Michigan Association of Community Mental Health Boards (MACMHB)

1
Michigan Association of Community Mental Health
Boards (MACMHB)

• Internal Communications
• The Most Important Audience that Youre Probably
  Forgetting

2
Why Internal Communications?

• An organizations internal audience can be its
  most powerful asset.
• Communicating messages honestly, accurately and
  in a timely manner helps eliminate
  mixed-messages, rumors and even inaccurate or
  negative external communications.

3
Why Internal Communications? cont.

• Effective internal communications
  better-informed and more positive employees.
• Employees work more effectively if they are fully
  informed.

4
Internal Communication Uses

• Inform
• Motivate
• Change
• Give a sense of security
• Divvy responsibilities
• Clarify organization identification

5
Who Are My Internal Audiences?

• Employees
• Partner Groups
• Board of Directors
• Stakeholders
• Consumers
• Families of Consumers
• Vendors

6
Who Are My External Audiences?

• Lawmakers/Local Officials
• Media
• Public

7
What You Need

• Know your audiences.
• Align organizational objectives with
  communications channels.
• Establish procedures.
• Identify resources and bring everybody on the
  same page.

8
Know Your Audiences

• Local or far-away?
• Young or old?
• Full-time or part-time
• Working from home?
• Liberal or conservative?

9
Communications Audit

• How do we communicate?
• Print
• Technology
• Face-to-Face

10
How Are We Doing?

• Have we identified all of our internal audiences?
• Are our channels working?
• Are the audiences getting accurate information?
• Consistent Information?
• Timely Information?

11
Feedback

• Gauge your audiences through
• Surveys
• Response Cards
• Face-to-Face

12
Message Development

• What is our message?
• Crisis Response
• Announcements
• Policy Changes

13
Controlling Your Message

• From a crisis to a promotion to an employee
  marriage to a staff meeting cancellation, there
  should always be one consistent and accurate
  message communicated to the ENTIRE internal
  audience pool.

14
Gossip and Grapevines

• Weve all played telephone
• Emily has red hair becomes Emilys aunt was
  attacked by a bear in just a few steps.
• Controlling messages helps eliminate false
  information and gossip through your
  organizations grapevine.

15
ACTION

• Accurate mistakes cost credibility.
• Complete if you dont know, find out.
• Timely they need to know now.
• Informative if you know it, share it.
• Official one voice above all others.
• Newsworthy if its not news, its not news.

16
Face-to-Face Communication

• When theres
• No time to sift through messages.
• No time to write concise summaries.
• A situation that requires personal sincerity.
• An urgent situation.

17
Print Communication

• Use Print communication to
• Explain the how and why of your message.
• Drive people to a Web site or Intranet.
• Give Proactive News announcements.
• Give Reactive News what happened and whats
  being done.

18
E-mail Communication

• Use E-mail communication to
• Alert people to timely info.
• Pull them to a Web site.
• Deliver short summaries of news/announcements.

19
Intranet Communication

• Use Intranet communication to
• Go in-depth stories
• Interact using multimedia tools like podcasts and
  videos.
• Foster dialogue between internal audiences.
• Access info in and out of the office.

20
Consider New Technology

• Online is increasingly dominant.
• Print plays a critical, but secondary role.

21
New Media

• Message/bulletin boards
• Blogging online journal
• Online video used for business communication by
  management, training and documentation.

22
New Media cont.

• Social networking sites for recruiting, finding
  resources or reuniting with old comrades.
• Wikis the newest way to grow access to
  information within a company i.e. Wikipedia.

23
New Media cont.

• Podcasting Any company or person can produce
  regular or occasional broadcasts for download and
  replay.

24
KISS Keep It Simple Silly

• Leave nothing to the imagination.
• Dont let your message get lost in translation.
• Get down to the core of your message.

25
Expose the Disconnects

• Dont stick with something just because this is
  the way youve always done it.
• If your business plan says youre dynamic, and
  innovative, your communications shouldnt say
  youre stiff and resistant to change.
• If something isnt working be brave and make a
  change.

26
Measurement

• Are there increased levels of understanding?
• Are audiences paying attention?
• Review your communications plan/strategy and
  revise where needed.

27
Case Study - FedEx

• Where employees are ambassadors.
• Reputations take years to form, it can be ruined
  in an instant.

28
Case Study Citizens Financial Group

• Treat customers the way you would love to be
  treated - all the time.
• Larry Fish, chairman and CEO sends a hand-written
  notes to employees every morning.
• I spend more than half of my time on people,
  connecting with them emotionally, people work
  for more than their pocket they also work for
  their heart. Larry Fish.

29
Case Study - Sears

• Sears keeps in touch with all employees
• Monthly Online Survey
• Online Newsletter

30
Case Study - Avon

• Avon Ladies are powerful.
• When Avon entered JC Penney, CEO Andrea Jung met
  with top-selling sales reps and detailed Avons
  plan for a cosmetics line that wouldnt compete
  with individual sellers.
• We made sure our reps were the first to know as
  we developed our plans. It required honest and
  constant communication.

31
For Additional Information

• Emily Gerkin Palsrok, Vice President
• John Bailey Associates, Inc. Public Relations
• 517-316-0210

32

• John Bailey Associates Inc.
• Public Relations

www.baileypr.comwww.baileyblog.com