Get $200 by helping me improve my company's internal communications

nigelloring · #1 08-10-2006, 12:51 PM

Mods, sorry if this is in the wrong forum. Background: I used to play a lot of HS NLHE and PLO ($50/$100 blinds) until giving up very recently. (I was "johnclay" on ub).

I'm looking for some help in developing electronic communications among my colleagues. What I'm looking for is a comprehensive list of pros and cons for (1) email (2) an internal wiki (3) an internal discussion forum. (Internal = on my company's intranet). Why do some people choose to use one instead of the another?

What sort of info should be disseminated via one medium instead of another, and why? Is there a fourth medium which we should implement? How can we use technology to leverage spreading and discussing ideas within our firm?

Thoughts are to be PMed to me please. The most helpful PM I get by noon CST tomorrow (Friday 8/11) will get $200 by Paypal. If you win and don't like PayPal, I can buy you a $200 gift cert from any online store, but I won't do Neteller, Firepay, etc.

Thanks!

flash8pro · #2 08-10-2006, 05:38 PM

Nigel,

Internal communications often works the best if a combination of methods are used. That being said, the choice of methods will depend on the organizational structure of your company and how you want to shape the flow of information.

E-mail is a form of personal communication. Yes, e-mail can be sent in bulk, but each recipient usually reads it in private (or at least nobody is staring over their shoulder while they read it). It is less efficient than other forms of communication, but it is also more personal. You don't want to disseminate mass information via e-mail; it is a venue to send personal communications like specific information/instructions to particular people. Also, it is an effective tool for managers to use when face-to-face contact isn't possible or convenient with particular employees (they are across the country, etc).

It really boosts morale when the chain-of-command recognizes individual achievements and takes the time to write a short personal note about the good performance. For a particularly good performance, you'll also want to offer other rewards, but the notes help keep up good relations between management and the workforce in between bonuses or other rewards. It truly helps people to know that they are noticed, appreciated, and making a difference. You'd be surprised how it affects turnover and prevents a lot of more serious problems from developing.

Instant messaging is in the same category as e-mail, but it's best if it's implemented on a limited basis. If everyone has it, then it can quickly diminish productivity as the recipients will feel compelled to drop whatever they are doing to answer an IM. It is similar to the socialized effect you see when a person will willingly interrupt whatever conversation/meeting/etc. they are having to answer a phone call, even if there are no important phone calls expected. IM'ing is a good way to keep people like those in the Information Support department in communication with certain members of management; these are people who are constantly "putting out fires", and the IM is a quick way to get specific people on specific tasks ASAP (see, they'll drop whatever they are doing to answer the IM, so they'll get on it right away, as with an e-mail they may not check it until an hour later). Like I said, IMs are best used only in certain situations where only certain members of management and employees (managers and employees that specialize in respoonding to crises) utilize it.

An internal discussion forum is a great way to build a sense of community while also developing a good resource for employees to go to. You can have threads devoted to certain projects/issues so that everyone can participate and gain from the collective knowledge of the group. Just look at the power of 2+2 and how it transcends simply reading books to gain information. It is less personal than e-mail, but it is a great way to get out information (perhaps mass e-mails could be used simply to "alert" employees about a pressing topic on the board - remember keep the e-mail short and to the point). It also helps when the guy that was just hired can participate in an exchange of ideas with all levels of applicable management. I remember one of my first posts on 2+2 was a question about a 2+2 book, and I had the author himself respond to me. What an impression that was! A discussion board really builds that sense of community where everyone is just part of the team instead of "so-and-so is the boss of so-and-so".

I think an internal wiki is eclipsed by an internal discussion forum. If you think about it, they pretty much do the same thing, but a wiki focuses primarily on simply presenting information, whereas a discussion forum encourages discussion after information is presented. A wiki could be a helpful company encyclopedia of sorts (if you felt you needed one), where for example an employee could look up a procedure for accomplishing a certain task (proper people to contact for certain situations, dress code, expectations of employee conduct, etc.).

Now, without knowing exactly how your company is vertically and horizontally structured, I would guess that a discussion board backed up with an e-mail or private message system would be the way to go, possibly with limited implementation of an IM service as well, for reasons explained above. Get the "meat and potatoes" out on a discussion board, allow free discussion of the topics, and then use e-mail for specific follow-ups with certain employees, as well as an alert system for areas of the board you want to spotlight.

Just remember to keep the discussion board very open and always encourage the sense of community, and always make the e-mails personable. Try to have one discussion board that everyone has access to, and try to keep everything out in the open (so nobody feels excluded). If there are certain things that must be kept private, that's fine, but just make sure there is a good reason to do it (like sensitive info is being discussed) before you start to divide your audience. A lot of times if the information is important enought to be protected, then it is worth it to use more traditional methods of communication to handle those situaiton (such as an in-person meeting between management to discussion the hiring/firing of employees).

Also, don't get caught up in the flashy forms of internal communications, such as live video conferencing. If there is a specific reason to implement it, then fine, but keep in mind that they are expensive to implement and can be more of a hassle than a help. The nice thing about a discussion board is that the new hire can talk to the CEO of the company without having to feel too intimidated because he can do so from the safety of his cubicle, and he can carefully think out his responses. After building rapport on the boards (especially between employees that have never or rarely meet in person), it makes face-to-face contact go much more smoothly.

Another thing - be sure to take a serious look at Microsoft Office 2007 when it comes out. It's supposed to make big improvements with the collaboration of documents (across all Office programs) between employees, so that multiple employees can effectively work together on the same documents/files. Since most people are familiar with these applications anyway, I don't think it's too much of a leap for them to learn and become comfortable with the extra collaboration techniques. There are other programs that do similar things - but now you have an entire workforce to train. It's much easier to build from the foundation they already have with familiar programs like Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. Also, employees are most likely to use whatever programs they are already using, so that will help keep the collaboration strong.

My closing thought is to remind you to keep in mind both the horizontal and vertical organizational benefits that can come with effective internal communications, and also to think about which forms of communication serve each purpose the best. The personal aspects of e-mail is a great vertical management tool to keep up morale (even moreso than discussion between management and employees on the boards), and the boards are best used for horizontal collaboration on projects/issues. Have a reason to implement any type of communication, and keep function before form (i.e. avoid the flashy, "cool" looking stuff that isn't effective in all situations).

Good luck,

Flash8pro