Are you wearing the wrong trousers?

To kick this off, maybe it would be useful to muse for a moment on the following question:

When is an internal communication not an internal communication??

You might think that question is daft, or the answer is fairly obvious, but is it?? The following client conversation we had a while back may help illustrate the problem.? It happened when a particular IC project had bypassed the Internal Communication team – and gone wrong.? We started by asking the IC Manager…

ROB: ?? ??????????? So, why weren’t you involved in this communication?

IC specialist: ?? Because it was a communication from the Pensions Admin Department, about changes to company pension scheme contributions.

ROB: ?? ??????????? So it was a communication that came from people inside the organisation?

IC specialist: ?? Yes.

ROB: ?? ??????????? And it went out to…?

IC specialist: ?? To all employees

ROB:??? ??????????? Solely to people inside the organisation, then?

IC specialist: ?? Absolutely.

ROB???? ??????????? No one outside the organisation received this communication?

IC specialist: ?? Of course not.

ROB: ?????????????? So it was a communication from people inside the organisation, that went only to people inside the organisation.

IC specialist: ?? That’s right.

ROB: ?? ??????????? So it was an internal communication.

IC specialist: ?? No.

ROB???? ??????????? What!?

IC specialist: ?? It was an HR communication.

Do you see the problem? This conversation really did happen.? And it got even more loopy, because the IC Manager in question was responsible for this company’s cascade process.? So, apparently, if the communication had been delivered through the Team Brief (rather than going direct from Pensions Admin) it would have been an internal communication – even though it would have been exactly the same message, coming from exactly the same people, and going to exactly the same people.? Is this not bonkers?

A flawed syllogism

Whatever your thoughts on the matter this client was far from alone.? Their attitude is remarkably commonplace.? It turns out that – without necessarily realising they’re doing so – many IC Managers have long been basing their definition of Internal Communication on a flawed syllogism. which goes like this:

a)??? My team does Internal Communication

b)??? Therefore Internal Communication is what my team does

c)??? Therefore, if my team doesn’t do it, it isn’t internal communication.

Of course it’s easy to poke fun but, to be fair, it’s hard not to have a certain sympathy with this.? After all, if you’re an internal communication manager, how can it be reasonable to expect you to take the rap for things beyond your control?? Obviously that’s absurd.? On the other hand, how can you expect anyone to agree on the purpose of internal communication, if its very definition can change, moment to moment, on the whim of a pensions administrator??

This is yet another part of IC’s nonsensical cultural inheritance, bequeathed to us all by our predecessors – who of course inherited it from their forebears, and so on.? So no one is really to blame for this situation.? But it is, let’s be honest, completely mad.

Enough.? It’s time to end this crazy once and for all.? But how?? This is what we’ll explore in our next article.

About the author

We are Russell+Olivia Brooklands (ROB) - and we've been working in the field of Internal Communication for over 25 years.?We specialise in enabling IC Teams to get everything they want, to do the job exactly the way they want to do it – for good.? If you're an IC Manager we can help you secure all the:

• influence
• time
• confidence
• opportunities, and
• budget...

…you desire (and may not yet have).

Some people don't dare to dream this is doable.? But in fact it's all within your grasp.? And imagine what a difference it could make to your day-to-day working life, and your long-term career, if you had it all. We’ll be delighted to explain how you can make it happen.? Message us if you’d like to have a chat.