Talk Internal Communication

To storm out of an interview with a print reporter or editorial board is one thing, but to walk out on a taped television interview—that is not good PR! This is however, exactly what New York State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr. did. Following questions regarding his place of residence and that amount he claimed in expenses - Yes, other countries have these debates too - Senator Espada left the station. It is certainly a novel way of saying "no comment." Check out Espada in action and see what you think.

The “ 2010 Global IBM CEO Study ” was recently published, it’s one of the largest one-on-one CEO interview studies, surveying 1,541 CEOs, general managers and senior public sector leaders from 60 countries and across 33 industries. The four primary findings of this year’s survey are as follows: More than half of CEOs doubt their ability to manage the new complexities of the marketplace as the economy moves from recession to recovery. CEO’s ranked creativity as the most important leadership quality . They believe that creative leaders will take more risks, find more innovative ways of leading change in their organisations and encourage experimentation and innovation. CEO’s say they are identifying new ways to keep in touch with their customers and using more research and data analysis . Improving communication is key to this.

Video is coming the newest tool in the professional communicators arsenal. So how do you decide if you should use video to promote you client or organisation? If you consider that You Tube is the second most used search engine, you can see why it is worth while putting your videos on this media. A video release can really add to a press release if you have something visual to display. Before and after, videos are also very effective to demonstrate the benefits of your product or service. If your video is entertaining it may even go viral and the rewards can be huge. Piece to camera interviews with employees living the company brand or strategy can transform a boring document into a real life example. Just creating video is not the only step necessary. You must craft a video that responds to the wants and needs of your audience. Your audience is looking for solutions to problems and questions. It’s your job to ensure your videos provides solutions, answer questions and lead y...

A Leaving Certificate supervisor was fired from his post early in the exams for twitting during the exams. Since the event the twitter account of the supervisor who was sacked has been deleted.

John Beaurain, an electrician at a Cape Town hospital, was fired for posting photos of blocked toilets on Facebook. Management warned him to stop publishing his stories. He claimed the c=blocked toilets were a health hazard writing, "the air conditioning system is totally rotten as a result of the blocked toilets". His dismissal is being appealed.

BP is a company name that is fast becoming synonymous with corporate incompetence. While BP insist they are doing all they can to keep the public informed of the situation without putting any spin on the spill, public opinion is fast turning against them. BP ’s disagreements with scientists about the amount of oil gushing from the deep-water well, supposedly underestimating the amount by several hundred percent, does not show them in a positive light. Trying to turn off the live video feed of the oil gusher was also seen by critics as yet another example of BP putting the spin on the story. Add to this the fact that BP recently referred to Gulf Coast residents as 'small people' (a translation error apparently- the executive is Swedish!) and BP are in serious difficulty on the PR front. Interestingly, the PR battle is also ragging in social networking forums. A fake BP Twitter page has shown the up hill battle organisations face in a cri...

Without buy-in from the your organisations top management, corporate communication managers are likely to have less success in promoting effective communication within the organisation. For this reason it is imperative to have a strategic communications plan with SMART (strategic, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed) objectives. When the C-suite is presented with tangible results; solid and accurate measurement that objectively portrays the degree to which communication is effective in the organisation, their perceptions of communication as a 'soft skill' change. Too often communication’s potential power is lost because the critical strategic planning phase is not followed. And the reality is that to get the attention of top management communicators must speak in the facts and figures language of other successful business disciplines.

Monitor what's being said on Twitter using RSS Set-up an RSS reader to stay on top of what's being said about your company or organisation, industry news and opportunities in the marketplace Generate and read a Google Analytics report Search blogs for comments. You can use the converation prisim for this. Then subscribe to the RSa for that search so you only have to do it once

You may know that your organisation’s employee staff briefings are not up to scratch. The content is weak and the attendance is poor. You know this fact, the employees know it and the managers in the organisation know it. Maybe the boss also knows it but as no-one addresses the issue it continues as is. No-one seems prepared to take a stand. This is where you come in. As internal communications manager it is up to you to ensure that communication with staff is effective. However, it is understandable that you do not want to be a lone voice telling it as it is. So, before you stand up and wave your arms …measure. Measurement of staff briefings can be very simple. Distribute a simple feedback form to every member of staff as they enter the briefing and collect them as they leave. They can be anonymous or staff can give their names, that doesn’t matter. The important element is that you have their feedback. You’ll be amazed at the information they provide. Armed with this information you ...

Could your internal communication with staff could be categorised as TUNA: Totally, Uninteresting, News and Admin. If this summarises your internal communication it is very likely that staff will simply ignore the messages. Worse if the messages are sent via email staff will just simply delete them without even looking at them. Try using storytelling to get your message across. This entails using real life stories to illustrate your message. It is even better if you can use staff examples. It is also worth considering using your staff's screen savers as a way to convey key strategic messages. This means that when the computer is inactive for a period your key messages appear. It can be a very effective manner to unobtrusively get your message to staff. Like the continuous drops of water on a stone, the effect will be noticeable over time.

Last week on 2nd June 2010 a series of shootings took place in Cumbria. Lucky for many the police used their twitter account to alert people to the danger. Their first message was "Urgent public message - Shots fired in Whitehaven". Traditional methods of communication would have been more time consuming and would have been slower to reach a large audience. The police therefore decided to use twitter, a channel that can be used by anyone at anytime. Their Twitter account is available on http://twitter.com/cumbriapolice . This crisis demonstrates the importance and benefits of being social media savvy in a crisis. Organisations would be well advised to develop their social media accounts and to incorporate their use in their crisis plans and crisis management planning.