Курс: внутренние коммуникации

We have shifted from being internal journalsts to being a vital part of the  corporate decision-making team. Source:  Internal Communications: A Manual for Practicioners  (2014) by  Liam FitzPatrick, Klavs Valskov

Every investment needs to show that itsresults are worth the resources involved. Showing your 'rturn on investment' or how you add value to the business is an obligation for communication managers. Communicator needs evidence and data to help them understand: Data intelligence. What are people saying and thinking? How might we expect them to react? Where are the hotspots and where should be we putting our efforts? Targeting. What are we trying to achieve? What are our goals and how do they support the wider objectives of our organization? We call the proccess of data analysis that allows you to predict what you need to do to get results. Tracking. What is working and what is not. What is it that we actually do that makes a difference? Are there tools that are delivering what they should be? Are there refinements we can make to our messages? Are we doing what we set out to do? Are we spending resources wisely? Three levels of understanding There are essent...

Figure 9.1 Figure 9.2 SOURCE: Kübler-Ross, adapted by FitzPatrick and Dewhurst John Smythe uses the metaphor of a train in a tunnel. He describes leaders as sitting in the driving seat where they can see daylight in the distance and can control the speed of the train, while employees are like passengers with no idea how long the tunnel is and no influence on the speed at which they are being carried. Aim: maintaining performance during a period of uncertainty, which means providing information and support in a timely manner. To pass through the initial stages of the curve people need to understand what they are being told and so have a high demand for facts and data. To pass through the later stages of the curve, the role of communication moves from an information source to that of providing support and encouragement. A change communications plan starts with identifying the impact this change will have on different audiences as well as tools for delivering ...

There’s a lot of talk about storytelling in business communication these days. That’s hardly surprising, since storytelling is a universally shared experience, part of what makes us human. It’s rooted in the fact that our brains are wired to respond to stories. Given the choice between a complex, accurate explanation and a reduced but internally consistent story, we prefer the story because it requires less effort to take in.   Leaders will always want data, but data only gives us the what, and sometimes the how. Stories give us the why. We naturally seek meaning in what’s going  on around us and that’s why stories can have a big impact in business, particularly at times of change. So how do you get your leaders to tell a compelling story? Everyone tells stories: it’s not like asking your leaders to become concert pianists or portrait artists. But everyone tells stories differently and, naturally, some are better at it than others. Investing a little time in ...

The role of the IC team in supporting the most senior managers is vital to the health and well-being of the organization. They need support and that support should cover practicalities, providing honest feedback, keeping their message clear and ensuring people hear what is really important.  When we are trusted we get the space to try out new ideas, to challenge when we see how our messages are undermined by business practice and to build a team that can do all the things we know need doing. Getting alongside the boss – some core relationship principles - #See yourself as part of the CEO’s home team. #Know the business and industry as well as them. #Know agendas and calendars. #Never let them down. #Never let her or him go out unbriefed. #No one should have better information about your audiences, their likes and issues than you. #Fiercely protect their executiveness. #Use your interactions properly:      & come with data but use it to tell a story...

Employees have a human relationship with a manager. It's through human relationships that we get answers to the core questions that D`Aprix says are at the front of every employee's mind:  What is my job? How am I doing? Does anyone care? How is my unit doing? Where are he heading? How can I help? But what stops them doing it?  There are a large number of reasons why managers are not always successful at fulfilling their role in communication and driving engagement. Communicators generally experience weak communication behaviour among managers, according to research from organizations such as Melcrum.  They consistently point to issues such as: Context: managers themselves not understanding how initiatives and plans fit within an overall vision; Not buying the message: managers being expected to communicate messages with which they do not agree; Responsibility for communication: ‘it’s not my job, it’s the communication department’s job’; Lack of perso...

Bill Quirke   introduced us to the idea of the now famous ‘channels escalator’ in the 1990s. His idea, at its most basic, is that you should match the tool to the task. If you want people simply to be aware of something, a notice board or an e -mail might be sufficient. If you need people to fundamentally change their attitudes and behaviours, a more personal approach may be needed. Figure 6.1 Choosing your media  Figure 6.2 Your repertoire Three questions you should ask yourself when deciding which channels to use: >  What access do they have to digital media? > What are they exposed to in the rest of their lives? > What is their work pattern? Conducting a basic channels  audit Questions for consideration: What is the role of IC in our organization and what is our strategic mission? Do we have channels that Push/Pull/Talk/Engage/Build committment or provide intelligence? For each channel, are we clear on its purpose? Is there a...

Figure 5.2 A message palette   This reminds the communicator to set out a number of important factors:  What the overall objective of communicating is –how what we do helps the organization or the programme we are supporting.  A ‘master takeaway’–the single compelling thought we need to share with our audience.  Who the audience are, what we know about them and how they are likely to react when they hear the message?  What we want the audience to:  Do  –the behaviour we are seeking;  Feel  –the attitude we need to encourage in order to promote the behaviour we need; Know  –the base knowledge people need in order to form the attitudes we seek (the KNOW –FEEL –DO continuum more fully explained in Chapter 3 on planning). Our supporting message with proof points:  YSIC –the reasons why the audience should be interested, the personal benefits and the impact;  the rationale –the factual and emotional reaso...