Chapter 7 of our book discusses effective internal communication. According to the text the most effective was to have effective internal communication is to have the following practices. First, Communicate across all levels. Management should communicate with all employees (even the newest or lowest ones) and employees should communicate with management. Secondly, making the meetings face-to-face seems to be an important aspect of effective communication. Thirdly, the chapter highlight the effectiveness of using the internet or intranet to communicate within i nthe company. The chapter goes on to highlight additional strategies for effective internal communication such as creating internal publications and taking into account the company grapevine when posting internal memos.
I have worked for a resort who i think does an excellent job of internal communication. The resort is family owned( 3 members) and rather large (about 1000 employees over several sites miles apart). The family's goal was to have as much exposure to all of the employees as possible on a daily basis. Everyday that I worked there were several times everyday when I had the opportunity to speak to upper management, and many times when they spoke to individual employees directly. I think this has been very successful for them because it helps keep the companies image in the minds of all employees. Additionally, if you have ever worked in the hospitality business you understand that there is a huge importance on the impression given to guest. By the management always being around and stressing this I think the resort was capable of producing a better product and kept their employees happy in the process.
To highlight the need for this type of hands-on communication I am sharing a link to a video that discusses some of the practices that the book highlights and the resort uses. To me the most interesting thing that the video, book and my resort did was too take into account employee opinions and make them feel as though they are a part of the decision making process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ni1N_guvxA
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I agree. It is extremely important to communicate across all levels in a company, both up and down the corporate ladder. Also, face to face is always the best and most effective way of communicating. I know in my company we have quarterly meetings at 4 different sites to ensure the group comes face to face 4 times a year. We also encourage video conferencing with customers around the world. Attached is a link with an article on video conferencing strategy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brockmann.com/about-us-mainmenu-55/about-customer-insight-mainmenu-114/video-conferencing-strategy-mainmenu-147.html
One aspect of good internal communication is having the senior managers and executives interact with lower-level employees to show those employees that they are recognized and valuable members of the organization. This can help compel those employees to communicate with those managers and execs and share their ideas and opinions. During the later winter of 2008 and spring of 2009, I lost 2 family members and both times, the regional manager of my district sent me a personal email in order to offer his condolences. The emails were very sincere and I could tell that they were not some standard email that his secretary sends out to employees who have suffered through a loss and/or tragedy. I have never met regional manager, but he still took the time to send those very nice emails. The fact that he recognized my personal loss and took the time to reach out to me helped to develop the confidence to call or email him in order to offer my opinions or ask a question. Before receiving those emails, I would never have considered calling or emailing my regional manager about anything. In fact, I had a chance to talk with him at a company trade show, and offer my ideas on how we can improve our district and he thanked me for my ideas and input and even called me after the trade show to further discuss a few of my points.
ReplyDeleteAlong with senior managers and execs being involved, I have provided a link that lists 12 essential elements of internal communication.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Internal-Communication:-12-Essential-Elements&id=12286
Internal communication is very important in many different ways. A few ways in particular, is organizations use internal communication to make an emotional communication to convince and motivate so that employees feel that they are an important part of the organization. Others, is to improve employee moral and productivity, it is important for companies to have good internal communication. Improving internal communication, especially in today's economy, is very important that the employees are able to hear from management about what the directives are to move forward. Better internal communication needs to be implemented by management to encourage and reassure employees, especially when the workforce has been shuffled around these days due to the dwindling economy. This helps the members of the organization focus on a common goal, all of this can be accomplished through improved internal communication.
ReplyDeleteThe link below is about how podcasts can become an important part of internal communication.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1ILIsNgEJc
I agree with Kayla,employee moral is very important in the company. Depending on the industry, an employees moral is mirrored by their performance. Therefore, if your employees are unhappy they will not work at their highest level to insure that your company performs at it's highest level. Internal communication allows employees to develop relationships with employers where all parties can address situations colaboratively. Ideas are spread across the organization to gain a broader perspective on things that are going on around the workplace. If any company wants to be more successful in the future, internal communication would have to be increased.
ReplyDeleteThis link gives a better description of internal communication that I can.
http://www.yale.edu/hronline/communications/index.html
Internal communication is vital to the health of any organization. Even at the smallest organizational levels, there is a need to communicate ideas clearly and effectively. As the other bloggers have noted, poor internal communication can reduce employee morale and paint a grim picture to stakeholders. Changing poor practices can be difficult and may require outside assistance. At times, outside consultants can be utilized to better implement internal communication practices. They benefit from a third party view and are able to see system glitches that those involved in the everyday operations of a company may look over.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience working in Eberly, where I reported to two people, I often found it difficult to decipher and meet both bosses needs. Unfortunately, the problem was exacerbated to the point that the bosses contradicted each other.
This problem has been addressed in the military chain of command where orders are passed from the top down and everyone has one boss.
Here is a basic description of the rank order:
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/army/l/blchancommand.htm