Global Business Communications

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. 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. 

• 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”

• 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. 

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. 

• Many don't know that the Volkswagen brand family includes Audio, Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti. In 2010, Volkswagen was third internationally in vehicle sales. 
• Volkswagen closed a US plant in 1988 due to poor internal communications. Opened a new factory in Chattanooga, TN, in 2011. 
• 2,000 jobs were available when the factory opened but Volkswagen received more than 85,000 applications. 
• Internal communications' purpose is to strive toward serving as the company voice, support a positive employee relations strategy and improve company efficiency and performance. 
• The strategy is to supplement supervisor communication, highlight team contributions, enhance team member experience and utilize communication tools that DO NOT accentuate the divide between hourly & salaried. 
• VIN (Volkswagen Information Network) is a digital signage network the company uses to deliver dynamic communication. Also includes printed communication boards. The key here is to blend dynamic and static. Their network is updated on a weekly basis. 
• Interesting that Volkswagen doesn't have digital signage to support global communication.
• Great to see that the company still relies on printed communication for many of their communication updates.  
• Volkswagen still mails newsletters (quarterly) to employees' homes. Many companies have cut this practice to eliminate cost. 
• The culture at Volkswagen is "Passion for detail." Their group theme is "Think Blue. Factory." (i.e. beyond just environmental)
• There are unique challenges for companies opening up a brand new factory versus those that are working in a dated facility. 
• Glad to see they are citing a difference between language (German vs American) and culture. 
• The key to success is finding the middle point between what management wants to say and what employees want to hear. 
• Surprised that Volkswagen hasn't yet surveyed their employees to know what their preferred communication methods are and really aren't doing any measurement either.   

• Audit your user list regularly; make sure that former employees or contractors are removed from the system, and that those who are active only have access to what they should. 
  
• Use role-based separation; enforce a work flow process by way of internal procedure. Only allow the content producers to upload content; the digital sign network operators should review and approve content for scheduling - don't allow one person to perform both functions if you want an opportunity to review content before it goes live.
  
• Require password changes; enforce a password rotation policy for MediaCast logins. Prohibit users from using their web browser to 'remember' the login for the site! Any laptop with a remembered password that gets stolen automatically grants the thief access to your digital signage network. (Note: this is a real security risk, but it might incite panic - what do the marketing folks think?)
  
• Require strong passwords; passwords should include upper and lower case letters, numbers, even symbols from the keyboard, and should be at least 8 characters long. Users should be discouraged from using something that's too simple, or something they routinely use for other logins around the Internet.
  
• Don't use email; email is a notoriously insecure method of communication is a preferred method for hackers to sniff out usernames and passwords to systems that they shouldn't have access to. If you need to send a login to someone, pick up the phone!
  
• Digital signs are valuable; don't tell too many “interested” people where all your signs are located. If they want to see one, select a couple flagship locations to send prospectives to check them out. you never know who might be looking to take advantage of you for an easy score. (Again, something we want to mention? maybe it's over-stating the obvious, but I think a lot of people in business just think about business and don't take a step back and think about reality...)
  
• Beware of URL Files; though the MediaCast system supports URL Files which can be automatically retrieved and displayed on your signs, be certain that you trust the source of the content and whoever has access to it because you will not have any oversight as to what gets displayed.

It’s another exciting day for MediaTile and our MediaCast Video Presence system that powers HumanKiosk solutions. Today we’ve been included in another ‘ideation center,’ as one of the key components of a new generation of interactive digital signage solution for banks, credit unions and other financial institutions. I’ve had the pleasure of working directly with both DBSI, and our joint partner F-2-F Live to include our HumanKiosk solution in what’s been dubbed the Future FI interactive display system.

DBSI has put a tremendous amount of effort into their ideation center for financial institutions. To give banking and credit union customers, for example, the ability to experience a wide range of the latest FI products and services to improve their businesses. FI customers, by appointment only, can visit the ideation center to personally experience the advanced products and services showcased in order to improve their business efficiency, the customer experience, and differentiate themselves from the pack. The DBSI center is a special showcase centerpiece for the FI market, unlike anything I’ve seen. 

