Navigating the Minefield of Communication During Restructuring

Unfortunately, civil society has been facing significant budget cuts since 2020. Subsidies are being reduced (sometimes drastically), funds are disappearing or being reallocated, and costs continue to rise.

That means jobs and assignments lost—sometimes personal tragedies. It means organizational goals that will never be achieved. It means a great many people dealing with stress, sadness, and anger. It means saying goodbye to far too many good people.

And then they call me and my coworkers at S&L. Help.

Of course, we can’t work miracles. But we can often help. We do this because we’re on your side—the side of civil society and the people who are striving for positive social change.

Part (the most important part) of our guidance involves making your funding mix more sustainable, optimizing your private fundraising, developing alternative revenue models, or increasing the operational efficiency of your organization. However, with sudden budget cuts like these, restructuring or reorganization is often unavoidable—and sometimes this involves job losses.

Damn it.

Least Favorite Chore

At S&L, that’s perhaps one of my least favorite tasks: guiding an organization through such a period. We often work in two phases. First, we help think through scenarios when it’s not yet clear how drastic the measures need to be. Then we oversee the implementation. And yes, that’s partly a technical and organizational undertaking. But it’s just as much a human task, and often involves a significant communication challenge.

I recently led a workshop on that aspect of communication for a group of directors from major development organizations. I’d be happy to share the lessons from that session with you for free, because good communication can alleviate a great deal of human suffering.

Information is necessary, but not sufficient

There is a difference between information and communication, between informing and communicating. Information is the dissemination of information; communication is using information to make an impact, reach people, and influence their thoughts or actions.

One of the most common frustrated comments from teams and stakeholders in these types of processes is: “I understand that it was posted (on the intranet/in the newsletter/at the all-hands meeting), but it wasn’t clear to me, at least—I hadn’t seen it.”

So the question is: How do you make a breakthrough? How do you build support? What is the role of communication in change management? Successful communication takes the recipient into account—how they understand your information, how they weigh it, and how that affects their actions. During a restructuring, employees, volunteers, regulators, and partners pay attention not only to the message but also to the timing, consistency, and the sender. Who is saying this, why are they saying it now, and what does this mean for me?

And keep in mind: not communicating is also a form of communication. Silence is almost always interpreted as uncertainty, inability, or disinterest. The starting point, therefore, is not gathering or disseminating an ever-growing amount of information, but creating meaning. A story that explains why this moment has arrived, what is changing, what will remain the same, what that means specifically for each group, and when you’ll be in touch again.

Communication Requires Design

Effective communication during a reorganization isn’t just a single email or a Q&A document. You need a coherent (internal) communication strategy. In practice, I believe this boils down to three choices:

First: Develop a single core narrative. In one short paragraph, it must be clear why this is necessary, what will change, what will remain the same, and what the next step is. That core narrative forms the basis for everything that follows. You can elaborate on it in a concise “message house” (for each target audience) or a visual aid, but your story should really be something you can tell even without any tools. If you think it through carefully, almost any reorganization can be summarized in a text that fits on a single A4 page.

Second: determine the order. Who hears what, and when. Internal audiences should hear this first—or at least no later than external audiences. Internally, dialogue often works better than one-way communication: a meeting, a post on the intranet with space for questions. Externally, you’ll want to take a more controlled approach, for example through a letter to donors or an agreed-upon messaging strategy. For phasing, you have helpful tools, such as the participation ladder (RACIO) or a thorough stakeholder analysis. These help untangle a complex network of people who all have a role to play—a network that’s often full of catch-22s. Get everything laid out clearly.

Third: Agree on a schedule and process. Determine how often you’ll communicate—for example, weekly—even when there’s little new information. Make it clear who drafts messages, who reviews them, and who makes the final decision. And agree on what to do if information changes. This prevents confusion, conflicting messages, and unwanted leaks. In these uncertain and confusing times, when your own information and knowledge are constantly changing, it can be helpful to use a traffic-light system to categorize information by color: (red = uncertain and confidential, yellow = evolving and still sensitive, and green = final and (semi-)public).

