LATE IN LONDON — We like lists and in recent times this blog may have been harder on Internal Communicators than is deserved.

So here are a few things that you can do in a single day.  They will advance your case, secure your reputation and make your organisation more successful.

1. Create a six month plan on one page

Put the months across the top and down the left hand side write the business-wide, functional, geographic and any other grouping where activities are generated.  Put your channel publication schedule across the very bottom (if it will fit.)

2. Go and help a colleague communicate something

It doesn’t have to be the CEO or Board, or the Head of HR or Finance.  It can be Bill in Facilities.  Just make a friend and hone your skills on something that will give you no glory, but make Bill’s communication more successful.

3. Spike that human-interest story

You know the one about the lady in that office.  Which is far from here.  And she does that thing, that you can’t help being a bit patronising about.

Write instead about someone doing something vital and exciting that really is ambitious and takes the business forward.  It could even be that lady in that office, but you’ve gotta be impressed by it (and a bit in awe).

4. Get in front of the big change communications programmes

You know the thing that is rumoured?  Or announced but feared?  You may even be aware of it and a bit worried that you may be asked to help with it.  It’s big and not popular or not guaranteed success.

That’s the one.  It’s going to change the business, and like it or not, it’s your job to help make it work.  Go now and get in front of it.

5. Say “I know a really good change communications company.” And get some good advice

It doesn’t have to be us (although I’d rather if it was) but there are a unique combination of skills that you need.  You have to get the project sponsors to draw breath long enough to regroup and focus their planning and engagement.  You can do it.  You’ll learn in the process.

Thanks for listening.  I can go to sleep now.

/df

P.S. The lady up top is ‘leading the parade’.  Right.

KENSINGTON — There’s not much that is ‘commercial’ in my house.  Maybe a few dozen old newspapers with adverts in them.  A poster on a child’s wall that promotes a museum or a football team.  One doesn’t expect to be sold to at home.

However there is one exception: the cereal boxes.

We’ve got seven of them.  All different.  All placed at eye-level in front of the kids first thing in the morning.  All shouting something different.  They’re like little, print-based sirens.

And they work.

“Dad! What’s ‘riboflavin’?!”

“How come I’ve never been to Alton Towers!”

“Can we enter this contest?”

When I was a boy Shreddies used to have the most amazing-looking plastic toys at the bottom of the box.  They never quite flew, danced, floated like they did on TV… but what fun.

My cereal boxes were turned upside-down and by the time they were re-assembles they were missing panels and the internal bags hung out the side like… well like things you only usually see in med school.

And that’s why Internal Comms people are a bit like cereal boxes.  Not the medical school part.  The other bits.

Internal communicators have a privileged position in a business.  They are the only broadly condoned public organ. (Stay focused now.)  You are the one publisher allowed to clog up the airwaves, billboards and brainwaves of the busy occupants of the building.

Internal communications people only have a short time with people.  You can’t expect (nor should you aim) to distract people from their daily grind for more than a few minutes a day.

And that remains a privilege, not a right.  If you mess it up you’ll be banished like Cocopops and Frosties.

The contents of the box needs to be right.

Yesterday I heard for the first time in a long time about an organisation where the entire internal comms function had been shut down.

And why not?

Orange juice anyone?

/df

KINIGHTSBRIDGE — I had a nice bowl of pasta yesterday with one of the leading lights in our business.  A guy I have known for 5 years or so, and who has distinguished himself by sustaining and growing a global consulting footprint through the years.

And we complained.  Like two old men down at the park.

“Things have changed.”

“There’s not much value in writing magazines or designing intranets for people any more.”

“The business has moved on…”

But, unlike two guys approaching retirement, we were in agreement about the symptoms and the cure.

We are, after all, two guys who run successful consulting businesses.

Our issues are that there are still lots of people trying to write or design their way out of business issues.

We must implement a new ERP system?  Well, maybe a really good feature article will help with that!

The business needs to be more entrepreneurial?  Well, I’ve got a great graphic for that.

And that’s not what our clients need at the moment.  Yes, all communications have their place — even a Social Media Policy is not a waste of time… but it’s not going to transform the business any time soon either.

Your company needs to increase sales and reduce costs.  How are you helping with that?

Seriously.  How?

There are so many great things that communications people and change managers can do.  There are fewer and fewer excuses for doing less.

/df

LONDON — I am very pleased that this is National Novel Writing Month. It is, I think, just a ruse for a book publishing website. But for me, it’s working.

My 13-year-old daughter and I started yesterday morning. We get up early and tap away in the kitchen before the sun comes up. On day two she’s on target… churning out thousands of words a day.

Me… not so much.

But I am still at it. And I have published two books already so I am a bit smug.

“How many words have you got daddy?”

“825. You?”

“2,225.”

“Ah, yes, but mine are really *good* words.”

