MGS - Communications

Communications

Vocational Pathways Project

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The learning objectives of this course are:

1. Describe the importance of communication and interpersonal skills.
2. Explain the role and function of internal and external communications.

Course content

2. Key communication skills

1. What is communication?

3. Internal communication

4. Why it matters

6. Tone of voice

5. Writing effectively

7. Ethics

8. External communication

10. Challenging conversations

9. Social media

What is communication?

“The transmission or exchange of information, knowledge, or ideas, by means of speech, writing, mechanical or electronic media” Communication is a crucial part of our daily lives. We communicate with people and organisations every day, either in writing, verbally or even non-verbally.

What is effective communication?

The 7 Cs of communication is the best place to start:

1. Clear – What’s the purpose of your message?
2. Concise – Keep it brief
3. Concrete – Include the essential information
4. Correct – Check your communication
5. Coherent – Are your points connected and relevant?
6. Complete – Be specific
7. Courteous – Be friendly, open and honest

The 7 Cs

The seven Cs of Communication

Key communication skills

What does bad communication look like?

As well as considering the benefits of effective communication, it’s important to think about common problems and barriers.

• Poor or no feedback
• Overuse of email or one form of communication
• Inattention during conversations
• Lack of leadership demonstrating good communication

what is active listening?

Active listening is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding. Five key behaviours and actions that will help you to actively listen:

1. Focus fully on the speaker
2. Avoid interrupting
3. Show interest
4. Avoid appearing judgemental
5. Provide feedback

How do you build relationships and trust?

What is internal communication?

“Internal communication is concerned with sharing information, building understanding, creating excitement and commitment and ideally achieving a desirable result. “The planned use of communication actions to systematically influence the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of current employees.”

Definitions

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Good communication is the key to success

Effective communication is

• Planned – it is not ad-hoc or haphazard
• Systematic – it is a process that applies some science and discipline
• About influence – it isn’t about forcing employees to do things
• More than ‘telling’ – it’s more than awareness. It’s not just making noise or telling for the sake of it
• Multi-disciplinary – information alone is not a strong driver

Definitions

it's a two way thing

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• One way communication has very little impact
• Internal communication is not simply a megaphone for corporate announcements
• Treat it like a conversation
• Ask questions and listen to opinions
• Different channels should be used for different purposes

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why does it matter?

There are four main purposes to internal communication:

1. Retain good people
2. Help people feel appreciated and want to work for you
3. Help people say the right things about you
4. Support major change

express yourself

How can we better connect with employees?

• Keep language simple
• If your language is inaccessible, people may feel alienated or assume it’s not for them and they won’t pay attention
• Technical jargon, excessive formality and metaphors are all common examples of alienating language
• Get rid of those and you break down barriers

“Tone of voice inside an organisation is the personality that comes through the language used when communicating with employees.”

Writing clear and effective emails

Top tips

• Ask yourself, would a phone call be quicker and more effective?
• Subject lines are more important than you might think. Aim to be clear and informative and grab the receiver’s attention much like a newspaper headline
• Keep it clear and focussed. It might be easier to send a couple of emails on different subjects, rather than one very lengthy one with numerous topics

• Always proofread what you have written
• Check your tone and be polite
• Be mindful about how formal or informal you should be. Some people like an informal approach, while others prefer more formality
• The use of emojis should also be considered in the same way

Tone of voice

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Identify who delivers the majority of communications and bring them in as champions

Consult your audience and get feedback

Remain recognisable when balancing internal vs external messaging

Keep language accessible and create style guides for consistency

Use your organisational core values or underlying principles as a base

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a way with words

Style guide

Having a style guide written down for all employees will help you cement your tone of voiceThere are many free examples online, such as the guide below from The Guardian “Style to be good must be clear. Clearness is secured by using words that are current and ordinary.” Aristotle

a few words on ethics

Professional code

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations upholds codes in the profession. Simply put, the code says communications professionals must act with:

• Integrity
• Operate fairly and honestly
• Protect the reputation of the profession
• Keep up to date with industry developments

external communication

External communication means an exchange of information both within the organisation itself and outside the organisation. Organisations communicate with the outside world on a daily basis via a variety of methods including:

• Your email list
• Social media
• Your website/blog
• Media relations
• Events

What tool should you use?

Your communications toolkit

This will depend on:

• The purpose of your message and what you want to say
• Your audience, knowing who you are writing for

Who do you want to reach?

Find your target audience

A target audience is a group of people who are most likely to be interested in your product or service. These groups can be defined by many demographic characteristics, including location, age, interests, values and profession.

useful tools

Find your target audience

• You don't need to use costly market research to know more about your audience
• Start with what you do have - your current audience, visitors or customers
• There are many free tools to find out who they are
• If you have social media, look at the insights tab to break this down - all of this is free data at your fingertips!
• Or use free social listening tools

Social media

“As we have seen in various global events, a well aimed tweet can change the world – why shouldn’t it change your organisation?” The potential of social media is enormous.But before you jump in and create a channel you must consider your objective and your audience. (Organisations Don't Tweet, People Do, Euan Semple)

Facebook

• Facebook is a social platform where users can post comments, share photographs, videos, live videos, and post links to news or other interesting content
• Their mission is to "Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”

• It remains a true leader
• It's an easy place for new organisations to get started
• It offers in-depth ad-targeting

Instagram

• A free photo and video sharing app
• People can upload photos or videos and share with their followers or with a select group of friends
• They can also view, comment and like posts shared by their friends on Instagram

• "It’s a newer, shinier, and maybe even happier place than the tried-and-true Facebook” (Gary Vaynerchuk, Crushing It)

• It’s less polarised and politicised
• A go-to for teens and millennials
• Most of Facebook’s advertisers are active on Instagram

Twitter

• Twitter is an online social channel where users send and read short messages called tweets
• Tweets may contain photos, videos, links and up to 280 characters of text

• It is often credited with breaking news stories faster than news agencies and traditional press outlets
• Latest features include fleets aka 'disappearing tweets', a message, video or a photo that is only visible for 24 hours

LinkedIn

• LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking site

• It is a business and employment-oriented service that operates via websites and mobile apps

• It is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting their CVs
• It’s the place to go for ‘thought leadership’

• There are professional groups you can join – e.g. the Scottish Communicators’ Network
• The latest features include uploading documents, posting your own articles/blog functions

Which museums and galleries have the biggest social media followings?

CHALLENGING CONVERSATIONS

How to handle conflict

• You will face occasions throughout your career when you have to have challenging conversations with an individual or group of people

• Nobody finds these discussions easy, but there are plenty of tools and techniques you can use to make them more productive and positive experiences

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CHALLENGING views

How to handle conflict

There are a few simple techniques that you can adopt to help influence the conversation:

• Be prepared. Have your idea ready and ensure that you have listened to the other contributions, as they might also support your suggestions

• Demonstrate how your idea will benefit your colleagues/business/customers
• Prepare for negative responses and be ready to answer questions

angry customers or colleagues

Try to avoid responding with anger. This will only make the situation worse and will get in the way of identifying the cause. Some other tips include:

1. Ask open questions to help identify the cause
2. Try to imagine how the person is feeling and understand why they are upset/angry
3. Look for a solution, and apologise if you think it is necessary and will help

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useful expressions

Constructive discussions

"‘I have a different perspective."‘"What other alternatives have you considered?" ‘"What are the potential risks?" ‘"Here’s another angle to consider." "We’ve listened to why this is a good idea. Let’s consider why this might not be a good idea for a moment."

Thanks for your attention

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