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8 ways AI can help with change management
Companies embarking on a major change might find it helpful to implement a new chatbot or update an existing one. Learn about other ways AI can help with change management.
Change management is critical for all major company changes, so chief HR officers and their teams might be asked to develop and execute the change management program. AI can potentially help simplify the process and improve the results.
AI change management uses include developing a first draft of a message for employees and implementing a chatbot to answer employee questions. However, AI content should never be used without an employee reviewing it first.
Here’s more about use cases for AI in change management.
1. Training material drafts
AI can provide a first draft of written training material, which could be needed if the company is implementing new software or carrying out another type of change that requires employees to gain new skills.
The HR team can refine the wording and make sure that the draft is factually correct before sending it out to employees. A human employee should always review the AI text to confirm it doesn’t contain any inaccuracies.
2. Company communication drafts
AI can help HR employees draft messages for employees about the company change.
For example, AI can analyze meeting notes from HR employees about the change and summarize them, which HR employees can use as a starting point for an email to employees.
3. Chatbot for employee questions
Companies embarking on complex change management projects might find it helpful to implement a new chatbot or update an existing one. For example, a company changing their benefits program could implement a chatbot so employees can ask questions about health insurance.
Human employees will need to upload common employee questions and confirm that the chatbot will provide the correct responses. As the change is rolled out, HR employees can continually update the bot based on new questions they receive from employees.
4. Project plan development
A project plan for a major company change helps keep project team members on track and aware of deadlines, and AI can develop a draft timeline for a project. For example, if a company is going through a reorganization, AI can create a timeline with deadlines for creating a new org chart and notifying employees of their new roles.
Once AI has produced a timeline draft, the project manager can refine the plan if needed and assign tasks to project team members.
5. Presentation draft development
A company change will likely involve presenting material during a meeting. For example, HR employees might be tasked with creating a presentation for the rest of the company that describes the change.
AI can create a template that can be reused for each presentation and updated for each meeting based on the step in the change management process and the presentation audience. For example, HR’s presentation for employees who are directly affected by the change would be more detailed, while a presentation for all employees would be more high-level.
6. Grammar, spelling and readability check
AI can review written material and correct any spelling, grammar or clarity issues. For example, AI might flag that an email to employees about a change is not written clearly enough. Making an email to employees clearer based on that feedback could reduce the number of employee questions later.
As HR employees create new draft versions, they can run the draft through AI to confirm that the new draft still meets certain standards. For example, if an HR employee needs to update an email draft after company leaders change the date of a new software rollout, the AI could highlight that the employee changed the date in the email but not the day of the week.
7. Training video generation
AI software can generate training videos, which can reduce the amount of work needed to create such videos and ensure a consistent video appearance. As with other training material generation, a human employee should review the video to confirm that the information is correct.
AI can also generate new videos, if needed, to address new employee questions, which can help HR staff respond quickly to employees.
8. Chart, graph and image development
Charts, graphs and images can make training material more engaging and help convey points more clearly. For example, a chart comparing data about the current state of the company versus data associated with a future state desired by company leaders can help employees understand why a certain change is necessary.
AI can help HR staff save time by creating the charts, graphs and images, with HR staff making any needed changes.
Eric St-Jean is an independent consultant with a particular focus on HR technology, project management and Microsoft Excel training and automation. He writes about numerous business and technology areas.
