Wanting more influence
Likely impact…
…on you
Chances are you may not get to do the job the way you want to do it (at least to some extent). And the impact of this issue will depend on that ‘extent’. It may simply mean you’re having some of your time wasted, or some of your budget.
…on your clients and approval group members
It’s almost inevitable that, if you’re having some of your time wasted, some of your clients and possibly some communication approvers will be having some of their time wasted too.
…on your organisation
More insidious is the likely impact this could be having on your clients’ audiences. To what extent are they having to work without all the information they need, because:
- it’s arriving late, or
- not at all, or
- isn’t clear enough for them to understand, or
- it’s being swamped by other communications they don’t need and can’t use?
And that raises further cost issues. It may also be causing problems with compliance or brand reputation.
Likely causes
This is likely to be a situation you inherited from the folk who came before you – both within the IC function and among the C Suite.
Some of it may stem from a lack of effective policies, procedures, standards and infrastructure. These could give the leadership team confidence enough to allow the IC function a technical mandate to call the shots.
Or maybe there aren’t adequate financial measures in place to help senior folk to appreciate the value they could be getting from their IC Function.
Perhaps oddly, some of it may also arise from misunderstandings about what Internal Communication actually is, or what its purposes are, and the commercial impact of fulfilling (or failing to fulfil) those purposes.
Potential solutions
If the challenge comes from a lack of understanding among the C-Suite, you may find it useful to share some or all of the new paradigm blogs with them. You could also seek some feedback from them how they feel about your team’s untapped potential. And if it will help the discussion you could always give them some hard numbers to look at.
Things to consider for your wish-list
A potential role for training
If fulfilling your team’s potential is also going to involve new policies, procedures, practice standards, and infrastructure, there are several roles training could play here. It can teach IC Specialists a series of DFVP processes for:
- establishing effective’ language standards
- taking IC briefs
- planning campaigns
- getting communications approved
- defining and managing your channel mix
- timetabling the flow of information to different audiences
- introducing effective feedback practices for measuring results and planning improvements
Beyond training you’ll also need
- Time to practise this learning, so you and your team can deliver maximum ROI.
- A mandate to use these practices in all relevant circumstances.
Where those solutions could take you
With DFVP practices, and a sustainable mandate, you should have all the influence you need – both the:
- permission to do the job the way it needs doing, and
- practices and skills with which to deliver on the mandate you’ve secured.
Likely business benefits…
…for you
Having all the influence you need – and being able to use it effectively – can save huge amounts of time for you, your clients, approval groups and audiences. And of course
- your confidence gets a boost,
- you have less frustration and stress – and
- you get to go home at a reasonable hour and feel safe to switch off at the end of the day.
…for your organisation
It will likely also save you some budget, not least because:
- some projects may never get started,
- there may well be fewer reworks, and
- fewer rush jobs too.
And employees are less likely to be:
- overwhelmed with too much information (much of which may be of little or no value to them)
- upset about being kept in the dark.
So they’ll be better able and better motivated to perform and deliver the results your organisation needs.