simplyIC summary part 3: reduce the comms noise!

Digital noise! Another theme that carried through the Simply, a Gallagher Company event a few weeks ago. It gets harder and harder as the business world gets more and more techie. We’ve done a lot of comms audits over the last year, with many clients feeling a need to review and regroup post-Covid, and what comes out of those is always: there’s too much noise!??

Jemma de Perlaky and Lucy Cox-Watson shared a great 德勤 case study about the need to reduce their comms noise. Following an internal comms audit they found that they needed to:

• Reduce the comms noise, because people were suffering from info overload (email specifically)
• Evolve their content and channels (and focus on: 'what is for what')
• Approach comms more strategically.

They realised that their seamless client experience wasn’t being mirrored on the inside, and so a digital campaign called: Channel Your Comms was born and launched, and part of that included three key changes they’ve made to help reduce noise:

1. Shifting team ‘extra curricular’ stuff to viva engage so people can focus more on teams for ‘getting your work done’.
2. Revamping an internal comms best practice page to include a ‘tailor your comms’ section where people can find out how to tailor comms to suit them.
3. Encouraging better email behaviours by reminding colleagues that ‘you wouldn’t shout in an open plan office - so why send an email to people when it’s not relevant?’ They even set up an email address, noisy@deloitte, where people can report big group emails that aren’t necessary. They’ve had 200 to date!?

I’ve yet to decide how I feel about reporting colleagues for unnecessary emails, but I can’t deny their full dedication to the cause - there’s something very brave (and very Deloitte) about how intentional their actions are in bringing about change - and I like that a lot.?

This was a great example of a business actually practising what it preaches. Deloitte’s strategic communications offering places people at the centre of work and understands the value of conversation, content and connectivity - so it was heartening to see their inside out approach.?

While the digital world has made communicating incredibly convenient and easy, turbocharged by the pandemic, it can lead to a feeling of overwhelm and sometimes disconnectedness. At Cosy Meerkat we often suggest that companies go back to basics - think about our innate human need - remember that face-to-face is still the most powerful way to connect.?

It’s easy to get carried away with updating comms with the latest, snazziest platforms, sending out high volumes of information that arrives to employees from all directions, thick and fast. If this sounds familiar, slow down. Take a moment to really consider the relevance of your role - what information is needed, and what is getting in the way of you helping to shape good comms behaviours across the business? I'm hopeful we'll see more businesses learning from the likes of Deloitte, and making great strides towards dialling down that noise.