January 26, 2009
Elements in Management Communication
By Communication Adviser Christian Pedersen
Recently I held a seminar for a group of internal communication consultants in a big international company with affiliates both in the Nordic countries and in Europe.
The task was to inspire the coordinators in strengthening the internal communication effort within the company's communication channels. Focus was on articles in the employee magazine and on news stories on the local intranet.
We discussed some of the elements which are important to have in mind when you are responsible for the internal communication channels:
How to get stories out of your organisation?
- Be in constant dialogue with colleagues
- Be visible, visit colleagues in their offices
- Ask for ideas and input - and keep asking
- Get inspiration from management communication
- Keep a news story file: Write down ideas and tips for stories.
What are good stories?
- Good stories are about people
- Internal and external events
- Astounding results in all areas of the business
- New extraordinary orders or customers.
When you write for internal media - the employee magazine or the intranet - you can get inspiration from the journalistic news criteria. These criteria make it possible to prioritize your stories and make them easier to read.
The following news criteria should be implemented as in integrated part of the internal communication channels:
- Relevance - An issue that has influence on people's lives such as fatalities and material damage.
- Sensation / the unexpected - If an event is out of the ordinary it will have a greater effect than something which is an everyday occurrence.
- Identification /meaningfulness - the sense of identification the readers have with the topic.
- Things of current interest - current events, like holidays and prices on houses.
Remember also to focus on your recipients and their situation when addressing them through the communication channels. What do the recipients know about the subject and what do you want them to know afterwards?
Finally, we should not forget that surveys show that the communication departments use about 70 percent of their resources within intern communication on the employee magazine and the intranet. Quite surprising as the employees tell that the direct contact with their manager are the most important source of information. This way management communication becomes a communication channel - a channel that needs training and to be actively involved in the companies' internal communication effort.
When the ideal internal communication effort really works the employee magazine and intranet supplement the management communication - the dialogue between employees and their line managers. It is a big challenge to make this effort work. But strengtheing management communication is a challenge worth taking.
Read more about getting a better dialogue with internal customers.
