If you’ve been living under a rock in recent years, we’ve got news: High schoolers are increasingly relying on on-line tools to express themselves and communicate with friends. See Pew Internet study with alarming statistics here. (e.g., Thirty-five percent of all teenage girls “blog.”)
Between text messages, Facebook pages, and personal blogs, it appears children need not leave their homes for any reason whatsoever any more. Before I digress about the demise of Kick the Can, a question we get from our clients: How am I, a Baby Boomer, and my company, [insert appropriate descriptor here], to reach the new generation?
If you can’t beat them, join them, right? Perhaps. But three quick tips to observe:
- Use communication channels that are most appropriate for the communicator and your company’s culture. Authenticity is far more important than anything else. You don’t want the CEO who can’t turn his computer on starting his own blog.
- Use particular on-line tools because they are helping to accomplish particular objectives. Start with your objective, the message you want to send, and then match these with the appropriate media, understanding that different media are appropriate for different messages. See more about media richness here.
- Never use new media as a substitute for face-to-face communication. Remember the old-fashioned conversation? It is still the most effective means for communication.
As a new generation enters the workforce, we must get smarter about new media choices, and we may even need to adapt our approach. But, we should do it because it makes sense—not because that’s what the cool kids are doing.
Recently, a client asked me, “So, what’s the scuttlebutt (word origin here) about us?” The question made me think about gossip and its role in organizations. Why do we gossip? Because it just plain feels good to have and share information.
Social scientists believe that gossip serves the same purpose for humans that reciprocal grooming does among primates—anthropologists call it “social grooming.” Research shows that both types of grooming stimulate endorphin production, which relieves stress and boosts the immune system.
I was surprised to learn just how much time we devote to water cooler, back-fence talk—we spend two thirds (!) of our conversations gossiping. With that in mind, we advise clients to divvy their communication attentions between formal and informal channels.
What really communicates? While formal communications—memos, financial reports, staff meetings, newsletters, town halls—are not going anywhere, neither are informal exchanges in the workplace. Quite the opposite. Widespread adoption of social media (a recent post by Meredith speaks to the value in virtual networks) means new types of informal channels are on the rise, and so is the ease with which we send messages informally. Not only does information travel faster through informal channels than through formal means, but it is malleable along the way.
In other words, messages sent through informal channels are undocumented, and open to change and interpretation as they rush through the grapevine (word origin here). Informal messages are unbound by the org chart and thus, move in every direction: up, down, and diagonally, between workers and managers, and even inside and outside the company.
The best organizations manage the grapevine as simply another channel for information, and equip managers with the tools they need to share information—proactively—with their teams. Not only are managers trusted sources of information, but they directly link leadership and the front line.
Though strategically handling the grapevine can be a challenge, it’s one that leaders should embrace. Those who grasp the power of the grapevine will be better prepared to utilize it to achieve organizational goals.
Thanks to sites like LinkedIn and yes, Facebook, online social networking is making a strong presence in the professional sphere. And as Carolynne posted, organizations are starting to encourage employees to use social networking technology for collaboration and to create cross-office connections. But as we place ourselves in multiple virtual networks, how can we get the most out of our online presence? Know that the basic principles about networks apply; to get the value out of networks—online or otherwise—it’s important to know how they work:
There are four types of people who operate inside networks:
- Isolate: People who communicate infrequently, if at all
- Average: People who communicate with average frequency to a moderate number of people
- Bridge: Those who communicate with the same amount as others, but have key relationships with people from a variety of groups
- Star: Those who communicate and maintain relationships with a significantly greater number of people than the average person
There are going to be people who are more active in online networks just as they would be offline. One role isn’t necessarily better than another, but the roles people play inside networks can have consequences on who we know.
It’s about the strength of your network, not necessarily the size:
- There’s one variable that predicts relationship quality with more power than any other: frequency of contact.
- The more people you care for, the harder it becomes to care. We don’t have relationships, we grow relationships. Cultivate the ones that really matter.
- You only have so much time, and there are only so many people with whom you can share that time. So spend your time on the relationships that matter.
There’s power in the “weak tie:”
- If you’ve cultivated the right relationships, you’ll benefit from their networks.
- If you’re cultivating the relationships that really matter, those are the people who have the right amount of influence and credibility to connect you to their networks—thus, you’re establishing powerful “weak ties” without even knowing.
Informal Networks are often the most trusted source of information.
- Rumor mills exist because of informal networks.
- People inside organizations make value judgments based on the information they hear from their informal networks.
We flock to networks because they’re powerful—they connect us quickly to trusted sources of information. And we like online networks because they’re fast and they’re easy. Remember that easy doesn’t necessarily mean it’s more effective (read more about Media Richness here). While online profiles aren’t a substitute for interpersonal relationships, if managed properly, they can make our existing relationships stronger. As we build more networks online, remember—it’s still all about building the right relationships.
Much of the ongoing dialogue among internal communicators suggests that a key trend for the future of the function is outsourcing, unless, and it’s a big “unless,” the function can clearly demonstrate a convincing return on investment (ROI). In other words, if your function isn’t making money, then you’re a cost – and costs get cut.
There is certainly enough evidence for this to be taken seriously. But let me suggest a counter-trend: internal communications will become increasingly valued as the internal execution arm of the chief strategy officer.
Never heard of the chief strategy officer? Maybe you already have one, but under a different title (researchers found more than 90 title variations for this role[CRA1] ). If you don’t have a CSO, it’s quite possible you will soon. The role is appearing with “increasing frequency,” according to the authors of the article “The Chief Strategy Officer,” in the October 2007 edition of Harvard Business Review. (Please note: you may need a subscription to read the full article.) http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article.jsp?ml_action=get-article&articleID=R0710D&ml_page=1&ml_subscriber=true
Whatever the title, the CSO role’s responsibilities for strategy formulation and execution entail heavy communications: clarifying the strategy, gaining commitment to it, and driving change to accomplish it. Smart CSOs are going to want and need the communications function close at hand.
Evidence for these trends remains anecdotal, but the experience last year of three communication functions in three different organizations in one city proves instructive:
- At an internationally renowned consumer-packaged goods company, internal communications and PR were moved from HR and Marketing respectively and consolidated directly under the chief strategy officer.
- At a troubled national health care concern, all communications were outsourced to a PR firm.
- At a global leader in “convenience retailing,” communications were also outsourced to a PR firm. The company then appointed a chief strategy officer who soon brought the entire communications team back inside the company as full-time employees.
The best CSOs recognize that their business success is built on effective communications. That recognition offers communicators the opportunity to spend less time trying to prove they’re relevant to the business, and more time achieving business results.
