Why change fails when middle managers aren’t equipped to communicate

21 April 2025 Reading Time: 4 minutes

by Nikki Brooks

“That’s not my job. The comms team should be handling this.”

Sound familiar?

Middle managers are expected to be the bridge between leadership and employees during change. But without the right tools, training, or buy-in, they don’t just struggle – they become unintentional blockers.

Too often, organisations assume managers will hear the message, make it work, and drive change alongside their day jobs, without additional support. That expectation isn’t realistic.When middle managers aren’t set up for success, the cracks start to show:

* Conflicting messages

* Hesitation.

* Leadership frustration and employee confusion.

Before long, teams stop listening altogether. It’s not resistance, it’s change fatigue from poor communication.

So, when yet another change lands on their desks, their instinctive response?

“That’s not my job.” And from their perspective, they’re not wrong.

Most middle managers weren’t hired, trained, or promoted based on their ability to communicate organisational change. So, when they’re suddenly expected to translate leadership vision into team-level action, without preparation or input, resistance inevitably builds.

Then, when engagement drops or employees push back, the focus shifts to fixing engagement issues after the briefing – rather than preventing them upfront.

Where change communication fails for middle managers

Managing transformation alongside business as usual isn’t just difficult – it’s unsustainable without the right support. Middle managers need more than a set of talking points; they need time to process, the tools to adapt messaging for their teams, and the confidence to lead conversations, not just repeat corporate announcements.

Change often fails at the middle management level for three key reasons:

1. Lack of ownership over the change narrative

Managers are often expected to deliver messages they had no role in shaping. The result?

* They repeat pre-packaged messages that don’t feel authentic.

* They struggle to answer tough questions because they weren’t involved early.

* They look uncertain or unconvincing, which erodes employee trust.

When managers don’t believe in the change – or don’t fully understand it – why should their teams?

How to fix it:

* Involve managers early – Hold working sessions before the briefing is finalised so they can flag risks and refine language.

* Run ‘what if?’ risk briefings – Bring in a pool of managers to surface likely concerns and co-create FAQs.

* Give managers something useful, fast – Most won’t get formal training, so provide quick-reference guides, real-world examples, and simple prompts they can use before speaking with their teams.

2. Lack of clear information

When middle managers aren’t briefed early enough – or properly – they often

* Get updates at the same time as employees – or even later.

* Receive high-level messaging that doesn’t explain real-world impact.

* Are expected to handle employee concerns without clear guidance.

When this happens, uncertainty leads to silence. Employees fill in the gaps with speculation, and change becomes something happening to them, rather than with them.

How to fix it:

* Always brief managers first – Give them time to process and prepare before employees are informed.

* Hold leadership Q&A sessions – Ensure managers have a chance to ask questions before they’re expected to provide answers.

* Give adaptable talking points – Provide more than just corporate scripts – offer examples of how they can personalise their briefings to make it specific to their teams while staying aligned to the bigger picture.

3. Fear of saying the wrong thing

Without proper narratives, talking points, or FAQs, many middle managers hesitate to communicate at all. They worry about:

* Misrepresenting leadership.

* Contradicting official messaging.

* Being caught off guard by difficult questions.

So instead of engaging their teams, they stay silent. The result? Confusion, disengagement, and resistance.

How to fix it:

* Encourage transparency – Make it acceptable for managers to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” and provide them with a contact who can advise them if they have a question they can’t answer.

* Provide real coaching – Offer scenario-based training so managers feel confident, not just informed.

* Run manager-led ‘lessons learnt’ sessions – Ask those who’ve successfully navigated past change to share best practices.

Case study: When middle managers don’t buy in, change falls apart

I was asked to support an organisation that had been going through months of restructurings, selling off parts of the business, and struggling with long-term change fatigue. Leaders were hesitant to be fully transparent because of legal dependencies, meaning updates were often last-minute.

Middle managers felt excluded from decision-making, previous sign-off processes were slow and stressful, and employees had lost trust in the organisation. We needed to rebuild engagement from the ground up.

Instead of another top-down rollout, we flipped the approach:

* Early access, even when details were limited – Managers received high-level updates before employees. Even if full details weren’t finalised, they were told why – ensuring they weren’t left in the dark. You must never underestimate the fact that an update that confirms there’s no further information is just as important as sharing specific news. Silence fuels speculation – transparency builds trust

* One version of the truth – Instead of multiple drafts flying around, all comms sat in a single, centrally controlled document. Leaders had one place to review updates, cutting delays and eliminating conflicting messages.

* Leaders on the ground, and real-time feedback loops – Senior leaders didn’t just issue comms from HQ – they were present at key briefings, spending time at sites to answer questions and support middle managers in real-time. QR codes also allowed managers to submit questions instantly. A master FAQ was updated daily at 4pm, ensuring responses were timely and everyone knew where to go for the latest information.

The results:

* Managers stopped feeling like messengers and started leading conversations with confidence.

* Employees saw fewer mixed messages and had a clearer line of sight on decisions.

* Leadership were visible and had a live read on manager confidence, allowing them to intervene where needed.

Change landed. Not because of more comms, but because managers were brought into the process instead of just expected to pass on a message.

Expecting managers to ‘just communicate’ change isn’t a strategy – it’s a gamble

Right now, middle managers are often seen as the missing link in change communications. But what if they were our biggest opportunity?

The best change strategies don’t just flow top-down – they gain momentum from the middle out. When managers feel equipped and engaged, they don’t just pass on messages – they shape, reinforce, and personalise them so they actually land. And more importantly? They make change stick.

So, the real question isn’t should managers lead change communication – it’s how much damage does it cause when they don’t?

 

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I’m Nikki Brooks – a UK-based Change Comms Advisor helping internal comms and transformation teams improve clarity, alignment and engagement during change.

With 20+ years’ experience in internal comms, brand strategy and employee engagement, I’ve supported major organisations like NHS Supply Chain, University of Nottingham, and National Express to land change that actually sticks.

Written by: Editor