Ask employees where they’d prefer to hear about a change that affects them, and the answer is remarkably consistent across industries and countries: from their direct manager.
Yet in most organizations, managers find out about major news at the same time as their teams — sometimes later. Then they’re expected to answer questions they’ve never seen.
The cascade that doesn’t cascade
The traditional model assumes information flows down through layers like water. In practice, it gets stuck. Each layer edits, delays, or quietly withholds what it doesn’t understand or agree with. By the time it reaches the front line, the message is either diluted or distorted.
What a manager toolkit should include
When I build communications for significant changes, the manager toolkit gets as much attention as the CEO’s announcement. A good one includes:
- The core message in three sentences, so managers can say it in their own words.
- What’s changing and what isn’t, in a simple two-column table.
- The ten hardest questions, with honest answers — including “we don’t know yet” where that’s true.
- What to do with questions they can’t answer, and a fast route to get answers.
- A timeline, so they know when the next piece of information is coming.
Give them time and a voice
Brief managers at least a few hours before everyone else — ideally a day. Let them ask questions in a forum where it’s safe to push back. Managers who have voiced their concerns privately are far better advocates publicly.
And close the loop. Ask managers what their teams are saying. They are your best early-warning system, if you make it easy for them to tell you the truth.