When it often takes ages to get communications approved…

How can we get to a place where your copy is always approved as quickly as possible – with no unnecessary rework?

Oh, wow! Sounds too good to be true, right? 

Would you really make this change if you could?

That may seem an odd question to start with. But there can often be a 'better the devil you know' thing going on for lots of folk. So, before getting into how to make it a reality we’d like to invite you to pause for a moment and think about these two alternative futures. Imagine staying stuck with that first scenario. How would it feel carrying it around with you for years or decades to come? Now imagine the second. What could that be like?

But would you really want it? If you were to get a series of logical, practical, ‘do-able’ insights, which would mean it’s your new, forever status quo, would you use them? Or would you shy away from making those changes, and allow that demoralising old scenario to continue to haunt your future?

It’s your choice – because having a consistently swift, smooth approvals process is completely and reliably do-able.

Step-by-step

So let's break it down and see what it’ll take. What do you and/or your key decision makers need to ‘get’? We’ll do this in four steps:

1. Why it’s bonkers to let this situation continue: what’s the likely impact of the current situation?
2. What’s likely to be causing it? There could be several factors, some of which may be more relevant to you than others
3. What would it take to eliminate these causes? What are the practical ‘do-able’ steps you can take?
4. What’s in it for you – and everyone else? The personal and business benefits you, and others, are likely to realise if you take those steps.

Much of what follows may seem blindingly obvious. But, often, the only way to be sure we don't overlook the obvious is to state it.But in fact it’s perfectly doable – as long as people are prepared to play ball. And that’s often the tricky part, is it not? So why should they want to? Let’s begin by looking at the impact of them not doing so: the impact on you, on themselves, and on your organisation:

Likely impact

…on you and approval group members

Needless time-wasting is one very obvious effect. And let’s not pretend it isn’t frustrating as well, which may lead to petty resentments building up between people who hold different views.

And the extra time people have to spend on this work means other activities get less attention, or people have to work longer hours to get through everything. 

All in all, it’s pretty rubbish. Why would anyone want this to carry on if it didn’t need to?

…on your organisation

Hold ups in the approvals process can delay the delivery of communications, or push deadlines to the point that costs can start climbing.

More insidiously, there’s the impact of uncomfortable compromises on the quality of the finished product. Many communications can end up being camels (horses designed by committee). And this can negatively affect the reputations of the communicators, and the results those communications produce. Employee attitudes and behaviours may both suffer. This in turn can have knock on effects on your organisation's costs, compliance and reputation.

Do you have anything to add to this list?

Again, why would anyone in their right mind not want to stop it now – if they knew a solution was to hand?

To find the solution, though, we have to get clear about what lies behind this gnarly piece of corporate life.

Likely causes

Many people believe it’s often an ‘ego’ thing: that some people feel an almost pathological need to put their stamp on any communication that passes across their desk. It’s almost as if they’re marking their territory. And while that may sometimes be the case we need to get clear about what’s driving people’s gut reactions to the copy in front of them?

Unfortunately it can be messy, as there are two potential issues behind this: content and style. Either can be enough to trigger those rewrites – but (and this is the messy bit) they may often be working against each other.

One person may be unhappy with the content, while someone else is fine with it, but doesn’t like how it’s being expressed. So they can end up arguing at cross-purposes, and may even start correcting each other’s corrections.

So the first thing we need to do is to separate those two the arguments

Content v Style

Disagreements about content are always possible if people who are allowed to object to any of the subject matter haven’t already signed off the brief. Does your briefing process include this step?

Arguments about style, on the other hand, have two potential sources:

1.   Your organisation doesn’t have adequate language standards

2.   The people doing the approving are consciously unaware of what’s driving their gut reactions. So they can’t consciously manage those reactions. Instead, they simply react spontaneously to something that “Doesn’t feel right” (and who can blame them?)

Potential solutions

Tackling the content issue, then, is largely a matter of procedure, with a bit of policy thrown in to back it up. What you’ll need are:

1.   An effective briefing process, which:

• identifies and validates all the necessary content for every communication,
• ensures it gets signed off by everyone who might be able to move the goalposts later on – before you write a word of the communication itself.

2.   A mandate which can ensure you and your team are able to use that briefing process every time.

For the stylistic part of the debate there are two possible issues you’ll need to address. The first may be optional. You’ll definitely need the second.

1. Improving your organisation’s style guide, or even introducing a set of language standards from scratch
2. Educating your clients, your team and approval group members about the unconscious processes which can drive those troublesome gut reactions.

The role of training

When dealing with some work performance issues training can be optional; people might be able get the learning they need from reading, or watching youtube videos. Not this time. 

When it comes to the stylistic parts of the process, much of the necessary learning draws on a field of research known as psychoneuroendoncrinology. (It’s the study of how our thinking affects our feelings and vice versa.) And to crack this particular nut you need to get everyone together in one place, where they can:

1. Become aware of their own individual unconscious processes
2. Share those with one another
3. Discover other options they may never have realised were even possible
4. Arrive at a consensus for how they’ll all approach approvals from hereon.

This learning is relatively quick, but there is no way of doing it other than having everyone together (whether physically or online).

And beyond the unconscious stuff, formal training can also play a role in teaching IC Specialists:

• ‘minimum hygiene’ language standards and tools (if they don’t already exist within the organisation)
• processes for taking IC briefs and for planning campaigns
• techniques for getting all the information they need from their clients, while using those processes.

As long as those practices are DFVP (Demonstrably Fit for Valid Purposes) they should complete the job of removing subjective opinion from the debate. So they’ll defuse the other parts of the puzzle.

But, as powerful as this can be, no training can guarantee to bring this issue to an end on its own. Beyond the training you’re also going to need:

1. An agreed, documented approach for signing off briefs and approving the subsequent copy, which all approval groups will then follow.
2. An agreement to review and refine that approach over time.

Where these solutions could take you

1. With an effective briefing process no one should ever have any need to change the content of your drafts (unless business circumstances have changed in the meantime).
2. With the combination of:

• effective language standards, and
• an ability to help your clients and approval groups understand and manage their own gut reactions…

…you can consign this issue to history.

Likely business benefits

…for you

Firstly, you and your team can have justifiable confidence in how you’re writing everything.

You’ll also be helping empower your clients and approval group members (and not just in their dealings with you). This can help your relationships with them (and do your career a bit of all right too).

And of course it can also save you so much of that wasted time.

…for your clients and approval group members

They can save themselves wasted time, and get on with other work. And they may even forge better working relationships with one another, and enhance their reputations with the employees.

…for your organisation

By speeding up the process, you may reduce the need for rush jobs, and save a few costs here and there.

And improving the quality (and perhaps the timeliness) of communications can only enhance employee performance.