was accomplished in this meeting, what are you going to tell them?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Apply the Brainstorming<\/a> principles of Ideation<\/a>, and write down their input verbatim and without any discussion. When someone objects, politely shut them down and remind them that for the moment, there is no discussion. Analysis and agreement will follow once initial ideas have been written down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Move to the second column and ask . . .<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n

\u201cWhen you walk into another employee in the hallway and they ask you what was accomplished in your meeting, what are you going to tell them?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Common sense dictates that frequently the messages are different in each column. And you will discover that people will argue over the messages and even single terms suggested such as \u201ccomplete\u201d versus \u201csubstantial progress.\u201d In fact, what your participants need now is a facilitator<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through active listening<\/a>, clear definitions<\/a>, and an appeal to the organizational objectives<\/a>, you will get the group to agree on what they are going to tell others. You will have them sounding like they were in the same meeting together.<\/span><\/p>\n

True to Life Example<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Guardian

Guardian of Change<\/span><\/strong><\/center><\/p><\/div>\n

Note in the following example from our pro bono<\/i> effort with a 501(c)(3) organization, some initially wanted to tell parents that the organization was . . .<\/span><\/p>\n