Why join The Communicators' Network?
Of course, we think The Communicators' Network is great – but don't just take our word for it! Philip Allen, Internal Communications Manager of the Viridian Group says, "The quality of responses are first rate, to have instant input on a global scale is, as our American colleagues would say, awesome!" Here's a taster of the kind of discussion streams you'll find if you join:
Discussion streams
Proving the value of internal communicationDefining corporate vision and valuesHow to improve team briefings
Proving the value of internal communication
Q: How do you justify the expense of internal communication when there has been little impact on the bottom line? In other words, how do you defend your budget in the face of unimpressive business results?
A: Houston Spencer
I'm in the telecoms industry. Even if my company had the best internal communication and most performance-oriented corporate culture, our revenues, credit rating and stock price would still be in the toilet right now, along with all our competitors. For years I thought the communication professional's holy grail was something like a "Communications ROI". I still think it's a fun idea, but I've become skeptical about it too. Even if internal communication adds value to the business, that value might fail to show up on the bottom line in any traceable form. It doesn't generate revenue. It doesn't lower costs. It's an enabler. It can enable initiatives that generate revenue. It can enable initiatives that lower costs. But it might not do either.
Still, I don't think we should give up and let nature take its course. The benefits of good internal communication are clearly measurable, they're just not clearly measurable on the bottom line. We've got to make the case for our value (and our budgets) in other ways. One way is to draw the logical case that better internal communications, down the line, improves senior executives' ability to direct the activities of the enterprise. That impact is measurable. Another argument is about employee satisfaction and retention. That is also measurable.
There are other examples, the most powerful being the ultimate impact of internal communications on customers. We've got many ways to measure the value of our work, but the bottom line probably isn't one of them.
A: Simon Bottery
I agree with the scepticism. More provocatively perhaps, I wonder whether we're making the mistake of turning an abstract concept (communication) into a real thing and then looking for a (non-existent) way of measuring and valuing it. If communication is 'an act of the receiver' then it's not the thing you do that constitutes communication but the state of mind it creates, like 'happiness' or 'fear'. Both of these probably have an impact on the bottom line as well but try measuring them.
A: David Kirchhoffer
I think the key is to define in advance the objective of any communication in line with strategic business objectives. For example, when advertising burgers our strategic business objective is to increase sales. Therefore, the objective of the communication is to make consumers buy more burgers. Knowing this in advance makes it easier to declare the success or failure of a campaign.
In the slightly more complex world of internal communications, if the business decrees that it is strategically desirable to create a culture that encourages honesty, then the objective of the communicator is to change people's behavior by making them more honest. One could measure the success of a campaign by monitoring the levels of internal fraud, for example. Measure the behavior that the communication is intended to create or change. Then you'll know if your communication is effective. How those behaviors impact on the bottom line is irrelevant to the communicator. The business leadership believes that such a behavior is beneficial for whatever reason. So be it.
For more information about The Communicators' Network, contact Sona Hathi today on +44 (0)20 8600 4670 or email customerservice@melcrum.com
Defining corporate vision and values
Q: Has anyone done any work on defining corporate vision and values? If so, do you have any tips?
A: Christopher Hannegan
I'd suggest you start by interviewing those employees on the front line or those actually 'touching' the customer. You'll start to uncover common themes, reasons for working there, and insight into how to connect to them emotionally as well as rationally. In my experience, the vision and values have got to "bubble up" from the employee level and then be supported by senior management. By taking this approach, you can base your vision and values on ideas that are truly relevant, rather than just based on headquarters' thinking.
A: Judy Jones
The process needs both 'top' and 'bottom' participation. Consider that our most critical themes these days are senior management accountability and transparency in business conduct (trust), and where does our business fit in today's economy as we face armed conflict?
Clearly, both front line employees and leadership are necessary to the success of the process. If possible, the communication function needs to work closely with the organizational development function to support the internal dialogue. Interviews alone – no matter how inclusive – tend to feel isolated. Then the communicator pools the results and teases out the common themes and overlapping beliefs, but no matter how insightful and accurate the communicator is, the audience – management and employees – can feel like they're experiencing the effect of a "black box". The results are no longer their own and they don't buy in. In my experience, it's better to bring people together in facilitated discussion with the explicit aim to articulate a mission. Let the fights happen in the room with a professional facilitator. The communicator supports the process through documentation, excellent writing skills and a true ear for the broad audience – both internal and external.
Once you have final output, you'll need to turn your attention to the art of distribution and delivery. I use the word 'art' on purpose. The communicator needs to effectively support the managers, supervisors and whoever communicates directly with employees. The media isn't important, whatever works for your culture is what you use. But the communicator needs to be 'invisible' or the rollout will appear contrived, which means that the mission and values are contrived.
Here's a final tip: storyboard or write a narrative of the ideal process from beginning to end. In this way, you'll be able to effectively visualize and convey where all this 'soft stuff' is going. By pointing to your storyboard or narrative, you'll know where you are and your organizational development professional will love it. Management will thank you too.
For more information about The Communicators' Network, contact Sona Hathi today on +44 (0)20 8600 4670 or email customerservice@melcrum.com
How to improve team briefings
Q: If the primary objectives of a team briefing system are to get information out to staff and to encourage face-to-face communication, is there a better way to do it in this e-enabled age, or could even a very short, daily briefing system work instead? And how do you make sure managers use this system? Has anyone seen a team brief cascade system that works right across the organization?
A: Alasdair Edwards
Email and intranets are fine if every employee has access to a PC or is office-based. However, the telephone is the most universally available communications tool and a briefing from a chief executive or department head can be recorded on most voicemail systems.
Daily briefing sounds a little impractical. The key is to broadcast a monthly briefing from the top of an organization (conveyed by email, intranet or telephone) so that all staff have access to a message before team briefings take place. The message from the top is then consistent and is not watered down or garbled and the team meeting can then deal with the issues raised.
The team meeting need no longer consist of the team leader sharing news and can become more issue- or discussion-focused as the "news" has already been delivered. In addition there is an increased obligation on the team leader to ensure the team meeting takes place as staff know that a briefing has been issued.
I can't say I have ever seen a cascade system that works right across the organization, as this scope usually means it depends on too many people to make them work effectively.
A: Arlene Muys
Organizations where the team briefing process operates best usually have it backed up by their performance management system (i.e., it's a specific requirement in the managers' performance agreements, linked to promotion or bonuses).
The most difficult aspect of getting a team briefing process to work is the behavioral change you are bringing to the way managers do their jobs and communicate with their staff. Perhaps you could talk to HR or look into other ways you can influence behavior, such as using reward and recognition; running focus groups or interactive training sessions with managers; and maybe even creating a minor embarrassment for people who are not doing it. (This can be done in many ways, but one is simply to publicize communication survey results by department – the under-performing ones will suddenly feel the pressure.)
If you are looking at ways to make briefings more effective, maybe you should get a few of the managers who use them to help redesign them. They will then have more ownership of the process, and it's more likely that you will find the best fit with their needs and working styles.
For more information about The Communicators' Network, contact Sona Hathi today on +44 (0)20 8600 4670 or email customerservice@melcrum.com
