The Last Mile – Strengthen Your Internal Communication Loop

Recently I purchased a food processor from an electronic store and it all went well till the product malfunctioned after a day. The suction lever didn’t work and the motor began surfacing rust.

Assuming the product which belonged to a major Netherlands based consumer durable company would be replaced in a jiffy I raised a complaint on their published toll- free  number. Unfortunately, the after sales service didn’t show up despite many reminders. It took a whole lot of follow-ups to get the dealer to influence the after sales unit to replace the product.  What surprised me most is that an e-mail to the senior leadership listed on their website didn’t even evoke a response, leave alone an apology.

Where am I getting to with this?

While most organizations hard sell their products the experience of the customer is marred by this last piece of the chain. Often, and in this case, the after sales service unit didn’t have the same passion for the product as the customer salesman. In fact, he didn’t even know how to fix the issue and had to call in a replacement technician.  All the hard work of building credibility and a great product (and no doubt the one I purchased is excellent) the lack of interest or a consistent approach with the customer touch points leads to a lot of angst and distrust.

This can be mirrored to how your internal communication (or your corporate communication for that matter) is perceived on the basis of your exchanges with stakeholders.

Here are some examples that come to my mind (you may have others) and these may resonate with how you see we missing the finer points while unfolding communication programs –

1. You ran a survey to gauge your employees’ morale and then 6 months later you shoot out another. However you haven’t told them what you did with the results from the earlier survey and why you need their inputs again?
2. You are expected to submit a report on a successful event you managed but fail to acknowledge key people who supported you along the way
3. You managed a campaign flawlessly but missed out factoring budgets to recognize your best players
4. You conducted a communication planning workshop and you didn’t get back to a query that one of the participants had asked you during the session
5. You guided your leadership in starting a blog but haven’t still checked in if they needed support on mining new topics or theme to communicate

Recently a leader lamented that his office didn’t get enough visibility to the great work they were doing. When I probed further it seemed that they weren’t even reporting their progress consistently. It therefore didn’t surprise me to hear his concern.

Just like how a track and field relay team runs their strongest in the last leg your internal communication needs to finish well. The race isn’t over till you have breasted the tape and also found time to document your experiences in front of the cameras and in your team’s performance tracker. That way you know what to do next time you kick-off from the starting block.

Here are a few recommendations that I can share to ensure your last mile ends in a memorable finish.

Report out as soon as you are done: Often this is one bottleneck that most campaigns have. How should I report out? Whom should I keen informed? How much do they need to know? When is a good time? These need to be ironed out as part of your project plan much before you begin your campaign. In fact, it helps to have a template to plug and play. In my reports I address objectives, measures, outcomes and learning.

Be consistent: I got introduced to reporting and consistency by my supervisors at my former employers and owe them a lot for their insights. Ensure that your report is simple, direct and articulates the key aspects of your campaigns. Add measurement metrics to demonstrate change and success.

Keep notes along the way: As you progress with your communication document your personal learning. It helps to formulate your thoughts when you report out. For example, you may find causes that impact attention and reach. It is vital to keep your stakeholders informed so that pitfalls can be avoided.

Scan the environment:  I came across an interesting article in the Economic Times on early warning systems adopted by organizations in India to avoid employee attrition. Now, I heard this conversation in many interactions among stakeholders and therefore insights can influence better decision making.

Had similar ‘last mile’ experiences while working through your communication? Keen to hear what you did.