Yesterday, I received an intriguing question via e-mail from a communications and public relations manager who works at a government organization.
She had chanced upon my internal communications book and posed these questions:
“How can one assess whether internal communications exists or not? If it does, how do we know it works in an organizational context? Are there tools and methods to assess the same?”
She went on to share how she observed gaps in internal communications but felt that her management would never accept her perspective. She needed to base her assertions on hard facts and present a business case.
A couple of thoughts crossed my mind. It is probably rare, at least in India, for communicators in government organizations to even consider internal communications in their scheme of things! The cries amongst communicators to get better equipped to ‘sell’ the importance of internal communications to their management seemed to be getting shriller.
Like it or not, internal communications does exist in myriad forms within any organization. Every e-mail or water cooler conversation within an organization is internal communications. Just that how we manage it and how it adds value differentiates one organization from another.
- The way to gauge if internal communications exists is to ask colleagues if they know what they do every day at work and if they know how they contribute to the organization’s purpose. If they can respond positively and also say so consistently then you know that internal communications works. If they are unclear about their roles or what they do to make their organization successful then it means that internal communications needs a revisit.
- The other way to look at is to find out if leaders and managers in the organizations are communicating regularly and consistently. Do they connect with their colleagues and share what the plans are and how everyone can communicate?
- Also, if the culture and internal systems allow colleagues to voice opinions freely and share knowledge or exchange ideas in an open, non-threatening way.
- Benchmark against your peers and industry leaders. Read up on best practices.
- Lastly, do your internal communications allow colleagues to do their work effectively and find information and the right people when they need to?
If you can answer these, then you can go to your leaders and tell them that there is scope for improvement.
Remember, that not every leader will accept that their communications isn’t effectively contributing to the broader purpose! So, you need to do this tactfully.
- Pick up one piece of the communication framework and implement a solution which can be scaled up.
- Show tangible improvement in the communication. It can be how simple e-mails are drafted and sent.
- Check if you can test communication for readability and open rates. Then gauge how you can add more value. Over time your leaders will appreciate your effort and give you more freedom to bring about change.
There are simple tools and methods such as focus groups and surveys which you can run to evaluate the effectiveness of communication and channels you use – publications, intranet, town halls, TV screens among others. You can use the results of these studies to influence decisions that leaders take with communications.
