Recently, we ran a one-question survey through our CEC Employee Discussion Forum to gauge members’ interest in using mobile technology (text messaging, mobile apps, etc.) for internal communication. More than 80% of respondents reported already using or considering the use of mobile technology.

However, as we spoke to members, we found that although there is keen interest, there isn’t clarity on how to best leverage this emerging technology.

To drive home my point, let me first ask you if the following statements sound familiar?

• “We need a mobile app for…”
• “We should redesign our intranet to make it accessible on mobile devices…”
• “We should record videos of our executives to…”

Do you notice a trend in these statements? The technology is being put ahead of the objective. Often, communicators and business partners put more focus on what the solution should look like, whether it is an app or intranet redesign or a video content, than on the desired goal that the solution should achieve. While it’s smart to think about technology, falling into a “technology trap”—using technology just for its novelty—isn’t a great idea. After all, the approach is not without pitfalls:

• Limited goal achievement: Many organizations consider redesigning their intranets to cater to the rising number of mobile employees. However, mobile employees have limited time, attention span, and needs different from desktop users. So, while the desired objective might be to improve their productivity, a mere replication of desktop solutions to mobile platforms may not serve the purpose.
• Wasteful resource expenditure: “There’s an app for everything” phenomenon seems to be fast catching up and giving corporate IT teams sleepless nights. You might have often heard IT complain about being bombarded with requests for creating apps from various business groups that often when probed are unable to justify the rationale for the app. This is not to say that apps are unnecessary, in fact, they are extremely effective in interactive communication. However, it’s a waste of organizational resources if the same outcome can be achieved without an app, by using other less resource-intensive mobile device capabilities, for example text messaging or MMS.

So, what’s a better approach? Think goal first, technology second. Before you begin planning for employee communication initiatives using mobile technology, answer these three questions: Read More »

In our last post, we talked about scenarios where mobile technology can be useful for internal communications. Today, we bring some examples of how you can employ various mobile device capabilities for different communication objectives.

#1. INFORM stakeholders about key events and developments

While employees expect company executives to help them understand the “big picture,” it’s practically difficult for executives, especially in large-sized global organizations, to connect with them on a frequent basis. Telstra, with its 46,000+ staff, found themselves in a similar situation. So, they started sending short 30-second MMS (videos, images and text) blasts from the CEO to employees’ mobile phones. These blasts are used to promote the company’s financial results and significant announcements relating to brand and retail strategy. Similarly, the CEO and other executives at Kraft create audio messages (“Kraft Casts”) that employees can listen to on their iPhones and keep current on the latest corporate strategies and branding initiatives. Another organization, in order to promote a flexible benefits scheme, put QR code posters in the staff rooms. The employees didn’t have computer access during work hours but had smartphones using which they could scan the code and taken to a specially created smartphone website promoting the scheme.

#2. ALERT stakeholders about an urgent call-to-action

What’s the quickest way to reach someone in an urgent situation? Simple! Pick up the phone and call up the person (Learn how you can use other traditional and virtual channels for communicating with non-wired staff ). That’s exactly what Southwest Airlines used to do when a pilot was unable to attend his scheduled flight and it needed to be re-assigned to another pilot. Howsoever simple it may sound, with hundreds of manual phone calls and the requirement to follow a call sequence starting with the most senior pilots, it was a lengthy and inefficient way of scheduling. But, not anymore! Southwest now uses automated text messaging to alert pilots (in order of seniority) of open flights, who can respond back instantly on their phone using a two-way text messaging capability to notify their interest. This new solution helps the company to assign flights faster and also improve the overall productivity by eliminating the need to make those laborious calls.

