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• Understand that your internal communications effort — the messages you send and how you send them — is as important as the external communications program you develop to attract and keep clients. I have worked with many businesses and organizations that pay close attention to the strategies they develop for sharing information with existing clients and prospects, but make little or no effort at establishing or maintaining internal communications with their employees and members. Effective internal communications is crucial to the success of every external communications effort. l often hear top executives and managers express dismay at the poor results of their external communications programs. One of the first questions I ask concerns their internal communications effort, and almost each time the answer is that little time and few resources have been committed to simple, consistent internal communication. Improving the situation starts right there.
• Make time to develop your communication skills and those of your employees. We all have room improvement in this area, and that's the key first step in making some simple progress toward strengthening your organization's internal communications. The good news is that refining these skills doesn't require a lot money, and you will not need to hire a high-priced consultant to design an elaborate communications program. All this really takes is some time to conduct some honest self-evaluation of your skills and an effort to gather candid feedback from others about aspects of your communications style that need refining. To be clear, seek feedback about how effectively you speak and write. Yes, all of this is simple for me to suggest, but not as easy for you to perform. Just start by discussing this with your family and friends and later expand your conversations to include coworkers and business associates you think would be comfortable with providing you honest feedback. Developing strong communication skills requires a conscious effort, discipline and time. It can be done, and refining our own skills is the first vital step in developing similar skills in the other members of our team.
• Successful communications programs are built on honesty, trust, respect, consistency and acceptance of dissenting opinions. In the simplest terms, view your internal communications effort as you would a relationship with a longtime friend. At the core of all successful relationship are the qualities of honesty, trust, respect, consistency in behavior and acceptance of a differing or dissenting opinion. Successful internal communications programs are committed to these qualities. Managers who deliberately omit or undermine any one these qualities do so at the risk of sabotaging their internal communications effort, and most likely will do significant damage to their organization's external communications strategy.
• Set goals and objectives for the development and maintenance of your personal communications skills and your organization's internal communications program. As you reach your individual goals, I believe you will see corresponding success in achieving the goals you set for your organization — success breeds success. Be sure to set dates to conduct timely, honest reviews of the progress you are making toward your goals. It's OK if you identify elements of your plan that need revision or modification. Identifying and addressing weaknesses develops honest appraisal skills and contributes to long-term success.
• Always have an agenda. Refining communications skills and objectives requires time, but developing a written agenda for all your meetings is a quick and inexpensive step to refining your communication skills and those of the individuals on your team. Try to get input on the development of the agenda. Some simple input can go a long way in making certain time-sensitive issues are raised at the meeting. Distribute the agenda at least 24 hours prior to the meeting to allow attendees an opportunity to identify questions and prepare their contributions to the discussion. I have found that it's a good idea to include a proposed time limit for each item on the agenda. The information alerts participants that time is a factor in the discussion and that often keeps individuals from dominating the meeting with their comments. Adhere to the agenda as strictly as possible during the meeting and don't hesitate to carry a topic over to a subsequent meeting if it truly would benefit from further discussion.
I hope you find these tips helpful. I hope to expand on them in subsequent posts. I am always interested in learning what works for others. If you have a tip or practice that you'd like to share, please email me at kbotterman@gmail.com.
