I’m in the middle of a small communications audit and have been thinking about the channels that they need.
Inspired by Bill Quirke I’ve always thought that organisations needed four categories of channel.
The first group is the PUSH channels. Newsletters, desk drops, notice boards and posters are typical examples of ways in which your message lands on people whether they want it or not. Clearly every organisation needs a mechanism whereby they can tell people things and the PUSH media are the main route for many employees
PULL channels is the second cluster – media which the audience can interrogate when it suits them. Intranets or the local wise woman are good examples of places you can turn to when you are ready to find out about the company strategy, maternity policy or the key selling points of particular products.
Organisations also need mechanisms by which they can EDUCATE or run campaigns - often through multiple channels or media.
And finally you need FEEDBACK channels that allow individuals to test their understanding or to share their reactions.
However, I keep thinking that we need another set of media called COMMUNITY.
My thinking is that there are five main reasons for internal communications:
It's the law
You need to tell people what their jobs and targets are
You need to get people to say the right things about you
Change can only happen when there are strong communications, and
You want people to feel good about working for you and stick around.
This last objective implies to me that you need to help build a sense of community - people want to feel that they work with a nice bunch of people and are part of something.
So what channels would you use to build and sustain the community? And how far can someone sitting in head office have a significant impact in creating that collective spirit?
Liam
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