Communication In The Workplace

This post originally appeared on Paul Barton's "

1. Strategic communications help a business achieve its objectives. That is their purpose.
2. Effective communications are those that produce measurable results and they can be a competitive differentiator.
   
3. There are costs associated with communicating, but there can be costs associated with not communicating as well. Internal communications seek cost-effective and creative solutions to solve complex communications challenges.
4. Employees are drowning in information, but starving for understanding. Our job is to make the important interesting.
5. Credibility is the foundation upon which effective communication is built. Unless it is believed, a message has no worth.
6. Face-to-face communication is the most desirable form of communication because it is immediate, personal and interactive. Most employees say their immediate supervisor is their preferred and most credible source of information about the business.
7. Communication is, by definition, a two-way process. Feedback mechanisms must be part of every employee communication.
8. Communication is a management responsibility. Internal Communications supports leaders by serving as consultants, facilitators and resource partners.
9. As in any effective strategy, form should follow function. The medium is the message.
10. Employees should learn of important events affecting them and their company from an internal source rather than an external source. Well-informed employees can serve as informal ambassadors of the company.
11. The more important the information is personally to the receiver, the fewer exposures are needed to make an impression. Make your communications relevant.
12. True effectiveness in communication is the ability to influence and change behavior. Changing behaviors is a long, slow process and therefore measurement of effective communications must be taken over time.
13. The case for change should be found in the marketplace. For change to occur, employees must move through these stages: awareness, understanding, acceptance and commitment. You cannot skip a step. Formal communications (particularly written communications) are most effective in promoting awareness and understanding. Informal communications (leader behaviors, unwritten rules, management decisions, openness, risk-taking tolerance, etc.) are necessary to reach full commitment.
14. External sources are defacto employee communications and therefore external messaging should be aligned with internal strategies. Likewise, employees are informal ambassadors of an organization and therefore internal messaging should be aligned with external strategies. Every internal communication should be written as if it will be read by the news media.
15. Rumors are created to fill communications voids. Fill those voids with valid information. A phrase like “Unfortunately, we have more questions than answers right now but we’re aware of the problem, we’re working on it and we’ll keep you updated with any news” goes a long ways to keep the rumor mill from grinding out of control.
16. Well-defined communication processes and procedures are the foundation for creativity. Key message libraries, templates, crisis plans, etc. free up time for creativity and continuous improvement.
17. The overall tone of employee communications directly reflects the relationship an organization has with its employees. The best tone for strategic communications is the Voice of the Brand, which is primarily what the company is but also what the company is striving to be.
18. With better information, better business decisions can be made. Employees need to understand the “what” and the “why” to be fully engaged.
19. Well-informed employees are more satisfied, more creative, more productive and more committed.
    
20. A common trait among successful companies is open and honest communications with all their key audiences, especially their employees.

1. Tell employees everything you can when you can.
2. Don’t lie. (This might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many organizations justify lying to employees, or at least not telling the full truth.)
3. Tell employees first – before anyone outside the company’s walls – and never let them learn anything about the organization through the media unless it is absolutely unavoidable (for public companies, for example, legal or SEC regs sometimes dictate timing, and all organizations could encounter a rare exception based on business developments or relationships … however, even in those cases, employees must be informed as soon as is legal and feasible).
4. Never put out vague or incomplete communications – you’ll raise more questions than you answer.
5. Never leave employees to draw their own conclusions.
6. Understand that any information void will fill quickly with rumor, speculation and gossip.
7. Treat employees like adults – give them bad news as well as good news. Be clear, don’t sugarcoat, don’t try to sell them on a particular point of view.
8. Always assume that a question raised by a number of employees is on the minds of many more – but don’t respond on a global scale to a localized problem – and always be prepared to answer calmly and directly the most cynical questions.
9. Overcommunicate … but remember that burying employees in useless information will dull their senses to real information.
10. Consider: Is there a chance I will regret what I am saying? Will I have to eat my words, or explain myself later?

1. Reading stories can fine-tune your social skills by helping you better understand other human beings.
2. Entering imagined worlds builds empathy and improves your ability to take another person’s point of view.
3. A love affair with narrative may gradually alter your personality—in some cases, making you more open to new experiences and more socially aware.

In arguably its biggest show ever, CES allowed consumers and companies alike to see what the future holds in the consumer technology marketplace. From Ultra-flat panel 3D TVs to Justin Beiber, CES delivered the goods.