#3. EDUCATE stakeholders to help enhance their knowledge and skills

We’re heading towards a world where education doesn’t require a classroom or the physical presence of a trainer. Digital technologies have completely changed the way education is imparted or consumed. It’s now more engaging, social, and fun. Many organizations are also embracing the trend of “gamification” of education to teach new skills to their employees. In order to educate clinicians about the physiologic implications of blood transfusion and discourage them from overdoing transfusions, Mayo Clinic developed an interactive scenario-based app “TransFuse” for the iPad. The user is presented with different clinical scenarios and receives points for making the best transfusion decision. The user also accumulates points for acquiring medical history and interacting with the app’s computerized clinicians.

#4. ENGAGE stakeholders in a two-way dialogue

Imagine you’re in a conference and want to network with other attendees, or as an event organizer you want to get instant feedback from the attendees. One of the member organizations that I recently spoke to is building a mobile app just to do that, to help their top leaders network better.

Verizon has an “Ideas” section on its intranet that lets employees make suggestions on how to improve the business, and also vote for or comment on other people’s ideas. The field employees can submit ideas through a mobile version of the site.

#5. ENABLE stakeholders to manage their day-to-day tasks, helping them become more productive

Organizations have so much existing intellectual knowledge residing with their employees. However, without peer collaboration and information sharing , the knowledge remains siloed. When I first heard about Siri, I thought it was some gimmick. But I still felt the idea of having someone readily available to answer all sorts of trivial/non-trivial questions was extremely cool. Mayo Clinic’s AskMayoExpert application does exactly that. Mayo physicians share their most up-to-date medical knowledge on diseases, treatments, and trial information on an electronic database that other physicians can readily access on their mobile phones. If the answer to his question is not available in the database, the physician can use the app to find the right physician to consult.

While technology has great potential, it’s important not to fall for the “technology trap.” Always think about the business needs first and use technology as an “enabler.” Watch out for this space as we bring more findings from our latest research study on mobile comms.

CEC Related Resources:

• Non-Wired Communications Channel Selection Guide
• Deepen Your Stakeholder Understanding
• Message Management

CEC Related Blogs:

• CEC’s Top 4 Internal Communications Tools
• Communicating with Hard-to-Reach Employees
• Next Step Tech—The Mobile Intranet
• User Profiles: The Cure for an Unloved Intranet

As technology evolves and becomes increasingly accessible, more communicators than ever are considering the use of mobile technology—text messaging, podcasts, smartphone apps, etc.—to enable communication to, from, and among employees.

While there can be numerous opportunities for using mobile for internal communications depending on organizational needs, here are three broad scenarios when launching a mobile communication channel may be more effective and beneficial.

#1: Target the “On-the-Goers”

The workforce is becoming more mobile as businesses compete in a global economy. Field technicians, sales executives, auditors, logistics personnel, etc. are always on-the-go for their work and struggle to remain updated about what’s happening back at the company office. In some cases, such employees are so disconnected that they run the risk of becoming disengaged. Thankfully, mobile employees are generally not without their mobile devices. So, wouldn’t it make sense to employ mobile technology to keep them aligned with the organizational goals, say a simple SMS update on important corporate news? Also, how about a mobile app that enables them to communicate with their office-based peers for problem solving? Learn how Chevron segmented its employee population to focus on mobile technology development for its “on the road” staff.

#2: Target the “Time-Starved”

Non-wired employees (i.e. those in production facilities, retail stores, restaurants, etc.) are not too willing to leave work in-between or use their limited break times to visit that lone intranet kiosk or read that dense information put up on the bulletin board. Even if you designed the best intranet site, put up the most visually-appealing message on the bulletin, or bombarded them with regular emails , employees may be just too time-starved to take notice, regardless of whether they are “wired” to the company network or not. Imagine a contact center employee putting down the phone to access the intranet. Sounds scary, eh? Well, now imagine a mobile communication strategy that provides easy, timely, interactive, and “at leisure” access to employees. Use CEC’s simple tool for selecting the right mix of traditional and virtual channels for communicating with non-wired staff.

