What is internal company communication?
5 November 2008
Read by 1718 persons
It may seem odd, even provocative, for the sake of practicality, to begin with… theoretical considerations. This is not a provocation or a rhetorical device, but a unavoidable necessity.
Why? Because a lack of understanding of communication, of its workings, explains in over 50% of cases, failures, a lack of results. In practice, bad decisions are made, experts are not consulted, successful campaigns are copied, or, under the pretext of lacking budget, things are cobbled together internally…
1. Communication is not a field of magic recipes and miraculous ideas
Like other company functions, it requires reflection, technical skill and economic calculation, the involvement of specialists, and this for at least three reasons:
a. Today everyone communicates: businesses, local authorities, public bodies, associations, NGOs and other entities. Not communicating is synonymous with being outdated, lacking dynamism and credibility. For a business, it means not being known, and consequently not being recognized, and sinking into a negative image.
b. The fact that everyone communicates has a dramatic consequence. The messages emitted are "mechanically" less memorable. In 2006, the average French person was exposed to 3500/4000 advertising stimuli per day. However, according to the studies at our disposal, they can only remember, on average, 70/80 messages per day! This dichotomy explains why we are obliged, year after year, to spend ever more money to be memorable, to design our messages, to choose our media with increasing care and professionalism if we do not want our investment to be lost in the ambient noise.
c. Simultaneously, we have never had as many means, media and formats available as today. In this area too, given the sums involved, evaluations and comparisons must be made, and we must not blindly follow what our competitors are doing; 80% of websites demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of how this medium works; most brochures are illegible, advertisements go unnoticed… placing one or two advertisements in a title makes no sense in terms of effectiveness…. Making mistakes, being imprecise, in this area can also have a devastating impact and effect on the company.
2. Communication is essentially a complex phenomenon
a. In its generally accepted definition: "changing the will of others through a transfer of beliefs and opinions," this seems simple. What complicates matters is that we must address a target audience, people who are not only perfectly identified, but above all, whose perceptions, expectations, needs… we know with certainty.
It is the recipient alone who directs, who designs the communication. However, most managers see, think of their target audience as having the same representations, opinions, expectations or interests as them. In 99% of cases, this is not so. This is the so-called "photographic plate" effect, which results in messages that will never reach their recipient. This is where the first fundamental challenge lies.
b. Communication is not univocal and simple. It is, by its nature, double. It is "relationship" and "content".
The relationship is the way things are said or expressed, taking into account the fact that in human communication, beyond language, there are other modes that exist: bodily (facial expressions, gestures…), voice intonations… which are all indications for any speaker. But it is also the mirror effect that communication provides. We see ourselves, we represent ourselves, in the way we address you. The enunciation (the way we say and define the relationship) never lies, whereas in the content (the statement), we can be manipulative.
Enunciation is primary, that is to say fundamental. It is what allows us to express a message, a content. The most common example of this function is that of the telephone. When it rings and we answer, it is absolutely necessary at that moment to say "hello" or to state our identity. Failure to comply with this convention would automatically cause a certain disturbance to the person calling us.
This explains that communication is not information. Internal memos are never – or almost never – read, because the relationship they imply is rejected. To convey information, it is first necessary to know how to create a good, accepted relationship.
All good communication rests on a coherence, as absolute as possible, between enunciation and statement (the content). A dichotomy at this level is a source of dysfunction, lack of credibility in the discourse, and even leads to pathologies, particularly in young children. Thus, if we want to express a message of sincerity, of honesty, it is better to look our interlocutor straight in the eyes (how many advertisement designs forget this truth). A declaration of love accompanied by a gesture of rejection would also have a traumatizing effect.
The relational aspect (enunciation) is also the etiquette of royal and princely courts, it is the formalism of international diplomatic meetings in which the hierarchy, the order of delegations must be clearly stated and accepted by all participants. We know that if this preliminary phase is rejected, the meeting will have no chance of success.
Systematically, at conferences, Anglo-Saxon speakers begin their presentation with a joke. This ritual is not the result of a cheerful character. But these speakers know that it is productive to relax the audience from the outset; this makes it open and receptive to the rest of the speech. They thus create "a good relationship".
c. Communication, like any behavior, has no opposite
In reality, there is no such thing as non-communication. Not communicating is an indication that others will take into account; it is also communicating and sending a message. This explains, in our "all-communication" society, that companies that do not communicate are poorly perceived.
Succeeding in your company's communication means knowing how to speak to your target audience, showing that you know them, that you hold them in esteem, that you have understood their problems. This is the first and necessary condition, the framework in which our thinking must be inscribed, otherwise we will lose time, money and credibility.
