How much info is too much info? How much is not enough? My undergrad was in Communication and this was many years before social media and the many vehicles of communicating that are available today. We learned that messaging was the main event and appealing to emotions and making connections was key. Kotter points out that buy-in is often lost because communication goes to one extreme or another. We can say too much and it loses impact or say to little and the purpose is lost on your target audience. I see this message from three different, but similar, pathways.
In marketing and public relations, there is the need to share product or program information on an ongoing basis, but too much of a good thing can turn people away.
I also see this message fitting within organizations that are looking to make a change or introduce internal initiatives. You want to be transparent, but if too little info is shared or not enough is shared in a timely manner, your internal stakeholders will lose interest and possibly lose trust.
Finally, I see this in the schools I serve. Often, program initiatives are made at an administrative level and once you gain input from classroom teachers, you find they didn't know about a new product or program and it was put upon them with little to no additional information. This certainly doesn't help with the buy-in, which is why it's crucial to keep open and ongoing communication.
Dr. John Kotter. (2011, March 23). John Kotter - Communicating a Vision for Change [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGVe3wRKmH0
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