#3: Target the “Information-Avoiders”

Yes, you read it correct – employees “avoid” accessing the information. But don’t get baffled. There may be absolutely nothing wrong with your communication strategy or employees’ engagement levels. Rather some cultural barriers, such as a manager expecting his subordinates to spend work hours only on productive/billable activities, may discourage employees from accessing the intranet so as not to be seen as slacking off. (You might want to share some of these simple empowerment tips with managers to help these managers cede some control to employees.) In other cases, employees may feel uncomfortable accessing information in the presence of their peers, especially on topics that are too sensitive or personal. Here, a mobile-based solution could enable a comfortable, private, and guilt-free information access to employees.

These are just a few examples among many more where mobile technology can be leveraged for improving communication effectiveness. If you have any examples about how companies are using mobile for internal communications, we would love to hear back from you. You can email me or leave a comment here.

CEC Related Resources:

• Non-Wired Communications Channel Selection Guide
• Deepen Your Stakeholder Understanding
• Message Management

CEC Related Blogs:

• CEC’s Top 4 Internal Communications Tools
• Communicating with Hard-to-Reach Employees
• Next Step Tech—The Mobile Intranet
• User Profiles: The Cure for an Unloved Intranet

You’ve long championed the need for an employee collaboration platform at your organization. After building a business case and securing resources, you launched a brand new social media platform for employees. However, the sad realization dawns soon. After some days of buzzing traffic, the platform looks deserted with just a few irregular visitors. You’re left disappointed and wondering why employees aren’t taking advantage of the opportunity to connect and share, given that they were clamoring for it.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone! Most companies struggle to not only drive initial adoption but also ensure sustained employee interest when they deploy internal social media platforms.

Here are two main reasons why it’s such a challenge—and what you can do about it.

1)  Limited Visibility: Having limited knowledge of who they can connect to and learn from, employees resort to connecting with those they already know (i.e., obvious connections based on function, title, and proximity), and thus don’t quite achieve the anticipated benefits of networking.

2)  Extra Effort: Due to the complexity of sifting through overwhelming irrelevant content, employees struggle to remain engaged with the network.

Leading communicators realize that it’s not the size of an employee network that matters, but the quality and diversity of connections that impacts employee performance. Moreover, the platform needs to be as intuitive to use as anything else that employees use in their personal life to find answers and stay in touch with friends.

Case in point: MITRE

MITRE developed an internal social media platform “Handshake” that automatically suggests relevant peer connections and aggregates relevant content for each employee based on his activity on the platform.

• Relevant peers are recommended based on shared interests (e.g., submissions around same topic, common memberships, etc.), irrespective of function, hierarchy, or geography, thus helping employees to build diverse, non-obvious connections across the organization. 
• Relevant content is recommended based on the employee’s activities and interests (e.g., keywords searched, discussion forums participation, etc.), enabling employees to quickly view and join relevant conversations.  

CEC members can learn more about how MITRE’s internal social media platform enables employee sharing and learning.  

CEC Related Resources:

• Peer Learning Platform (The MITRE Corporation)
• Principles for Peer Sharing and Learning
• Customizable Business Case for Internal Social Media

 CEC Related Blog Posts:

• Improve Your Performance through Peers
• What Makes Novo Nordisk’s Global Collaboration Effective
• How MITRE Measures the Impact of its Internal Social Network

• Do you wish you received more recognition of your talent and appreciation for a job well done?
• Do you wish you could get your job done faster and with fewer roadblocks along the way?
• Do you wish you received more support from your managers in getting things done?

Well, it’s not just you! Most employees wish they received quality mentoring, better recognition, and more clarity about organizational strategy. Think about the level of commitment, enthusiasm, and vigor you had when you initially joined the organization. Do you find it hard to maintain the same level of engagement now?

While your immediate manager might be best poised to help you discover newfound meaning in your work, don’t expect too much from him. After all he’s human and might be grappling with his own day-to-day work, too busy to focus on you. Or, he might just not be capable enough to understand what really keeps you going. Similarly the senior leadership—focused on setting and resetting strategy—is too far removed from your day-to-day experience to be of much help. 

