In the middle of a change, people hear a lot of information. Timelines, tools, next steps, and new terms can fill the room. What they carry with them afterward is usually something smaller and more personal. Often, it’s a sense of whether the explanation felt honest and on-time, whether someone took time to walk through their questions, and whether the tone felt considered and appropriate to the moment.
They also remember how they were treated. When leaders keep people in the loop and show they’ve considered the team’s point of view, it builds trust. This doesn’t require a perfect plan, it just requires consistency, follow-up, and presence. The way someone listens in a meeting, the way they follow through on a commitment, or the way they acknowledge hard work during a stretch, these details shape what the change means to the team.
It’s helpful to plan the steps, it’s even more helpful to think about the experience those steps create. That’s what people remember; they may not say it out loud, but they notice whether the change was something done with them or something that happened to them.
Looking back, most people can’t recall the chart or the checklist, but they usually remember the feeling.