MediaTile was prominently featured in both the Verizon Wireless and Alcatel Lucent booths in the form of The GameTime Media Table. After winning the 2012 DIGI Award for "Best New Content Management Software/Web-based”, absent was “The HumanKiosk” featuring Video Presence. But born from the same value propositions of being cellular connected and cloud controlled, The GameTime Media Table delivered the rich on screen content and unique experiences over 4G LTE that drew visitors to both booths consistently over three days. This is super-powered cellular digital signage. 

The GameTime Media Table showcases multiple interactive features including the ability to upload and display pictures instantly from your smart phone, play music, watch movie previews and the coup de grace: playing video games (single or multi player) where smart phones act the controllers. So if you are thinking to yourself, ‘MediaCast can deliver media like movie/music files, streaming videos, live intelligently routed video calls, interactive gaming and everything in between!’ your thinking would be spot on. Verizon’s network and Brass Monkey’s video games deliver the blows, but it’s the MediaCast muscle that ensures maximum impact (also in attendance at CES was UFC Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, hence the metaphor). Gaming on digital signage... and then some!

It was great to be part of CES and MediaTile is honored to partner with industry leaders like Verizon Wireless and Alcatel Lucent to launch solutions that will steer the industry and delight users for years to come…or at least until CES 2013.

1. Ensure anonymity. 
2. Secure an endorsement from senior management. 
3. Keep the survey brief. 
4. Explain the benefits to all employees. 
5. Explain the next steps. 
6. Follow through on your promises. 
7. Offer team incentives. 

1. Think of outcome, not output

   Focus on business outcomes, not simply on producing communication collateral. Use communication as a means to an end, not an end in itself. There’s a big difference between saying “who’s got some stories for this month’s team brief?” and asking “what’s the most important challenge for our organization this month? How can we use the team-briefing time to address it?” Resolve to ask your internal customers what their most pressing business goal is for 2012. Next, ask what employees need to know, feel and do differently to help meet that goal. Then, work out what you as a communicator can do to help increase people’s knowledge or understanding, influence their opinions and motivate them to take action.
   
   The big takeaway here is asking what employees need to know. Typically a lot of companies will determine this for employee instead of hearing from employees. 
   
   
2. Be a better business person
   Find out more about your industry, your organization’s plan for the coming year and the opportunities and challenges that may lie ahead. Get to know the most important performance measures and make sure you’re up to date on the results. Increase your business knowledge and you’ll enhance your credibility too.
   
   Simple things like understanding a balance sheet, income statement, productivity reports, etc. can help improve your street cred with your bosses. 
   
   
3. Choose tactics that’ll actually work

   Think about the last time you changed your opinion about something. Or a recent occasion when you were motivated to take action. Were you prompted by reading a web article? Or were you influenced perhaps by conversations with trusted friends or colleagues? Perhaps you heard a personal story that made you think? Next time you choose the tactics for a communication plan, don’t just fall into your usual habits. Think about what you can do that has some chance of impacting attitudes or behaviors.
   
   This is what I call the "how about" conversations. Stop doing the status quo and determine what will work best. Or better yet, create your own solution. 
   
   
4. Get to know employees better
   This year, resolve to spend less time at your desk and more time out there understanding what employees care about, who and what they listen to and trust, what’s getting in the way of them doing their jobs and how you can help. Ask their advice when you’re choosing communication tactics. Test out approaches before you put them into action. And get to know when a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t good enough.
   
   See #1. 
   
   
5. Speak like real people
   Please let this year be the one where we stop spouting meaningless corporate jargon. Talking about “streamlining operational propositions” or “moving forward with world class efficiencies” will only serve to drive a bigger gap between leaders and employees. Be the person who asks the stupid questions about what things really mean. And be aware when you really are becoming a spin doctor, in danger of fudging the facts and trying to put a positive slant on events, when the right thing would be to tell it as it is.
   
   We all know better than to speak in corporate lingo, but we still get sucked in. This year, don't get sucked in. Avoid using the word "paradigm." 
   
   
6. Measure something that matters
   So employees like your newsletter and you know what the hit rates were on your last intranet article. What difference does it make? Go back to the business goal you were trying to achieve. What actions were you trying to influence people to take to move the organization nearer to the goal? In what way were you inviting them to reconsider their attitudes? Where were you aiming to increase their knowledge? Find out whether you succeeded and how much of a difference you made. Measure activities that actually have an impact on business results.
   
