ten characteristics of excellent internal comm
TRANSCRIPT
TEN CHARACTERISTICS OFEXCELLENT
INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONSBetter Companies through Better Communications
EXCELLENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
1. Glasnost
Remember the end-of-
the-Cold-War
term glasnost? It
means openness. Mikh
ail Gorbachev, the then-
leader of the Soviet
Union, came up with the
notion that openness
was critical to survival.
It's the same with Internal
Communications. It requires the
management team of the
organization to level with the
employees, especially those on
the front line who might not have
access to email or other systems.
EXCELLENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
2. Consistent
You could spend a few
days coming up with a
one-off newsletter that
might satisfy your
employees for a few
days, but you need to
follow it up with
regular updates.
In the absence of information, employees will fill the void with whatever information — whether it is true or not — that happens to float past.
EXCELLENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
3. Two-Way
As well as management
passing info down the line,
employees must be able to
pass ideas (and sometime
bad news) back up the
proverbial chain of
command. It's a type if
"field intelligence" that the
leaders of an organization
need when they are making
decisions.
Did you know that the XBox was an idea germinated by two entry-level employees, who then brought it to the attention of Microsoft's top level management?
Clearly the company had a channel whereby good ideas, and lots of useless ones that would never see the light of day, found their way to company management.
The XBox is now a multi billion-dollar blockbuster.
A company may still squander a good idea by way of poor execution, but at least, you need to have access to those ideas.
EXCELLENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
4. Technology Based
Nothing will ever
replace MBWA
(Management By
Walking Around), but
you can leverage
technology to
increase your reach
by an order of
magnitude.
There are so many technologies out there that can help you.
For example, there can be an electronic equivalent of the time-honored suggestion box.
EXCELLENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
5. Inclusive
Make sure
everyone in the
organization gets a
chance to benefit
from your new
internal
communication
methodologies.
When was the last time you spoke face-to-face with your front line employees? That might be where the next great idea comes from. It might be an idea that takes your company to the next level. You won't know who has that killer idea until you hear it, so you have to listen to everyone.
And, you have to reach everyone with your message.
EXCELLENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
6. Easy
Whatever solution you adopt to improve
internal communications in your
organization, it must be easy to use.
EXCELLENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
7. Time-efficient
Sometimes a
kiosk-style
terminal is all
that's required,
and it can be
shared by many
employees.
You want a way for front
line employees to connect,
but not by putting them in
front of a desktop computer
to push and pull emails all
day long.
EXCELLENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
8. Analytics
A good internal
communications
system will have a
mechanism for
management to
know if a message
is getting through
to its intended
audience.
Typically, you will want to know how many "reads" a given news story or bulletin gets, as well as metrics about the company's operations.
EXCELLENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
9. Safe
Likely, if you are reading this, you are already open to the notion of receiving feedback.
Employees will need to feel safe enough to give you feedback.
EXCELLENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
10. Cost-Effective
Last but not least, the benefits of your new internal
communications initiative must far out weigh any
cost associated with it! See PDP’s Cost of Poor Internal Communication presentation on SlideShare.
Better Companies through Better Communication
www.pdpsolutions.com