“Yea. Right.”

I look over her shoulder.

“In the first para, ‘bath’ is spelled with a capital B,” I offer helpfully.

“‘Never go back.’ We’re not meant to edit until the end,” she explains, and intuitively I know that I will never be allowed to look over her shoulder again.

So it takes me to thinking about why kids who text and Skype and talk utter rubbish (okay that’s my view) should still be interested in writing long form novels? And the answer is the same as texting, Skyping, Instant Messaging … or for that matter painting, dancing or playing football:

It’s a mode of self-expression, it’s something that we can pass on to others, it’s a longer commitment to communicating… and therefore something else that we people do that separates us from the occupants of the London Zoo.

Our business, Able and How, is a change management consultancy. Okay, it’s THE change management consultancy. We help people plan and communicate change. We work with words. We do it in video, online, face to face and on paper.

It’s exciting and it’s got great value. By writing, talking, planning and publishing we regularly save companies lots and lots of money.

Over time that’s not going to change. The way the words are consumed will. From Kindles to smart phones we’re just finding new and easier ways of reading more and more stuff.

How long has it been since you sat somewhere with nothing to read or do?  We’re reading now on the Tube, on the chair-lift… anywhere that you can find a few minutes.

Words are important and increasingly so.

/df

SOUTH WEST LONDON — Well?

Someone has to ask.

It wasn’t that long ago I was explaining to clients where “internal communications” came from.  It was a “discipline”, it came from the business realisation that people were a key part of their asset portfolio… and now that we had driven down supply costs, making people more efficient had to do with Internal Communications.

But it’s been at least five years since we first started moving away from the term “internal communications”.  Two years ago we abandoned it altogether.

Why?

Because it is explicitly incorrect.

Internal communications is seen (and too often performed) as a task akin to managing the plumbing or electricity.  You stand at the top and turn on the tap and/or flip the switch.  On and off.  Off and on.  The information flows down.  If it doesn’t make it to every corner of the building you go and investigate.

And that is how many executives understand it.  Certainly that is how many Internal Communications roles are staffed.

Social media is just one example of how this isn’t working, but there are others.  Recent safety issues are a better example: you don’t get safety by decree.  Engagement presents more problems.

However the fundamental issue is this: Internal Communications as generally practiced cannot and does not help the business to succeed.  In fact, it may be doing the opposite.

It’s 7:35, 06 October 2010.  Internal Communications is dead.

/df

LONDON — It seems to be catching.  But it has actually been going on forever.  The departure of a CEO gets business journalists all twitchy with glee.  So the stories get written like detective novels:

It was a dark night, and she was feeling darker than the dark side of Venus…

It’s exciting for the journalists, and maybe even the readers, but it’s just plain rotten for the business, its employees, partners, customers and shareholder.  The music seems to have stopped and there’s a collective in-take of breath while everyone waits to see who has a seat.

It’s clear the new CEO — whenever they are named — has a lot to do.  And we certainly have some ideas on how they personally ‘show leadership’.  But the business itself must respond.  And that response is not all down to the new leader.

HEAD — What are the thoughts that you want people to have?  How can people intellectualise the change?  What are the concerns that people will have?

You need to explain, manage, plan and deliver ideas and answers that. Focusing on the business realities is a good place to start.  Remind people what you do, why you do it, and why you are very good at it.

Too much thinking will make people stop working.  It’s not hard to find examples of businesses that get excited about change and immediately lose profits.

HANDS — There is also a tendency to stop working until the new CEO arrives.  What is she doesn’t like this project?  Will anyone know if we don’t complete this?  It was the old guy’s pet project.

So there is a really, really great need for existing management, right down to line managers, to get people back to work.  Projects need to be completed.  No deadlines should be missed.

What better way to impress the new boss than to actually be running smoothly when he or she arrives?

HEART – It may sound counter-intuitive, but change at the top can be a good time to increase the commitment of people to the business.  What is it that brings me into work again?  Is it the senior guys in the big offices?  Is it the compelling speech from the HR Director or the CIO?

Ahm. No.

It’s probably because I like what I do and get satisfaction out of doing it well.  The ability to stop worrying about the change, to focus on work and actually get lots of stuff done will only improve that.  So when people are seeing changes at the top it can actually increase their motivation.

Long-time readers will not need me to say this next bit.  But here I go:

Hosting company picnics, giving out t-shirts, having a rally, or extra holiday… to celebrate a change at the top… will not (that’s NOT) help the business to succeed.

But you knew that already.

/df

LONDON — A few of us got together in one place today and made an effort to quickly update the “Internal Communications” page on Wikipedia.

We learned a lot in the process.

All tolled there were 28 amendments made to the page, and more are still being made now. Some people watched. Some emailed, texted and tweeted us to say “you missed X”… and some just went on and did stuff themselves. It’s still a long, long way from perfect. But it is better than it was.

