How Infographics Can Help You Communicate Change

By Customer Magnetism

Often, organizational changes fail because leaders don't explain why the change is needed and how it will benefit the organization and its people. 

Without rationale that makes sense and an emotional connection to the benefits, people keep doing what they have always done and the initiative fails or only achieves marginal benefits. 

Not all attempts at explaining the "why" behind a change are effective. Long emails, articles and presentations are difficult to absorb and often ignored, leaving people uninspired to change how they work. 

Infographics provide an effective way to motivate and engage people around the need for change. An infographic is a visual representations of information that is quickly consumed, easily understood and engaging.  All important criteria for effective change communication.

I was introduced to infographics by a friend who was creating them to support a large technology upgrade. They were clear, easy to understand and memorable. 

Here are some statistics that support the power of these graphic tools:

• 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual
• 65 percent of the population are visual learners
• 40 percent of people respond better to visual information than text
• Visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text
• Infographics are 30 times more likely to be read than text articles
• People are 3 times more likely to share an infographic than a document

There are many examples of infographics on the internet to give you ideas on how to design your own. Here are some tips to get you started:

• Start with your purpose - what is the message?
• Consider the point of view of your audience - what images are meaningful to them?
• Select an attention grabbing title
• Focus on one theme
• Use 'real' data - Relatable, Exciting, Attracting and Legit
• Reveal the data at several levels of detail, from broad overview to the fine structure
• Encourage the eye to compare different pieces of data
• Use colour to instill different moods and emotional connections
• Provide references to the data presented

Click here for 5 free infographic templates from Hub Spot

Creating infographics is becoming easier thanks to predesigned templates. Hub Spot has created five templates that can be downloaded for free.

Communication is an essential part of any change initiative. Sharing why the change is needed is an important step to creating committed and engaged individuals who have the power to make it successful. Infographics is an excellent way to do so.

Phil

Sources: 

http://piktochart.com/not-just-another-infographic-8-steps/

http://www.customermagnetism.com/infographics/what-is-an-infographic/

http://unbounce.com/content-marketing/why-do-infographics-make-great-marketing-tools/

http://www.business2community.com/infographics/5-top-tips-creating-infographics-0828627#!7mUZc