Who is your best friend at work?

Hello, and welcome to March, I don’t know about you – but I’m looking forward to more daylight to get outside this spring time.

Do you have a best friend at work?

This week, I’ve been thinking about the relationships that internal communicators create and nurture with different departments in an organisation. This has been inspired by a project that I’m currently working on with a client, where the relationship needs to be close to get the right outcome.

Have you ever worked in an organisation where internal communication feels completely disconnected from day-to-day operations?

I’m hoping not, but I’ve seen it…

Messages get lost, updates arrive sporadically, and (worse still) the frontline teams feel like communication is something that happens to them rather than for them. It’s chaos, and feels like a never ending cycle that can’t be broken…

It doesn’t have to be like this…

“Great internal communication should never happen in isolation, it needs to work with every single department in an organisation”.

To illustrate my point, I wanted to focus on what I believe is one of the most important relationships, the link between Internal Communications and Operations.

I could have used any department, but wanted to focus on operations as it can sometimes be one of the most strained relationships, but (when done right) the most important relationships.

?So, let’s get to it…

Here are five thoughts on the benefits of a strong partnership between Operations and Internal Communications and how to make it happen below...

Right people, right time…

Any operations team that I’ve worked with knows exactly when teams are at their busiest, and when their pinch points are. You can create the most beautiful note in the world, but if you send it at the wrong time – it’s going to crash and burn!

By working together, Operations can help make sure that any update is sent when it’s needed (not when teams are focused on delivering the day job).

I suggest ‘no email zones’ where there is a ‘focus time’ for operations and where no messages can be sent to operators. This way people can focus on what they need to do without the worry of being interrupted.

Think about it: Are your messages landing at the right time? Do you know when the best time to send a message is? When did you last validate this with those in the know?

Keep It Simple, stop the waffle and tell me what I need to do

Time is money.

This is all about cutting out the fluff and big words… Jargon should be banned and replaced with a clear summary, a simple call to action, and a signpost on where to find out more detail (if needed).

I remember some work we did back in the day with Asda… many briefing documents that went to stores were four or five pages long, and while they included everything that people needed to know (and more) they were taking an age to read…

We took one of the documents and cut down the size of a briefing from eight pages (yep, you heard it right) to one – guess what, it went down really well with the operations team, because it cut out all the crap that they didn’t need to know, and instead focused on the important actions that needed to be done.

While this took longer to create (it’s hard work to do this, but it's worth it) it meant that the store team didn’t spend as long reading… if you think about it 350 stores saving five minutes of their time adds up to a heck of money - less is more!

Think about it: Look at some of the communications that you’ve sent out in the last few months, how long do they take to read? Now multiply this by the number of people it was sent to… how much has that cost your business, and what can you do to reduce this down?

Simple is always going to win, so be clear, concise and to the point.

Easy to access: use the right channel

When I worked in operations, about 95% of my time was spent on the shop floor. A computer was something I tried to avoid, and most of the time I didn’t have time to worry about what was in my inbox.

Not every colleague sits at a desk, so you need to think about the best way to share your message.

By working with the Operations team you can find the best way to share your message, and it may not be one you’re used to using - it could be something completely different.

People absorb information in many different ways, so don’t be afraid to get creative with this too, I used to provide a weekly bulletin with a video update, this helped Operators to understand the message, and to share the message quickly.

Think about it: How are you sharing your information with your teams? Is it working, and are there other ways that you can share your message that will help operations focus on their day job?

Listen first, communicate second

Listening is your friend (I know, I keep talking about this one, but it really is)

The role of Internal Communications is not to just keep pushing messages out in the hope that some of it will stick, it’s about listening and flexing the approach based on the feedback and what’s happening on the ground. Working together, operations can provide real-time feedback on what’s working, what’s not and how it can be improved.

Think about it: How are you capturing feedback from your teams on a regular basis, are you testing new ideas and thinking based on the feedback that you receive from your operations team?

Together we’re all better! – so keep working at it…

This goes for any department, but when Internal Communications and Operations work together, magic happens! (and people are more informed, connected, and valued). It can really make a massive difference to not just the department, but the whole organisation! How are you making sure that every team is working together to achieve?

Think about it: What are your relationships like between Internal Communications and every other department? Where do you need to focus your time, and what can you do to help make things better?

In summary: This stuff works, so focus your time on it…

We’ve all (hopefully) seen it, but when two functions work together on a shared outcome, things can really get better, and fast!

The role of any central support team should be focused on making life easier for operational teams, and to keep the organisation running, so how is your communication team making this happen today? It’d be great to hear your thoughts…

Thanks

Dave