As a business consultant and corporate communication strategist, I consider myself lucky. Before leaving the C-Suite and going into my own practice I was fortunate to work for a corporation who believed good communication was paramount to their success. I was able to see how consistent, relevant and engaging communication can rally employees, foster pride and drive results. I saw how we put theory into practice and it worked. We were able to make the list of FORTUNE’s 100 Best Places to Work and surpassed all anticipated business results in terms of revenue, customer engagement and corporate citizenship. Our efforts were not always perfect but we did a pretty good job of delivering a unified message that helped build a cohesive culture.
While there are many factors and tactics that go into leveraging communication to achieve results, here are a few best practices:
Your leadership team must be onboard. They are responsible for informing and engaging their team members of the news, initiative or change. Their commitment to being the “megaphones” for the communication will guarantee success.
Everyone has different communication preferences. Some people like to hear it, some people like to see it and others like to feel it. Be sure to deliver the same message in multiple ways.
The majority of us take in information visually using this as our primary channel. Visual forms of organizational communication might be: newsletters, intranets, promotional posters and internal merchandising.
Hearing the message is also essential and it can take forms such as podcasts, broadcast voicemails, presentations at staff meetings, etc.
This type of communication covers opportunities where employees would be able to experience the communication in a physical way such as: training exercises, games or contests.
We use all three channels while maintaining a preference for one. As a communicating organization, be sure to relay your message using each channel.
Today people are used to fast, direct, continuous communication. We get news easily and quickly – through all sorts of digital formats - blogs, podcasts, videos, social media– and we can access it when we want it. The challenge for corporations today is that “news” tends to be milestone driven. Communications around announcements, appointments, and new initiatives are often planned well in advance. Those communications are important but what happens in between those milestones is equally critical. Often corporate communications goes “dark” and employees hold their breath until the next major announcement and you hear complaints about “not enough communication.” Corporate communications work best when tools like social media, Skype, responsive design intranets, augmented reality apps and more are available.
Get employees involved to help you determine the best communication vehicles. They will guide you to what will work and what won't. By co-creating communications with employees you increase your relevancy and buy-in substantially.
While we want to leverage technology...face-to-face forums between leaders and teams are essential. One CEO I know conducts monthly “Coffee and Conversation” sessions with small groups of employees. He orders coffee and they all sit around and chat. There might be a focus to the conversation or it may be free form but the casual environment usually produces great ideas and insights. Face-to-face meetings also demonstrate a leader’s commitment and helps to build trust and credibility.
Great communication will deliver great results. Start today.
Mari Pat Varga is a passionate and dedicated advocate for building robust communication cultures and individual communication champions within organizations. [Learn more...]