All of this is always intertwined with the organizational structure and, more importantly, the organizational culture. Processes are important, but behavior and interpersonal relationships determine how messages are received. What is visible—the email, the presentation, the meeting—rests on an invisible foundation of agreements, trust, and exemplary behavior. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” rings true here as well.

What you encounter along the way and how to navigate it

Rumors spread faster than you think.

When communication is delayed or fragmented, people fill in the gaps themselves. That speculation and gossip are part of human nature. You can limit this by communicating early, sticking to the facts, and always announcing the next step. A simple timeline, ladder, and traffic light system also help here: who hears what, and when.

Transparency only works when there are clear boundaries.

Say what you know and don’t keep it to yourself, but don’t share everything that’s still uncertain either. Make a clear distinction between what’s certain, what’s still in progress, and what remains confidential. For the latter, briefly explain why. Internally, it helps to use standard terminology for this, so it’s clear what you’re doing.

Come on, read the room.

Change always elicits predictable reactions: a sense of loss, uncertainty, and questions about fairness. People are deeply committed to your organization; some may have been working there much longer than you have. That kind of commitment is a powerful asset, but it can also be a major obstacle during change processes. At the same time, you can’t simply manage emotions away; empathy is perhaps the most important part of this process—and also the hardest to explain.

There is no handy matrix or appealing framework for empathy. Still, here are a few tips: familiarize yourself with social safety (if you haven’t already). Be mindful of your audience when choosing your words. State what is certain, indicate where people have influence, avoid “us vs. Them” thinking, and briefly explain the criteria on which decisions are based. This fosters a sense of calm, speeds up acceptance, and shows that you’ve thought through a fair way to structure such a process.

Your external legitimacy also requires attention.

Donors and partners who hear about what’s going on through the grapevine are more likely to lose trust. Therefore, create a list of your key stakeholders in advance and determine what you’ll commit to for each group: keeping them informed, consulting with them, or actively involving them. Decide on the order and the channel before you communicate.

Without a mission, you'll lose your way.

When cost-cutting measures become disconnected from your mission and impact narrative, it quickly creates the impression that everything is about money. By refining your Problem Tree and Theory of Change, you can show what stays the same, what changes, and why. This helps you stay on course both internally and externally. Having trouble? My colleague Koenraad has created a great e-book to help you get started.

Participation requires clarity regarding decision-making.

Involving people is valuable, but not every decision is made collectively. Therefore, make it clear who is responsible for what, who contributes ideas, and who is kept informed. Explicitly link this to your commitment to participation. This prevents token participation and decision-making paralysis.

One story—internal first.

Nothing erodes trust as quickly as employees hearing news about their own organization from the newspaper or through partners. Follow a clear chain of communication: first, oversight and management; then employees; next, key partners and donors; and only then the public and the media.

Getting Started: The Practical Guide

So, to sum up:

1. Develop a plan, including a phased approach

2. Use a participation ladder and implement a “clearance” method, such as a traffic-light model

3. Look up the dialogue.

Don't wait until everything has been finalized. Write your core narrative in five sentences today. Decide when you'll provide the next update, who will be the first person internally to be informed, and who will formally approve the communication.

Make sure you have a single internal location where all current information is centralized—for example, an FAQ that you update after every update. Refer to it consistently.

Keep your measurements simple. See if you’ve reached people, whether they understood the message, and how it was received. Use that information to refine your next communication.

And don’t forget the human side. Structure creates order, but tone makes all the difference. Be the one to step up at key moments. Acknowledge what’s being phased out, be honest about dilemmas, and make clear the choices you’re consciously making. Often, a reorganization is also a way to sharpen focus and maximize your impact per euro—be sure to tell that story, too.