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 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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August 05,
2008
– 8:58 am
I was talking to an old university friend about a potential new client last night and asking her opinion of what I could explain to her about them so far – what do they do? It’s an often repeated question.
She asked me how Upstairs had been introduced to them. I explained that the chain of recommendation had started with one client 8 years ago (2000, previous life) who had got in touch in the early days of Upstairs (2004) recommended us to his old colleague who had talked to us about one project that never happened in 2006 and then, she had remembered us last year (2007) and we are working for her and her team now (2008) and she talked about us to her old client who is now going to be working with us (to come) … I’m sure my friend wished she hadn’t asked.
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