Internal communication and innovation

Internal communication is inseparably linked to the development of any innovative culture. Whether this is improving the quality of service, delivering competitive difference, delight for the customer, better business processes, reduced marketing costs. The list goes on and on. All of this great, good stuff, which we all strive for, comes at some cost in energy and investment in skills but success is fundamentally limited by the ability to communicate effectively up, down, sideways, inside outside. The CEO’s moaning frustration of ‘Why don’t they just get it, can’t they see that this is not just good for the company and them too’, misses the big point. That it is up to them, and them alone, to communicate and to lead that communication effectively. This is their first and most important job, because without that ability no process, no initiative, no change, no improvement that needs to work will work. It’s that simple.

Yet many senior managers still persevere with the shouting louder, quickly followed by the placating ‘its fun to work here’ gesture. People are way smarter than most managers give them credit for. And, it has to be said, that the human condition often makes us all way too smart for our own good sometimes. We, largely anyway, have a disproportionate capacity for creating our own misery from the most tenuous of reasons. From one instance of inconsistency, one poorly used word, one miss-timed email we come up with an infinite number of possibilities that puts us on the road to the Valley of Despond and the recruitment web sites.

It’s a inbuilt survival mechanism. We are the only animal that imagines the future. On a personnel and organisational level this can be both a blessing and a curse. While we may look at future where the taking of risk, or the success of some personal initiative could be met with praise and prizes, equally, if we fail it means embarrassment, the loss of respect from our peers and managers. So why should we take any risks at all? The response is, in most cases, that we don’t. Unless we are motivated to do so. And motivation does not come from a snappy Power Point presentation, an email, a rousing speech but from one simple belief. Trust. Trust that you have the freedom and power to act without reprisal or criticism. Trust that what the management says the management actually means. Trust that they are making the right decisions for the good of the organisation and you as individuals.

And the killer of trust comes down to one thing. Inconsistency. You don’t have to be a great orator, a great writer or storyteller, although that helps enormously to inspire trust. Just applying consistent messages and the demonstration of management walking the walk works. It just does. But, one piece of hanging thread, if pulled - which it will undoubtedly will be - can unravel any strategy, any good intention and kill the momentum for change.

Effective communication is the be all and end all of any organisation. The worst of it is that most managers feel that they are great communicators. No doubt their intentions are good and their heart is in the right place. But in the thousands I have worked with over the eyars there are only a handful who actually get it. They are the true innovators who know that it is not just about having that great idea, or clarity of vision but know how to sell their idea, use their passion and are above all know that its about being consistent.