Internal Communications

"Extremists think "communication" means agreeing with them."
Leo Rosten (1908 - )

According to a Harvard Business Review study of Project Management Best Practices in Global 500 Enterprises face-to-face meetings and interaction in the work place is declining rapidly – and instead many teams are working virtually. Among the results from the study:
Fewer than 4% of teams ever meet physically as a whole.

• Fewer than 17% even have individual team members meet in person.
• More than 66% of teams include members from at least three time zones.
• 57% are cross-functional.
• 48% extend beyond company walls to include outside contractors, agencies, counsel, outsourcers and other third parties.

The above studies not only suggest the importance of communication for an effective team work but also point out that traditional face-to-face communication is getting harder. While technology has opened up new possibilities for communicating to staff, in practice the best results are often achieved through a mix of traditional and contemporary media. Moreover, if internal communications are to be fully effective, management has to have a genuine commitment to creating a dialogue with staff that involves as well as informs them. Consider the case of software industry.

Almost every major software corporations have development centers scattered in various parts of the world. For any given project, these development centers work on certain parts of the project. If they did not have effective internal communication then completing such complex tasks would have been impossible.

Most experts on organizations, management and leadership, assert that effective communications is the foundation for effectiveness in any type of organization. They assert there can't be too much communication. Some leaders misinterpret communications to be the same as paperwork or bureaucracy and so they're averse to a high degree of communications. As leaders and managers mature, they realize the need to effective convey and receive information, and efforts at communications (internal and external) increase substantially.

Common Causes of Problems in Internal Communications:

1. If I know it, then everyone must know it.

2. We hate bureaucracy -- we're "lean and mean."

3. I told everyone, or some people, or ...?

4. Did you hear what I meant for you to hear?

5. Our problems are too big to have to listen to each other!

6. So what's to talk about? 7. There's data and there's information.

7. If I need your opinion, I'll tell it to you.

Lastly, communications problems can arise when management simply sees no value whatsoever in communicating with subordinates, believing subordinates should shut up and do their jobs.

Clampitt (2005) lists three approaches managers use to communicate with their employees.

Arrow approach – This is one way communication approach where message is clear and target audience known. Problems arise when it is taken for granted that information is mostly transmitted by words and that recipients are passive receptors.

Circuit approach – This is two way communication approach. It assumes that communicating is grounded in mutual understanding. Problems arise because of the myopic view that understanding will lead to agreement and that this understanding should be the sole goal of communications.

Dance approach – Communications are achieved through an intricate combination of the practice, understanding, and intuition. It believes that the communication involves the coordination of meanings, the understanding of common rules, and the recognition of patterns between two or more people.

Now every organization is taking internal communication more seriously. Managers have understood the effectiveness of internal communication as a motivational tool. With the sophisticated technology available to communicate with the employees today, the most important factor in internal communications beings with the manager who cares to listen to the employees and get to know who they really are as individuals. One of the examples is Nokia. In 2006 Nokia launched internal news hub aimed at Nokia personnel worldwide, allowing employees to publish their comments about current news items. This feature was added due to requests from employees, and has received very positive feedback. It has increased Nokia’s internal engagement capabilities by generating meaningful conversations on a wide range of business topics. Nokia News Service is accessed by approximately 156,000 readers, on multiple occasions, each month.

Media Relations

“If you don't know what to do, call the media and at least give the appearance of doing something.” David Peterson

One of the most critical areas within any corporate communication function is the media relations department. With the growth of television and internet, media relation function has become more critical because of the speed of information transfer. Now that companies are going global, it’s very critical for the company to have good relationship with the media so that during crisis Company can take advantage of it.

Today, so many websites, TV channels, Magazines, news papers are dedicated to business news that it is virtually impossible to find a topic or company that is not covered thoroughly. Today consumer generated news, socal networking, blog etc plays a major role in media relations. Most importantly media do not get excited about good news and good things that companies do. Instead, they are more interested in the bad news because people are more interested in gossips. This helps media to sell more.

"At best, good media relations, one of the ranges of tools within the discipline of public relations, could even prevent a business catastrophe by safeguarding company’s reputation and profitability"

Nothing boils the blood of any journalist or beat editor more than unknowledgeable media relations people. According to Bill Arnovich, Media Relations Specialist,

“You not only hurt your chances of securing media coverage for clients, but you also make it harder for the rest of us who actually prepare themselves before they engage any media pitching assignment. It pays in the long run, and it’s a good practice.”

With that in mind, here are 6 tips to building better relationships with the media:

• Identify who you are and why you are calling.
• Ask if this is a good time to talk. If it isn’t, ask the reporter to suggest the best time you should call back. Never ask a reporter to return your call. If it is a good time to talk, proceed to the next step.
• Let the reporter know you are familiar with the publication or with stories she writes about.
• Explain the idea in a sentence or two.
• Explain quickly why readers will care.
• Ask if the reporter is interested.
• Avoid sayin "no comment"; explain why you can't answer and promise to get back to the reporter when you can.

Following those simple six steps consistently can make all the difference in the world between a productive day and one that ends up empty handed.

Corporate vs. Product Advertising

Corporate advertising is different from product advertising. Corporate advertising seeks to benefit the image of the corporation as a whole rather than its products and services alone as in product advertising. A major difference between corporate and product advertising is who pays for each of the two types of advertising. A company’s marketing department typically is responsible for all product-related advertising and pays for such ads. Corporate advertising, on the other hand, falls within the corporate communication area and either comes out of that budget or, in some cases, is paid for by the CEO’s office.

There are different types of corporate advertising such as advertising to reinforce identity or reputation, advertising to attract investors and advertising to influence opinions. When Coca-Cola was in between pesticide controversy in India, the company used well renowned actor for advertisement to reinforce corporate image. Companies use advertisements to attract investors. Issue advertising is used to respond to external threats such as environment, government etc. now-a-days it’s common to see these kinds of advertisements by all major corporations to establish good corporate citizenship image. A good corporate advertising program can clarify and enhance a company’s reputation, and the absence of one can hurt the company, especially during crisis.

The purpose of product advertisement is to increase awareness and selles. The relationship between corporate advertising and sales is less clear than that between product advertising and sales, because corporate advertising is meant to do things that eventually boost but likely won’t directly or immediately do so.