Hopefully improvements will continue. Why not have a look and make a change now?

What an interesting experience. At the same time we noticed that the Corporate Communications page is even worse. Should that be next?

/df

THE BREAKFAST TABLE AT 6AM — My young son is reading his school book aloud. To practice. I am pretending to listen.

“What!?” he says suddenly. “Rescue a cat from a tree? Firemen don’t do that, do they?”

I sense disappointment.

“Yes,” I reply. “But only for old ladies in cartoons and movies.”

“OK,” he says, as if I had given him a good answer.

So, how many cats have you rescued today? How many things have you done that weren’t really what you were meant to be doing?

Here are a few things that communication people are asked to do that may not be the best use of their time…

• Dress up someone’s PowerPoint presentation
• Organise non-business focused events
• Go to meetings where you are not required
• Write other people’s emails
• Proof-read

What have I missed? From today, how about not answering the call to get the cat from the tree?

Communication is an essential service. Helping your organisation achieve its business goals is a full time job. Let’s focus on that.

/df

P.S. No animals were or will be hurt in implementing this plan.

TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD — I don’t know any organisation that has not been affected by the global recession of 2008/09. Whether it’s layoffs, sell-offs or even surprising growth, the deal between companies and their employees has changed.

It used to be that companies had loyalty to their employees. But the idea of a job for life and a gold watch at the end of it died at least two decades ago. However employees have continued to have a great allegiance to their employers. More, I believe, than most employers deserve. And that is starting to change.

I was cornered last night by a high-flying corporate banker. He wanted to know how I had had the courage to start my own business. Was it as hard as it looked? Wouldn’t the big guys crush you? How do you get your payroll done? How do you do your IT? Etc.

What was most remarkable was that a guy who has done very well by working in global businesses saw no real link holding him there… except fear.

Big organisations cannot afford to have people come and go too easily. There are coercive ways of keeping them, but the only ways that really work are to treat them well, and provide an exciting environment and opportunities for them.

I think that is what has caused the recent rush of businesses looking again at their corporate values.

What does this business really stand for? What can people expect when dealing with us? Be they customers, partners, governments, employees, charities, anyone?

Values are too often trotted out as what we call ‘corporate wallpaper’. You can see them wrapped around columns, on walls in meeting rooms, sometimes even on building passes.

But without definitions and a clear understanding of what they mean — and what they don’t — people have no real use for them.

So, at a time when businesses are not faring so well in the esteem of their employees, decent, tangible, actionable values are a way that companies see of being more consistent and more coherent.

Values can help keep your business focused.

/df

LONDON — It’s a funny old world we live in. The Chinese state aluminium giant Chinalco just failed in its quite generous attempt to help Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto out of a massive great hole. And where do we go to see the sense of remorse? Not to this ‘management’ section of the website. Although the website has been jazzed up recently… there is no noticeable sign of personality. And business stories these days are increasingly personal interest stories.

It’s been a bad run for China and its various state enterprises.

In 2005 the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) tried to buy the California petrol business Unocal from Chevron. All was agreed with everyone who needed to know. Except the politicians got involved:

“As the world energy landscape shifts, we believe that it is critical to understand the implications for American interests and most especially, the threat posed by China’s governmental pursuit of world energy resources.”

…say some geniuses in the US Congress.

The deal dies. A Congressman again crows that the failure is:

“…good news for the free market”

An analyst says about the Chinese business:

“They had no game plan. I don’t know if they had bad advice or did not listen or if the bureaucracy just couldn’t move fast enough. CNOOC is at a disadvantage in a fast-paced market.”

Whatever it was, it’s not good, is it?

Same goes for the Haier Group’s bid for the Maytag Corporation the same year.

Only the Lenovo purchase of IBM’s computer business stands out as a deal that has gone through. But now that the IBM brand is being rolled back and Lenovo is coming through, what has happened to the brand?

Lenovo reports fourth quarter loss

Ouch.

Not surprising then that news that Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. will buy GM’s Hummer has been met with scepticism… even in China.

What is China missing? I am not close enough to know with any real certainty. I know the Chinese are well served by western bankers (they’ve even invested in a few). They have investor relations teams in the west too. But I have a few suggestions of what they might be missing.

1. A process and plan for change management, stakeholder relations and communications.

2. A single, simple set of messages for their organisational communications.

3. A group of people (Chinese or not) with the skills and tools who are able and ready to talk on their behalf.

4. The ability to get on the front foot with the questions that you just know the western media and politicians are going to ask.

There is no doubt in my mind but that the Chinese will change the global rules of business in the decades to come. It may not even be gradual, and it will definitely be shocking to many people in business. But today there is still some work to do. China must learn how to take better advantage of the rules on the pitch that they’re visiting.

/df