Common Sense Communications

Why Internal Communications?

2011-03-24T01:03:00.001-07:00

From the Preface of the book 'Effective Internal Communication' by Lyn Smith:

According to John Smythe (2007), internal communications is now one of the main concerns of CEOs. Why is that? Because business objectives are delivered by people. By having a collaborative, co-operative and energized work force willing to give their best to the organization, it is much more likely to be successful. However, along with this dream comes another side to the bargain. It is the job of the CEO, indeed of all good managers to provide an environment where people feel listened to, valued and respected. Where they feel their investment of time, personal commitment, good will and intellectual and physical capital is recognized and rewarded. The moral contract on both sides is as powerful, if not more powerful than the written one.

Head Master & His Effect On Corporate Communications

2011-03-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

How do I bring a semblance of order in the chaotic world of Corporate Communications? For a 'service-oriented' function that Corporate Communications is, how can a rigid 'standard operating procedure' for all communications help in meeting its objectives?

I would like to consider promoting an organization's brand among all the stakeholders as the corporate communications team's primary function. Can I then stand up and say, "Send me the brochure content in a specified template, I will then ensure the document meets brand guidelines and make design / copy enhancements?" Can a Corporate Communications service be equated with that of a doctors, letting a practitioner say, "You come to me with the problem, I give you the solution. Don't tell me what the solution is?"

My contention is that, leaving personal egos aside, Corporate Communications should always remain 'service-oriented'. Discovering a customer's true problem, even if it is not articulated, is the responsibility of the Corporate Communications team. The solution and the delivery approach, suitably adjusted to the style and needs of the customer, must be well-spelt out and agreed upon. Tact and delivery skill are keys to success here.

I don't suppose one can succeed with a strict head master's approach here. I don't suppose the Corporate Communications team should use a ruler to rap non-compliant stakeholders on their knuckles.

Internal Comm. + External Comm.

2010-12-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

There is a LinkedIn Group Q&A about how effective it would be if a single person handles both internal and external communication. I am glad that almost all the respondents feel that it's far more effective if it's handled by one individual. Consider the synergies and assets of internal communications that external communications leverage to create a lasting impression on the target audience:

Uniform, integrated content and messaging
Far deeper understanding of the organization's history, culture and management thought
The employee as a brand ambassador

Content for Branding 1

2010-12-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

If branding is the promise you want to keep, content is how you ensure that the promise is kept. If branding is about all about how a customer views a company, content is all about the written and spoken text (visuals used only to complement, emphasise and help in recall) used to convince the customer that his perception is correct.

Fabulous Mindware

2010-07-06T04:17:00.000-07:00

In the June 4, 2010 issue of Forbes India (Ideas to Change the World), Thomas Davenport, the President’s Distinguished Professor in IT and Management, Babson College, Massachusetts, write about the gift of deliberation.

He says, “The definition of that term I like best is: … weighing and examining the reasons for and against a choice or measure; careful consideration; mature reflection…”

Davenport’s column is about people receiving information faster than they can “absorb and react to it”. “We skate on the surface of a vast information ocean, and seldom have the time or interest to penetrate its depths,” he writes.

How can Deliberation help:

It helps us live better lives
It helps us make better, effective decisions
It helps organizations identify decision alternatives, consider them seriously, select one to apply and yield a “reflective decision outcome”

How can Deliberation be advanced in the lives of people?

Make a conscious choice to disengage occasionally from the information stream
Everyone should have periods during the day in which they do not receive electronic messages
Organizations should encourage such periods so that no one will feel the pressure to communicate
During those times, focus on human relationships and the meaning of life

Thank you, Mr. Davenport, for validating my views in my previous blog entry.

Effective-mail

2010-03-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

Improve chances of your email being read.
Increase chances of your email recipients making conversation with you.
Enhance your brand recall.

How?

Your name is displayed fully and correctly.
Append your team's name to your name so that recipients connect you to your function.
Let the subject line clearly suggest what the message contains.
Use keywords in the subject line that you feel recipients will search.
Use a pleasant font, not the default one.

Quiet Time Tips

2010-03-03T06:10:00.000-08:00

Quiet time improves productivity, improves focus and sets limits of tolerance on co-workers. But then a well-meant quiet time does have a habit of crossing over to cold vibes. But the benefit of doubt should go to the hermit.
I know some very successful communicators, those who have sent one protégé after another to senior editorial positions. Their secret to success: locking themselves out for hours and days from the agony of idle chit-chat, innumerable phone calls and the general frustration associated with being present.
A social setting is a sure-fire way of turning writer's block into a grinding millstone, or even a slick guillotine. I've struggled so many times to move from subject to verb, let alone end the sentence with the object.
However, self-imposed quietude doesn't work. There is a real and clear danger of being labelled asocial. The immediate fall-out is that you will be left out of forwarded funny mails or a particularly-interesting viral popular on YouTube that your cubicle-mate stumbled upon.
My Quiet Time tips for aspiring writers?

Set aside two hours every day. Don't set a fixed time because you never know when an idea will hit you.
Made your work style clear to team-mates in order to avoid unsavoury incidents or silence being misconstrued as snobbery.
Ensure that the team knows that the silence is for the good of the team.
Share your output with the team after the Quiet Time.
Use the In / Out tag for the team to know when you are Away.

