I’m not sure who’s the most frustrated: CEO’s who can’t get their communication people to help improve business results, or communication people who want to add value but don’t have what it takes to do so. Most internal communication people play the role of town crier rather than business problem solver. They’re focused on distributing… Read more
Communication Measurement
Facebook Fail: Internal Communications Strategy
Surely Facebook didn’t intend to put the internal communication discipline back 20 years, but they did a mighty fine job focusing on outdated tactics. The headline on a recent “Workplace by Facebook” piece was: “A 9-Step Strategy for Connected Communications,” which certainly perked up my ears. Alas, the piece focused more on improving internal communication… Read more
The Purest Form of Organizational Communication
Last month, I spoke at the Gathering of the Games, the world’s largest conference on open book management. Hundreds of open book leaders and communication practitioners from around the world were in attendance to learn, share and celebrate the principles and practice of open book management. Open book management is a leadership philosophy that’s grounded… Read more
Cracking the Metrics Code
For years, I’ve heard communication practitioners talk about the importance of measuring everything that mattered EXCEPT financial or operating performance. Measures such as tweets, re-tweets, page views, content consumption, readability, channel usage, word count, timing of content delivery and a ton of other irrelevant measures. Communication measures and broad business measures should be the same… Read more
When Adding Value Is Real
“What gets measured, gets managed.” This phrase, most often attributed to management guru Peter Drucker, is widely quoted in business circles. The easiest way to understand it is by invoking its inverse. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” This Thursday, I’ll join three of my fellow International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Fellows to discuss the importance of… Read more
It’s Getting Harder to Hide
Although there’s a group of business-savvy communication practitioners out there who understand the importance of adding value, there’s a huge contingent of practitioners who hang on to the traditional communication role—that of in-house reporters of news and information—all at a cost to the business. Why do they hang on to old ways? Some don’t know… Read more
Money Doesn’t Grow on Tweets
Most employee communication departments don’t measure the right things or they don’t measure at all. What gets measured has little to do with operating or financial performance. So, how do they know if they’re adding any value to their businesses? The number of tweets, re-tweets, page views, content consumption, readability, channel usage, quantity or quality… Read more
Four Core Areas to Fast Track Comms Careers
Communication practitioners have access this week to knowledge that can help propel their careers. The world’s premier communication association launched its world conference in Montreal on Sunday. Since I became an IABC* fellow nearly 20 years ago, I’ve only missed speaking at this conference a few times before now. Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend this year…. Read more
Can Social Media Activity Move to Results?
You might be draining value from your organization if your social media efforts create more activity than results. There’s no doubt that social media is here to stay, one way or another. We’re bombarded with emails that offer “10 ways to generate leads and checklists to succeed with social selling” and social selling checklists that… Read more
Most IC Departments Don’t Add Real Value, But Can!
Last week, I delivered a keynote presentation in Dallas to more than 50 internal communication people representing many companies. The event was sponsored by Poppulo, the social media firm based in Ireland. The focus: How to shift from cost centers to value creators. Historically, internal communication managed formal channels that included town hall meetings, newsletters,… Read more