What are the key issues about blogs, wikis and other communication channels that senior internal communication managers need to be thinking about right now in the context of effective employee engagement? In my conversations with senior internal communicators in mid-size and large companies in some European countries, I continue to encounter blank looks or comments […]
Category: Internal Communication
The potential resurgence of internal communication
Internal communication in the US is giving media relations a run for its money as the sexy, exciting area of communications work. That’s what Amy Friedman believes as she articulates in a recent post in Positioning Online on the website of her company, Heyman Associates, a PR and communications executive search firm in New York. […]
The next wave in intranet evolution
Shiv Singh asks “What is in store for intranets next? As an intranet manager, what should you be worrying about? How can you create greater business value through your corporate intranet? Is your intranet going to be most impacted by a new technology, a new business idea or something else? Or is it all just […]
Challenges and optimism for internal communication
I’m cautiously optimistic about the future of internal communication in Europe following Driving Business Performance Through Employee Engagement, the two-day conference on internal communication I spoke at that took place in Amsterdam on 16 and 17 September. About 80 senior communicators participated from organizations across Europe, from more than 18 countries: from Norway to Italy, […]
Blogging policies on the horizon
It’s just a matter of time before companies will implement policies or guidelines on blogging by employees. A report in Fortune magazine on 21 September discusses the benefits to companies of employees blogging, citing Sun Microsystems (about 100 employees) and Microsoft (about 1,000 employees) as leaders in this area. The article’s highly positive focus includes a […]
Internal communication wiki opens for business
Shel Holtz has started a wiki called “The Employee Communications Manifesto”: Internal communications seems to be performing less than brilliantly at achieving its goals of employee alignment and line of sight. One reason (and this is purely speculation on my part) is the lack of a common knowledge base for anyone starting out in an […]
CEO podcasting
Now here’s an extremely interesting idea from Rex Hammock, speaking about a concept called ‘podcasting’ which involves an audio recording that’s posted to a website (not necessarily a blog) that you then listen to online or download and listen to it on your iPod or other such device: I can see a much quicker adoption […]
Time is no luxury for communicators
For everyone involved in organizational communication – be that PR, marketing communication, investor relations, employee communication or public affairs – one of the luxuries I see so many continuing to delude themselves with is that they have plenty of time to strategize, formulate, execute and measure as they progress their work in the traditional way […]
Room for changes in internal communication
Earlier this week, I read through New Frontiers in Employee Communications: Current Practices and Future Trends, a report on an employee communication survey published in August by PR firm Edelman. Edeman surveyed communication professionals in companies across North America to learn more about the variety of information channels that companies use to communicate to their […]
Familiarize yourself with podcasting
Last week, I posted a brief comment about podcasting as an interesting potential channel for internal communication uses such as the CEO of a company recording a message for employees. This is a good example of how it could be used in an organizational communication context. But that’s just a scratch on the surface of […]
No CEO blogging: Good analysis or ignorance?
I commented last week on an employee communication survey by the Edelman PR agency entitled New Frontiers in Employee Communications: Current Practices and Future Trends (see post: Room for changes in internal communication). Among the findings in the survey report was this – nearly 20% of the survey respondents said, “My CEO would never blog.” […]
New knowledge portal for communicators launched
Communitelligence.com launched this week as the first global knowledge-sharing portal aimed at improving organizational and human communication. The site is being built and supported by global communication leaders, associations, schools and businesses linked to the common goals of elevating the profession and sharing best practices that can make all forms of communication more effective. The […]
PRSA and IABC: Exercise leadership
Earlier this week, I posted commentary about the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) ignoring blogging. My post referenced commentary from the Business Blog Consulting blog which said that, in the forthcoming PRSA conference that takes place later this month, blogging doesn’t get a mention anywhere. What’s been happening since I posted my commentary is […]
IABC leader blog to launch
Following my post on Friday re PRSA and IABC, I discovered late on Saturday that a blog by 2004-2005 IABC Chairman, David Kistle, ABC, is imminent as this screenshot indicates. That answers the prime call: To start with, I’d like to see the leaders of the PRSA and IABC with a blog. I want to […]
IABC Chairman blog live
The brand new blog by IABC Chairman David Kistle, ABC, is now live. In an introductory post, Kistle says: I want to be sure to talk about things you want to talk about… so now it’s your turn. Give me some feedback – good and bad – about how we’re doing and what’s important to […]
Two-way blogs and moderated conversations
When Richard Edelman, CEO of the Edelman PR agency, launched his blog in late September, he was welcomed enthusiastically by the PR blogging community. Two weeks on and after Edelman’s second post – he’s committed to posting once a week – some bloggers are a bit twitchy about how he’s blogging and how commenting is […]
Conversation is a two-way street
More on two-way blogs and moderated conversations, from Tom Murphy at PR Opinions: Conversation is a two way street.You don’t see companies promoting customer service phone numbers and then not employing anyone to answer the phone (those annoying automated customer service systems at least answer the call). If you’re establishing a blog, you are doing […]
Blogger pressure forces change at PRSA
In a remarkable about-turn, blogging will now be included as a workshop at the forthcoming conference of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in New York, which starts on 23 October. B.L. Ochman’s continuing pressure, supported by other bloggers including me, has convinced the PRSA to change its stance and agree to include a […]
Policies for employee blogging
More fuel for the discussion on why organizations must have clear policies in place concerning employee blogging, from Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg: If you’re an employee, and you identify yourself as such on your weblog, you better know what the ramifications will be at work. Frustration is always the result of expectation and unless […]
Don’t forget the reality checks
Like most communicators who blog, I’m a strong advocate for encouraging, persuading, prodding and cajoling my fellow communicators into introducing blogs in their organizations as part of their communication planning. This isn’t a blind, because-it’s-there thing – although, depending on the organization, elements of that approach can be a very good idea in applying a […]