Why cubicles create static in communications

2009-11-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

Cubicles are personal spaces open to everyone to violate. You can be busy as long as you don’t want to be disturbed. And if you don’t want a conversation, don’t bat an eyelid, stare right through your monitor.
Cubicles at the far end, with an opaque wall beside and behind, are the most sought-after. The more time it takes someone to reach it, the more time you have to close open application windows.
Cubicles of similar size don’t seem similar due to visual illusion brought on by an inflated ego.
Cubicle occupants close to a door, aisle, coffee vending machine, blind corner are in danger of being rushed to hospital with a deep gash in their skulls, scalding, or other occupational hazards.
Cubicle occupants closest to a cabin are most reluctant to enter it. Conversely, those who are seated farthest hover around the cabin waiting for an opportunity to be ushered in.
Decibel levels of instructions from the cabin are never too low for the fourth cubicle from it to miss any word of it.
Cubicles diagonal to each other have the highest chances of developing animosity.

Who owns the customer owns the communications

2009-11-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

When an argument erupts between Lines of Businesses (LoBs) and staff functions (finance, legal, HR), it’s often the LoBs who have the last laugh. That’s because they own the customer, the basic reason for the existence of the business. What about communications?
Does the LoB, purely because it owns the customer, have the right to run a parallel communication channel of its own?

For a business to run, it needs people, infrastructure, a budget, a strategy. In a market place where competition is acute, you need a brand, a value proposition and a differentiator.
All well until the LoB decides it’s not getting enough support. A nice way of covering up it’s own shortcomings. Why would a customer not buy a solution if he sees a compelling value proposition? Because, according to the LoB, enough people with the specified skills were not hired in time (often impossible times), the air conditioner failed when the customer was in the room, the budget does not allow for a business class trip, and because the value proposition is not being communicated in the way the LoB wants.

It then takes matters into its own hands. It pulls up its sleeves and gets down and dirty. The corporate logo needs to be tweaked. The corporate presentation won’t do without a major revamp. The website stinks; it needs flash. “Don’t waste my time, do as I say!”
Communications specialists who deliver perfect collaterals suddenly turn into desk top publishing rookies. The blame really lies elsewhere…in having a vision, in sharing the vision long before it fructifies into action, in articulating needs and objectives in a commonly-understood language.

Who owns the communications owns the customer.

The Tipping Point

2009-08-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

According to the book The Tipping Point (How little things can make a big difference) by Malcolm Gladwell, relatively simple changes in the presentation and structuring of information can make a big difference in how much impact it makes. Or, make a contagious message memorable. Or increase the Stickiness Factor!

e-Networking Etiquette

2009-08-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

Don't network merely for what others can do for you; see what you can do for your contacts as well.
Have an updated and completed profile.
Have a recent photograph accompanying the profile.
Update your page. We network to keep in touch.
Personalize your messages when requesting contacts to add you to their network or vice versa.
When getting back in touch with a long-lost contact, don't start with "Do you remember me?" or "Hope you remember me!". If you dropped out of touch, there might have been a good reason to forget. It's best to start anew.
If a contact recommends you or sends a personal message, do respond.

Ideas at a Dime a Dozen?

2009-08-01T03:14:00.000-07:00

I've been often at the receiving end of "An idea struck me. Can you do 4-5 options of the creatives and send them to me by tomorrow?" A creative brief over the phone, a rough idea of the objective and where the output will be used, and a tough deadline to meet.

My take: ideas or flashes of inspiration may strike at the oddest of times, even when one is oneself of the previous day's indigestibles. But it is the result of many days and hours of preparation and serious thought. For creativity to work one needs -defined and articulated objectives. The creative team then works on gathering and researching for information, relevant visuals and ideas. The various combinations are analyzed during brain-storming sessions. The designer / layout artist tries out designs, leaving it to the copy writer to see if the intended message is clear.

All the above goes into the converting one idea into a creative! So if there is a request for multiple options, one only needs to multiply the time and effort by the number of options required. And if you expect the creative team to squeeze in effort within a short time, it's bound to show in the quality of the output, the concepts remaining undeveloped.

And unless the client himself is a creative thinker, he is bound to be confused and left lamenting the unprofessional approach to the creative work.

Corporate Communications: Design Hotshop or Communications Solution Maker

2009-07-30T23:03:00.001-07:00

Creativity and design are the means; communicating, creating an impact, building awareness, getting the target audience to act are the ends. In an ideal world. Often, it's not the way David Ogilvy felt: "A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself."

Shouldn't what a communication say or what it can make the viewer / reader do be more important than how it is said?

So many communications may have failed due to wrong or under- /over-stated creative briefs. So many communications fail because customers set the wrong expectations of the corporate communications teams.

Do you say, "I want a flash presentation" or "how can I make an impact"?
Do you say, "I want a page on the website" or "how do I reach out to a largely online audience?"
Do you say, "I want a great design" or "I want my audience to read my message!"
Do you say, "I want the mailer today" or "How best can we reach the target audience?"

How Many Times

2009-07-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

One message 3 times (Naples, Krugman, Achenbaum), using emotions and warmth (Dusenberry), putting believable, known things into new relationships (Burnett) to bring out the benefits / rewards. Combat wear-out by spacing out the exposures over the 4 weeks.

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2009-07-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

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What creativity is

2009-07-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

What creativity is

An unseen, unfelt force that makes your readers grasp your message at the full-stop.
The source of a déjà vu experience that your audience feels many years after they first saw your work.
The dash of color that has different meanings to different people.
Using the available or least resources and tools to create an everlasting impression.
To be differentiated from innovation.

What creativity is not

The reason your customers buy your products or services.
An end in itself, but only a means to an end.