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mandy.thatcher@melcrum.comApril 2, 2008
Dear Source Reader
In the forthcoming issue of Strategic Communication Management, management consultant Fraser Likely proposes 5 key roles the communication team should be fulfilling to protect themselves from criticism and cut-backs during economic downturn.
"Proving and protecting is about seeing eye-to-eye on what internal communication can do for the organization. In turbulent times, this understanding is crucial," says Likely. He outlines the 5 key roles as follows:
1. Communicator
The communicator role is one we all enact. We provide channels, vehicles and products for the distribution of information. We report management and HR information to employees. The better of us facilitate two and multi-way communication and employee involvement in the organization's communication system. The best of us in this role champion the democratization of information and of communication channels by advocating a symmetrical and transparent communication climate.
2. Educator
A good majority of us enact the educator role. We train managers and supervisors to make them better communicators and to hold them accountable for cascade-type communication. We also coach senior executives on their responsibilities for leadership communication, honing their skills with vehicles such as webcasts, town halls and site visits for example.
3. Change agent
Most of us play the role of change agent, as part of a major change management project in the organization. This isn't simply the communication of change goals and processes. It's to make change happen, to change employee behaviors – with communication being only one of the drivers behind a commitment to acting differently. As change agents, we aim to change culture (norms; values; beliefs), marketplace and financial knowledge (business literacy) and organizational structure.
4. Consultant and advisor
Some of us perform as small "c" communication consultants, working with operational units on their unit's performance and work processes. As advisors, we focus on improving operational communication that will bring business improvements to specific operational processes. This is the small "c" communication employees use every day on production processes. Improvements address process efficiency, product quality and unit productivity, ultimately saving time, effort and money.
5. Strategist
Finally, a few of us enact the organizational strategist role. This is not the role of communicator (or even change agent) around a management table. Playing this role is not about providing communication advice; it's about providing strategy advice – a role equal to each and every other manager around the table. Advice on corporatewide strategy development and implementation involves ideas on governance, policy, stakeholder relationships, ethics and the process of strategic management itself.
"Number one is the base role" says Likely "with higher numbered roles increasingly being more sophisticated. They also increase in value to the organization from one to five."
The full article appears in the April/May issue of SCM.
See you next week!
How communicable is your strategy?
The Internal Comms Hub, April 1, 2008
Summarize your strategy in 35 words and watch it spring into action.
2020: the changing work landscape
The Internal Comms Hub, March 31, 2008
Report predicts more virtual working.
How learning to "bodypop" can lessen your comms bodycount
The Melcrum Blog, April 1, 2008
In a bid to bridge the gap between fuddy-duddy managers and their hipster celeb-hungry gen Y charges, the Hub this week has announced a selection of free leadership training courses on popular culture.
Supporting leaders to be part of the dialogue
Melcrum's Leadership Newsletter, April 1, 2008
David Grossman looks at the important role leaders play in keeping employees feeling informed.
The Source
for Communicators is a free resource for corporate communicators
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