We’re extremely honored to participate in this center with our HumanKiosk solution – the fusion of interactive digital signage and remote customer service agents available for live, face-to-face engagement. Today, it’s all about getting personal with customers and we’re very happy to be part of it all.

About the HumanKiosk Solution: Powered by MediaCast Video Presence, the HumanKiosk revolutionizes marketing and customer service in point-of-sale and point-of-service environments. With the HumanKiosk businesses can humanize their brand interaction, improve the customer experience, and deliver messages with absolute control and precision.  Watch our video here.

About DBSI:“For over fourteen years, DBSI Incorporated, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona has created profitable, problem solving, experience enhancing with lower cost-to-create and operate retail bank and credit union branches.” 

About Face to Face live, Inc.: “Here at Face to Face Live, Inc.™, we're developing a reputation for having the most trusted, affordable, and dependable unified communication solutions on the planet.”

The cost and complexities associated with scaling a digital signage network can sometimes exceed the budget and manpower available. This is why leveraging a SaaS (Software as a Service) based content management solution is extremely important. Our SaaS-based digital signage software (“MediaCast”) allows for complete visibility of your entire network, as well as centralized control from any internet connected device. And with our solution, you can have as many users on the system as you want (no seats or licenses). 

With MediaCast, you can create and control groups of screens in a network, or control can be as granular as changing content on a specific area of a specific screen. You don’t have to rely on live bodies on site to manage content. It is SSL encrypted so you can relax as all of your communications are secure. 

Leveraging Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity is another component that leads to ease of scalability. MediaTile’s digital signage screens only require a standard power outlet to be deployed. Once powered up, MediaTile’s units connect over the wireless network, pull content from the cloud, and your digital signage network is up and running. And you don't have to start with your entire network in place. Ramp up your network based on business need or budget. 

Today is a big day for MediaTile, our customers and our partners.  But it’s an even bigger day for the digital signage industry as a whole.  This morning, we officially launched our HumanKiosk Solution, powered by the revolutionary MediaCast Video Presence system.  With this solution, we are fulfilling consumers’ demand for personal service and contextually relevant and accurate answers exactly when and where they want it: at the point of sale or point of service.  Just as importantly, the solution allows businesses and organizations to provide this service easily and economically. With our innovative solution, marketers are able to humanize brand interactivity, improve the customer experience, and deliver their messages with absolute control and precision.

Marketing and communications is undergoing a fundamental shift across all industries;  it is the transformation of B2C communications into B2Me engagement.    This transformation does not surface merely where messaging is specifically tailored to individuals, but also where engagement and dialog is triggered by a customer – and where he or she is then rewarded with courteous and knowledgeable service; even in their native languages.

It is this B2Me paradigm shift to which we are responding with the launch of the HumanKiosk Solution and MediaCast Video Presence.  A growing number of us in the digital signage industry believe that the fusion of interactive digital signage, with live, on-screen customer service attendants, will significantly expand the addressable market for digital signage.  This is what makes the HumanKiosk truly exciting.  For background, here is the story that appeared in Digital Signage Today regarding our announcement and the B2Me transformation; you can also watch a short video introduction on YouTube.

This is a very important milestone for MediaTile, and according to the article above, may well also be for the industry.  I believe today’s launch is as significant as our announcement made back in 2004, when we unveiled the industry’s-first “cellular digital signage” turnkey solution.  It is simple to deploy and easy to use.  This created a leadership position for MediaTile in the world of Digital Signage, SaaS-based CMS systems, and the use of cellular-based networking.  At first we made it simple, now we’ve made it personal.  Today, we offer another innovative and revolutionary breakthrough in marketing and communications, again extending our industry leadership.  It’s time for Digital Signage to “Get Personal”.