How a Quick Assessment Can Go a Long Way to Elevate Your Internal Communications Function (and How You Function)

I remember going on a road trip a little more than 20 years ago and ordering a TripTik from AAA for the fastest route from San Francisco to Chicago. It took longer to order the map than the drive itself! Today, with the likes of Google Maps, we’ve come to expect the best routes for any destination in an instant. The same is true for assessing internal communications. Many of our clients want to know – fast – what gaps and opportunitiesexist in how they communicate inside organizations and run their function to be even better.

Being able to do comprehensive research on communications effectiveness and channels is so important, and not always doable when decisions about path forwards and plans need to be made in days, not months.

When time is of the essence, or a jump-start is needed, we have a shortcut solution that offers quick, sound counsel and a roadmap of recommendations to elevate internal communications.

Two Steps to an On-Site Assessment

We do an on-site assessment for our clients that consists of a one- or two-day visit to meet with the Communications team, key leaders and when possible, key stakeholders who are critical partners. 

1. When on-site, we discuss real-time business issues and needs and then review existing data, metrics, plans, messages and channels to see how well communications is supporting business performance.

We assess what we see against world-class attributes of great internal communications plus our team’s more than 50 years of internal communications experience. Key attributes assessed include topics such as:

• Messaging
• Planning
• Leader communications
• Two-way communications flow
• Channel effectiveness
• Use of standard operating processes
• Team practices
• And more.

Based on these attributes, we rate how the team’s efforts stack up against our internal communications effectiveness scale. So, organizations know where they are on the function’s journey to best-in-class and what to do next to get closer to the end destination.

2. Then, we develop a summary of key findings and recommendations to address strengths, gaps and priorities in the form of a path forward plan. The last step is a follow up meeting with the leader and/or team to dialogue about the findings and discuss what’s next.

All of that in about a week! Quick turn, low commitment. As Noa, my kindergartener, likes to say, “that’s easy peasy, lemon squeezy.” In fact, many of the organizations we work with make this a first step to any engagement.

We hear from our clients how useful this approach is because of the advice they get for how to improve communications in their organization that are focused around large-scale priorities, and how the Communication function can add even more value to the business. They say they like the approach as well because it involves the team in shaping the roadmap – and getting aligned around it, which speeds adoption and implementation. Plus, so much is learned by going through the process.

From Overwhelmed to Confident

Through the dialogue, we’ve also worked together to problem-solve immediate and lingering issues. I personally find joy seeing our clients go from feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where to start, to having a thoughtful, prioritized approach to tackle their biggest needs and opportunities. There’s little better than seeing teams feel confident in their plan and better positioned to make smart choices about precious resources.

Three Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Do you know what’s working and what’s not when it comes to communications in your organization driving business performance – beyond your own gut intuition?

2. Do you have opportunities/issues that need to be addressed right now?

3. Do you want to make your communications and/or your function better but don’t know where to start?

An on-site assessment may be your fastest road to relief.

How might a quick assessment of your communications help you build a better roadmap to elevate your internal communications?

—David Grossman

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

David Grossman helps leaders drive productivity and get the results they want through authentic and courageous leadership communication. He’s a sought-after speaker and advisor to Fortune 500 leaders. A three-time author, David is CEO of The Grossman Group, an award-winning Chicago-based strategic leadership development and internal communication consultancy; clients include: Astellas, Eastman, Health Quest, Hill-Rom, Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Microsoft, NYU Langone Health, Tenneco and Wyndham, to name a few.

A frequent media source for his expert commentary and analysis on employee and leadership issues, David has been featured on “NBC Nightly News,” CBS MoneyWatch, WSJ.com, TODAY.com, in the Chicago Tribune and the LA Times.

Among recent communication and leadership accolades, his leadercommunicator blog was named the #1 Blog on Communication by Feedspot.

David also teaches the graduate-level Building Internal Engagement course at Columbia University. Click these links to follow him on Twitter @ThoughtPartner and Facebook and to connect on LinkedIn.