Published on 24/09/2007
Entreprendre.ma
Why? Because a lack of understanding of communication, of its workings, explains in over 50% of cases, failures, a lack of results. In practice, bad decisions are made, experts are not consulted, successful campaigns are copied, or, under the pretext of lacking budget, things are cobbled together internally…
1. Communication is not a field of magic recipes and miraculous ideas
Like other company functions, it requires reflection, technical skill and economic calculation, the involvement of specialists, and this for at least three reasons:
a. Today everyone communicates: businesses, local authorities, public bodies, associations, NGOs and other entities. Not communicating is synonymous with being outdated, lacking dynamism and credibility. For a business, it means not being known, and consequently not being recognized, and sinking into a negative image.
b. The fact that everyone communicates has a dramatic consequence. The messages emitted are "mechanically" less memorable. In 2006, the average French person was exposed to 3500/4000 advertising stimuli per day. However, according to the studies at our disposal, they can only remember, on average, 70/80 messages per day! This dichotomy explains why we are obliged, year after year, to spend ever more money to be memorable, to design our messages, to choose our media with increasing care and professionalism if we do not want our investment to be lost in the ambient noise.
c. Simultaneously, we have never had as many means, media and formats available as today. In this area too, given the sums involved, evaluations and comparisons must be made, and we must not blindly follow what our competitors are doing; 80% of websites demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of how this medium works; most brochures are illegible, advertisements go unnoticed… placing one or two advertisements in a title makes no sense in terms of effectiveness…. Making mistakes, being imprecise, in this area can also have a devastating impact and effect on the company.
2. Communication is essentially a complex phenomenon
a. In its generally accepted definition: "changing the will of others through a transfer of beliefs and opinions," this seems simple. What complicates matters is that we must address a target audience, people who are not only perfectly identified, but above all, whose perceptions, expectations, needs… we know with certainty.
It is the recipient alone who directs, who designs the communication. However, most managers see, think of their target audience as having the same representations, opinions, expectations or interests as them. In 99% of cases, this is not so. This is the so-called "photographic plate" effect, which results in messages that will never reach their recipient. This is where the first fundamental challenge lies.
b. Communication is not univocal and simple. It is, by its nature, double. It is "relationship" and "content".
The relationship is the way things are said or expressed, taking into account the fact that in human communication, beyond language, there are other modes that exist: bodily (facial expressions, gestures…), voice intonations… which are all indications for any speaker. But it is also the mirror effect that communication provides. We see ourselves, we represent ourselves, in the way we address you. The enunciation (the way we say and define the relationship) never lies, whereas in the content (the statement), we can be manipulative.
Enunciation is primary, that is to say fundamental. It is what allows us to express a message, a content. The most common example of this function is that of the telephone. When it rings and we answer, it is absolutely necessary at that moment to say "hello" or to state our identity. Failure to comply with this convention would automatically cause a certain disturbance to the person calling us.
This explains that communication is not information. Internal memos are never – or almost never – read, because the relationship they imply is rejected. To convey information, it is first necessary to know how to create a good, accepted relationship.
All good communication rests on a coherence, as absolute as possible, between enunciation and statement (the content). A dichotomy at this level is a source of dysfunction, lack of credibility in the discourse, and even leads to pathologies, particularly in young children. Thus, if we want to express a message of sincerity, of honesty, it is better to look our interlocutor straight in the eyes (how many advertisement designs forget this truth). A declaration of love accompanied by a gesture of rejection would also have a traumatizing effect.
The relational aspect (enunciation) is also the etiquette of royal and princely courts, it is the formalism of international diplomatic meetings in which the hierarchy, the order of delegations must be clearly stated and accepted by all participants. We know that if this preliminary phase is rejected, the meeting will have no chance of success.
Systematically, at conferences, Anglo-Saxon speakers begin their presentation with a joke. This ritual is not the result of a cheerful character. But these speakers know that it is productive to relax the audience from the outset; this makes it open and receptive to the rest of the speech. They thus create "a good relationship".
c. Communication, like any behavior, has no opposite
In reality, there is no such thing as non-communication. Not communicating is an indication that others will take into account; it is also communicating and sending a message. This explains, in our "all-communication" society, that companies that do not communicate are poorly perceived.
Succeeding in your company's communication means knowing how to speak to your target audience, showing that you know them, that you hold them in esteem, that you have understood their problems. This is the first and necessary condition, the framework in which our thinking must be inscribed, otherwise we will lose time, money and credibility.
Published on 24/09/2007
Entreprendre.ma