That said, there is another critical but often unrecognized factor that helps keep the enthusiasm flowing. It’s your peers at the workplace. You spend a significant part of your day interacting with them and even if you don’t realize it, they influence your behavior as much, if not more, as your superiors. Peer recognition of your daily impact and support of your projects can help you to do better and have more fun at work commitments.

Employee Engagement: What role can Communications play?

Communications is uniquely poised to seize the opportunity to drive employee engagement by fostering peer support. However, rather than simply encouraging peer support from leaders and managers, Communications should play the role of an “enabler” and facilitate greater peer-to-peer interaction to build these personal bonds and foster peer support organically.

Case in point: TD Bank Read More »

Who on your team teaches others to communicate effectively with stakeholders? Who pitches in with his deep stakeholder expertise to guide development of an audience-centric communication? I’m sure there’s at least one person who fits the bill.

That person might be “The Coach”—the communications counselor, and also one of the four distinct skill profiles that emerged from CEC research’s 18 competencies of the modern communicator.

Before we delve deeper into defining and identifying the Coach, here’s a quick recap—just in case you missed any of our earlier posts in the blog series—of the four skill profiles that are based on how communicators’ key strengths around the 18 competencies group together:

• The Presenter—Knows What to Say and How to Say It
• The Influencer—Builds Relationships Across the Organization
• The Consultant—Solves Business Problems
• The Coach—Helps Others to Communicate Read More »

Have you identified your skill profile? If not, here’s another chance, now that we’re back with the third part of our blog series on four distinct communicator skill profiles:

• The Presenter—Knows What to Say and How to Say It
• The Influencer—Builds Relationships Across the Organization
• The Consultant—Solves Business Problems
• The Coach—Helps Others to Communicate

Today, we’re going to discuss “The Consultant”—the problem solver!

(Just in case you’re wondering what these profiles mean, they are based on CEC research’s 18 competencies of the modern communicator)

Read on to learn how you can strengthen your core Consultant skills while making a plan to address development opportunities and enable higher performance.

The Consultant
The Consultant is skilled at critically analyzing client needs. She is able to look beyond the obvious and surface the “real” need and root cause behind initial client requests, which enables her to offer high-value communication solutions. She is a results-oriented person, capable of deconstructing desired business outcomes and prioritizing communication activities in alignment with those outcomes. Moreover, she shows resilience and is willing to explore different paths to achieve the outcome, exhibiting sound judgment in complex or ambiguous situations. Read More »

Do you enjoy building relationships and view conflict a positive means of arriving at a solution? Are you comforable addressing potentially contentious issues, but find that data and tools make you anxious? Do you recognize the power and relevance of communication measurement methods, but struggle to contextualize data into recommendations or actions? If you answered “yes” to any of the above, chances are that you’re an “Influencer.”

CEC research identified 18 competencies that are critical for any modern communicator to succeed. Based on how communicators’ key strengths around these competencies group together, communicators can be categorized into four distinct skill profiles:

• The Presenter—Knows What to Say and How to Say It
• The Influencer—Builds Relationships Across the Organization
• The Consultant—Solves Business Problems
• The Coach—Helps Others to Communicate

In our last post, we introduced the Presenter; today, we’re back with the second profile—the Influencer. Read on to learn how to use your core Influencer skills while making a plan to address development opportunities for continuous growth.

The Influencer
The Influencer is skilled at building relationships with stakeholders across and beyond the organization. She is capable of handling conflicts and disagreements constructively by understanding business partners’ views and finding “win-win” solutions. This quality makes the Influencer a sought-after person for senior leaders and business partners who seek to understand the communication implications of their decisions. Further, she is a skilled communicator and presenter, capable of delivering compelling verbal communication—even on contentious issues—with confidence and sensitivity. Read More »