   This is one of those "easier said than done" situations. Measuring internal communications is important but also very tricky. Work closely with your managers and leadership to define "what matters." Get their buy-in. 
   
   
7. Ask what you can do differently to increase your influence
   Next time you find yourself complaining your leader isn’t listening to you or won’t do what you want, don’t focus on that list of 10 things you wish they’d do differently. Ask yourself what you’re doing that’s contributing to the situation. Find at least one thing you could do differently to improve it. Start by looking at things from their perspective. If you were them, why would you be behaving this way? What would be leading you to think as you do? And what could that person in the internal communication team do to help make things easier?
   
   Having executive support is important. If you don't have it, go get it. The right leader can be a trail blazer for you.
   
   
8. Make this year count

   Probably the biggest thing I’ve learnt over the years is that there’s a difference between “being busy” and using communication to achieve a result and actually getting a result for your organization and the people in it. If your leaders question whether you’re adding value, to be honest, there’s probably a reason for it. Make this the year you can say you made a positive difference.
   
   Now's the time to start over with a clean slate. If you want to do things differently, no better time to start than now. 

1. If you're in employee communications, watch this video now
   
   
2. The top holiday gift ideas for internal communicators
   
   
3. What impact did Twitter have on the IABC World Conference? 
   
   
4. Digital signage and the Powerpoint problem
   
   
5. Repetition is key to successful internal communication
   
   
6. Another incredible milestone for the digital signage community
   
   
7. Digital signage gets its own Twitter parody
   
   
8. When redundant communication is effective communication

• Ease of installation & management
• System flexibility
• Reliability
• Remote control

• Guenther Scherelis and Tommi Paris, Volkswagen Group of America: “Building a New Plant with New People in a New Place: The Role of Internal Communications at Volkswagen Chattanooga”
• Tom Walter, Tasty Catering: "Engage or Entangle? How to Link Communications Objectives That Result in Employee Entanglement"
• Mark Mills, Nationwide Insurance: "Connecting Employees with the Brand"
• Renee Kopkowski, Mars Chocolate North America: “The Power of Intentional Conversations”
• Pete Tosches, The ServiceMaster Company: "'Who Uses That Website Anyway?' Communication Secrets from the Front Lines"
• Kim Lott and Wendy Davies-Popelka, John Deere: “Connecting with Disconnected Employees: Successfully Communicating with Staff Who Aren’t Wired"
• Carol Whitworth, Home: “A Picture Paints a Thousand Words: How to Use Visual Maps and Smart Design to Bring Business Strategy to Life”
• Sebastian White, JetBlue Airways: “How Culture Drives Business Performance”

I’m extremely proud to post that Jason Meyers and the Elite Racing team have taken the championship title in this year’s national “World of Outlaws” sprint car racing circuit.  This is a great achievement in and of itself – but what makes it “outstanding” is that the team has won back-to-back championship titles! A hearty, and highly deserved “congratulations” goes out to the entire team and car #14 driver Jason Meyers from the MediaTile team. MediaTile is a proud sponsor of California native Jason Meyers and the Elite Racing Team. 

So what’s behind the win? Obviously, a huge amount of talent, passion, energy, focus, effort, commitment and most importantly TEAMWORK! It is this same passion, dedication and teamwork that drives MediaTile to develop and deliver innovative, and award winning interactive digital signage solutions like our HumanKiosk. 

Without a strong and committed team, and our extended team of eco-system partners that include leading carriers, integrators, hardware suppliers, and service companies, we would not be able to provide our customers with award-winning products and services. We congratulate Jason Meyers and the Elite Racing team for their back-to-back championships, and for once again reminding us all what it really takes to win – absolute commitment and teamwork!

