Welcome
to Econnect Communication’s December 2004 newsletter – ‘Getting it right
internally’. In our experience working with a wide variety of clients in
recent months, this is one of the biggest issues that organisations and
projects need to deal with. And if it’s not right, it can affect your
external communication as well.
This
has been a busy year for us. Michelle has submitted her PhD and come
back to full-time work and now looks back fondly on those hours devoted
to study. Jenni has been overseas working in South Africa and to
conferences in Barcelona and China, and Terri has been fully occupied
keeping all the work happening. And we’re also in the middle of office
renovations, which we hope will be finished within the next month or so.
(If anyone would like to lease office space in trendy West End, just let
us know.)
We’re
all looking forward to a break over the holiday period, even if it’s
only for a few days! We trust you have a safe and enjoyable holiday
period. Thank you for your continued interest in our newsletters.
Regards,
Econnect Communication
Jenni
Metcalfe, Michelle Riedlinger, Terri Telford
This month
– December 2004
Getting it
right internally
Relationships and messages
By Jenni
Metcalfe
Effective internal communication relies on developing good relationships
across teams and organisations.
This
depends on having a good understanding of the perceptions, needs and
concerns of the people involved in the project, program or organisation.
Before establishing internal communication outcomes and objectives, it
is important to consider what sort of relationship is desired with your
various colleagues, collaborators, managers etc.
A
relationship can be defined as a particular kind of connection existing
between people having dealings with one another. Desired relationships
that reflect the concerns and needs of those you wish to communicate
with will produce more realistic communication.
These
relationships will be further defined through experience. However, an
understanding of what is desired from relationships at the beginning of
the communication process will help direct that process.
To
better understand those you wish to communicate with, the key questions
to ask are:
Perceptions:
What do they already know and understand about the project/program/organisation?
Concerns:
What are their concerns about the project/program/organisation?
Communication needs:
What
information do they wish to know?
How do
they wish to be communicated/consulted with?
How do
they wish to interact with others on the project/program/organisation
team?
What
assistance do they require to ensure they are informed and able to be
involved?
You might
want to find out the answers to these questions through surveys,
questionnaires, workshop discussions or focus groups.
Whatever,
don’t just focus on external communication – remember that the success
of your external communication will often depend on how good your
internal communication is… which is often a refection on how well
informal and formal relationships have been developed.
By Michelle
Riedlinger
Here are some common causes of internal communication problems that you
might recognise:
1. If I know it, then everyone must know it.
2. We hate bureaucracy -- we're "lean and mean."
3. I told everyone, or some people, or ...?
4. Did you hear what I meant for you to hear?
5. Our problems are too big to have to listen to each other!
6. So what's to talk about?
7. There's data and there's information - we've got lots of data
8. If I need your opinion, I'll tell it to you.
Improving internal communication is hard to do but what organisational
culture change isn't? Some ideas to think about for next year are:
1.
Organisations and communication are like fish and water.
Demonstrate to management that organisations must have good internal
communication (like fish needing lots of water), or the organisation
will remain stilted. Get them to resource this effectively!
2. Do an
audit.
Effective internal communication starts with effective skills in
communication. Conduct a communication skills audit to find out what
aspects of communication staff enjoy or what they would like to develop
their skills in. Find out what the organisation needs to move forward.
3. Meet with
purpose.
Good meeting management skills are essential. This sets up positive
expectations about meetings. Be brutally honest with management if
needed –leave course brochures on desks at the very least.
4. What did
you mean by that?
Developing an organisational culture where each person takes
responsibility to alert others when they don't understand a
communication or to suggest (constructively!) when and how someone could
communicate more effectively is crucial. This requires a level of trust
and honesty – but what good communication doesn't?
By Terri
Telford
I think
one of the easiest ways to “get it right internally” is to start an
email discussion group. This is because when you post to a discussion
group, everyone receives the message and everyone sees all the replies
to your message (and you don’t have to remember to hit the “reply all”
button).
This
means it is less likely for information and opinions to slip through
unnoticed.
If you
work for a large organisation, your IT people would be able to assist
you with starting a discussion group. If you don’t have this luxury, the
easiest way to start a discussion group is to visit one of the free
online services like
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/ and follow the directions to start a
group. If you find the directions hard to follow (you’re not alone – I
know of at least one other person who has found it difficult), try this:
1.
Click the “start a new group!” button near the top middle of the page
2. Click
“sign up now”
3. Fill
in the fields and go through the registration process until you are
redirected back to the “welcome to Yahoo groups” page, or just go back
to
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/ and sign in
4. You
should then be taken to a page that asks you to select a category for
your group (most environment categories are listed under science). If
you’re feeling overwhelmed by the continual separation into
sub-categories you can click the “place my group in” button at any time
5. Fill
in the fields under “describe your group”
6. Fill
in the Yahoo profile, email address and word verification fields
7. Enter
your email address, verify your Yahoo password, and click the link in
the email that has been sent to you at the address you specified
8. You
will then be redirected back to the Yahoo groups page
9. Click
on the name of your group on the left side of the page
10. To
invite people to join your group, click on “members” on the left side of
the page and follow the prompts
Landcare in the
Philippines: Stories
of People and Places
The book Jenni
edited for ACIAR, Landcare in the Philippines: Stories of People and
Places, is now in print!
The book contains a
wide perspective of individual stories about the development of landcare
in the Philippines, richly illustrated with more than 170 colour photos
and maps. The 40+ storytellers include landcare pioneers, farmers,
facilitators, government representatives and community groups.
The book can be
downloaded from
http://www.aciar.gov.au/web.nsf/doc/ACIA-66CW4P or hard copies can
be purchased from the same website for $45.
The international
Public Communication of Science &Technology (PCST) Network is holding a
Symposium in Beijing late June 2005 to explore 'best practice' case
studies in science communication.
Participation in the
Symposium is by invitation only and will be based on nominations
received by the international PCST committee organising this symposium.
We would like to
urge people to make a submission on the website:
http://pcst2005.cast.org.cn before the end of January (deadline
extended from Dec 15 until January 31).
We would like to get
as many nominations as possible from around the world. After reviewing
all nominations, about 50 case studies will be selected and invited to
participate in the symposium.
The three science
communication areas being focused on are:
*urban and rural
communities
*youth
*scientists
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Contact Us
Econnect
Communication works with science, environment, ecotourism and natural
resource management agencies to:
-
evaluate and
develop communication strategies
-
write and design
products that meet audience needs
-
run workshops
that train staff and management in communication skills
Contact
us:
phone 07 3846 7111; email
admin@econnect.com.au
Website:
http://www.econnect.com.au
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©
Econnect Communication Pty Ltd, 2004
Articles in this newsletter can be reproduced if Econnect Communication
Pty Ltd is acknowledged as the source
