Organisations seem to be facing the same challenges at the same time in internal communication right now: is it best to talk about what you (top level management) have decided and know now – or wait – until concensus is reached on communication? Agremeent is being sought not just on what is said, but on how it’s said, when it’s said, how many times it’s said, who says it, what languages it’s said in..we could go on.
While this process escalates – and is repeated, probably – employees (not top level management) will have their own assumptions about what is happening, some will have already picked up on aspects of what is happening too. Theories about what is about to be done (to them, not with them or by them) will be discussed and engagement, productivity and time will inevitably be lost. Such delays – or perceived silences – often attack trust. And while internal communication is rightly at the top of the senior management agenda, this focus is not actually getting the job done.
Times have changed – the right people are discussing how to communicate and realising the importance of communication within the organisation. It’s just that in some cases, it’s not these people that are doing the communicating, they’re talking about doing it…
August 26,
2008
– 12:04 pm
We are wondering here if ‘employer branding’, once the great conversation opener and preoccupation, especially of HR teams, is now really just (just!) making the existing corporate brand communicate to employees and prospective employees: providing communication tools and management examples of that brand in practice. Simple…
Looking at what often could feel like separate brand identities (separate projects) is too confusing for audiences, could detract from the corporate brand and (appears at least) too costly for clients. What’s interesting is that some agencies (and their clients) are talking employer brands and we are in fact waiting on one’s guidelines for a piece of work we are doing… We are looking forward to them. Perhaps it’s what we have been talking about anyway, just phrased differently?
August 15,
2008
– 4:31 pm
The Nielsen Norman 10 best intranets of 2008 voted British Airways’ intranet ‘Employee Self Service’ the only UK place in its recent listing. Citing cost savings and communcation improvements, it’s an interesting vote given recent PR and customer relationship calamaties for BA and the current difficult times in the aviation industry. A case of the external image being very far from what is going on internally, perhaps.
The Nielsen Norman 10 best intranets of 2007 voted the RSPB’s intranet the only intranet in the UK worthy of a global top ten ranking. The comment in the summary report that ‘beautiful bird photos illustrate top stories’ is in the context of discussions about an average intranet containing 6 million pages.
The RSPB’s success is a welcome reminder that sometimes something plain lovely says it all. And perhaps more usefully for those a bit content-heavy amongst us, that a picture does tell a 1000 words, or pages more.
August 11,
2008
– 9:27 am
We were asked by a client to speak at an internal communication workshop for 21 communications managers held in Hong Kong last week. With an eye on our carbon footprint – and our client’s 2 eyes on budget – we had the pleasure of presenting to the group via a fantastic video conferencing suite. Our enjoyment of the technology and attention to detail of the facility were marred only slightly by our attendance at 5.30am…
Our topic ‘New frontiers in internal communication’ was an interesting one… We looked at lots of internal communications tools that were growing in usefulness and prominence (the role of web 2.0 internally, wikis, podcasts, every picture telling a story, feedback, feedback and more feedback) and also talked about the key drivers in employee engagement. Take a look at the presentation which is packed full of budget-proof statistics that prove internal communication matters. And what large conclusions global surveys of communication professionals drew.
What were our conclusions?
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By Rosie Fyles
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Posted in musings
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Tagged business benefit, communication tools, face to face communication, feedback, internal communication, personal brand managers, podcasts, reputation, web 2.0, wikis, workshops
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We did a little bit of reminiscing last night while enveloped by the pathos of a shutting Walthamstow dogs’ track. Blocking out the thought of what will happen to all those lean, running machines (thank you Cobra Striking) over drinks in the stand..the conversation turned…
The most bizarre ‘communication memory’ in Upstairs’ life so far has to be the experience of sorting out the heating in Shanghai’s all glass Science and Technology Museum ‘dome’, January 2007. 45 minutes before our 250+ corporate guests were due to arrive for their gala dinner (the ladies would be in evening dresses), we were shivering in our Puffas. Asking the venue manager to address the issue had not worked (informal cascade often fails). The next hour was spent running after our on-site supplier through tunnels and up and down the stairs of the museum, finally entering Flash Gordon’s boiler chamber. 15+ years communicating for a living and here was the greatest challenge yet. Gesticulating instructions to turn up the power and prove the resulting increase in temperature (15+ years of proving an implementation’s success kicking in here too…) to 2 local, apple-green boiler-suited technicians whose supper we were interrupting. While face to face internal communication IS best, hand signals, facial distortions, comic shivers, removing outdoor clothing (only) and actually going to randomly turn levers one’s self can also, for certain defined audiences, be recommended…
No footage of the actual ‘sit-com’ scene but take a look at the (warmer) night out they had. And save those dogs…
- The stunning Shanghai dome
- Shaolin monks put on the best show