Mike Foster, CMO, Co-Founder of MediaTile, 
and the entire MediaTile Team

• JetBlue is now the largest airline in New York City. 
• Focus on service starts inside with a fanatacism toward culture: Safety, Caring, Integrity, Fun and Passion. 
• To combat declining JD Power scores, they created a "Culture is Service" to drive improved business results. 
• JetBlue asked front-facing employees what's getting in their way of providing magnificent customer service to employees. 
• In the summits, employees had to write an essay about why they should attend these working sessions to help provide effective business communication. 
• JetBlue uses NetPromoter to provide a score that impact employee communication. 
• All 14,000 employees at jetBlue have email access and the intranet is the hub of all internal communication activity. The intranet is available outside the corporate firewall and it's open to comments. With the relaunch, employees were told to stop sending email. 
• JetBlue's intranet site also features industry news from other airlines. 
• They use videos and podcasts, even as responses to crisis communication, so that employees can stay in the loop. 
• JetBlue's recommendation: "Throw in a contest and people will pay attention." They even name their jets with the "blue" name in them. 
• They encourage customers and employees to post pictures on JetBlue's Flickr page. These photos then get used internally. 

• Images are so important because we all speak differently. 
• Take a complex situation, add lots of people with different perspectives where no one can agree and progress is slow. 
• Our eyes are the tool that helps us make sense of the world. Of all the neurons that process sensory information, 75% are dedicated to sight. 
• Bad presentation leads to poor employee communications, which leads to poor understanding, which leads to bad business. Vicious circle. 
• Basic principles to creating your own story (Where, What, Why, When, Who, How, Where) in the past, present and future. Telling a story helps people understand. 
• Creating visual maps (similar to infographics) makes information more understandable by telling your story with pictures.  

• The legacy of John Deere is something employees hold dear. The company is committed to "those linked to the land." 
• Manufacturing sites in 16 countries and conduct business in 35 countries. Employee communications is translated into as many as 14 different languages. 
• Once a year, company distributes printed collateral that aligns goals with corporate strategy. Use the same icons that align back to other communication. 
• Like a lot of other companies John Deere uses "jam sessions" to bring in small groups to discuss internal topics. 
• Employees were asked to fill out "commitment cards" to identify personal goals, as well as what they will do to help other succeed and to connect with customers. 
• John Deere encourages customer interactions with employees, either through webcasts or live presentations. Marketing captured employee comments and then share those with employees. 
• "Deere Sightings" encourages employees to share photos of seeing the John Deere brand out in the community. This gets employees involved in employee communications. 

• Under the ServiceMaster umbrella are brands like TruGreen, Terminix, and merry maids. 
• They have 24,000 full-time employees & another 5,000 seasonal, with no work PCs, no email and no office phone. 
• Producitivity drives revenue, which is why it's a tough conversation to invest in employee communications. 
• Only 58% of employees agreed that leadership communicates a vision that motivates them. 
• Face-to-face communication is vital to internal communication at ServiceMaster. They have a mandatory monthly branch meeting for one hour "on the clock." 
• The meetings were key for employees to be able to share what the customers were telling them. The feedback loop became very important. 
• Like Volkswagen, ServiceMaster still sends home quaterly newsletter mailing to sales and service employees' homes. This highlights the "spouse factor." 
• The company is dipping its big toe in the social media water. They are encouraging employees to listen to the online conversation as part of improving communication. Yammer is also part of the strategy. 
• In a company that's operation-focused, they need to provide basic communication tools (ride-alongs, town halls, podcasts, etc) to hear back from employees. 
• They rely on 3-way communication, and the the most important "way" is employee to employee conversations. 
• ServiceMaster has to use paper-based communication and face-to-face to tell employees about the information available online. 

Renee Kopkowski, Mars Chocolate North America: “The Power of Intentional Conversations”

• 82% of employees are manufacturing associates and there are more than 3,500 across the US at 10 different sites. 
• Business is based on 5 principles - quality, efficiency, freedom, responsibility and mutuality.
• In 2007, company noticed that employee engagement scores were very low (17% engaged).
• Started fresh, laying a new groundwork for internal communications.
• I really like that Mars features employee stories on their external site. 
• Mars did an employee "trade show" were leaders could share their messaging & stories in a unique environment. 
• In 2009 & 2010, Mars started measuring the percentage of associates who described internal communications as good, very good or excellent. And there was improvement year over year. 
• Discovered that the vision and objective are clear and that employees have an intense pride. However, employees aren't sure how to achieve the main organizational goal and trust in managers is spotty on the manufacturing side. 
• Mars discovered that employees felt they were being communicated TO and not WITH. 
• Setting up a communications calendar by channel, site and senior leader is important to do early. 

1. Streamline messages and eliminate noise. 
2. Increase senior leader visibility. Have them speak up and show up. 
3. Encourage dialog and feedback. 
4. Emphasize manager communication - emphasize the frontline.