Communications can be a messy process because it involves people, one of the most imperfect factors. However, without a doubt, when you respect the vital importance of communications within your business culture then it’s easy to tackle the chaos.  You can take control of your business communications by following a few key tips:

1. Take a hard look:  Because business is more important than ever before due to post-recessionary pressures, it’s time to be honest about the quality of your organization’s current communications system.  Do you have one person in your organization who is leading the communications charge? Is that person directly reporting to the main decision maker (assuming it is you)?  Is the person leading the communications charge a trained as a communicator?  And, does the communicator have influence over internal and external communications processes?  If the answers to all the questions are no, then it’s time to dig in and solve these barriers to success.  It’s important to take a hard look and put a professional in place.

2. Determine personality: Do you like to give top-down directives or do you prefer a consensus-building style?  Are you a by-the-numbers person versus an abstract thinker? Would your employees say that your organization is transparent or do you protect information?  It is important to understand your communications style so you can develop an overall system that makes you feel comfortable.  If you don’t know the answers, then start by assessing your own personality style by taking a personality test like Myers-Briggs.  It will help you start the journey.

3. Gather the team:  Bring your communications director (or PR/marketing director) and other key executives together to examine what is and what isn’t working in your organization.  You can do this from a business perspective and then start to look at the communications patterns in your business. Do you have the structure in place to ensure that communications isn’t a barrier and instead aids the flow of business?  Are people accountable for their actions, do they have the expertise, and do they understand their responsibilities?  These are key communications chaos markers.

4. Conduct research:  Gather up competitive intelligence on your industry and competitors, and survey your employees and customers to secure the right data to build your communications framework. These actions ensure that you aren’t working in a communications vacuum.  

5. Define messaging:  After you have examined your personality, your people and your business, it’s time to clarify how your team communications with all of your audiences.  It’s a good idea to clarify what messages you need to be communicating internally and externally to your audiences.  A simple messaging platform - and the proper training – ensures that everyone on the team is sharing the right messages.  Ideally, you should consider having messages that can be shared in short sound bites with a good facts and some storytelling.

6. Audit materials:  With this knowledge in place, it’s time to do a marketing audit to determine if your systems are working the way your team desires.  Does your system match your personality, customer needs and messaging?  A systematic approach to examining materials based on your audiences needs can be an interesting fact-finding mission.

7. Develop a plan:  Ask your communications director to develop a solid integrated communications plan that defines the goals, objectives, strategies and tactics on paper.  This plan will be based on the information gathered and should include metrics to gauge success.  After you’re done, consider training your people about how to put the plan in action.  Each person on the team will benefit from this hard work.

If all this seems daunting, then try one tip and keep the process moving forward.  In the end, if all you do is start to value communications as a core part of your business, then you are on the path to overcoming the “quickie company” marker.

-Erika Schmidt

Now is the time to get your team – whether employees or volunteers – on the same page regarding strategic direction, vision, messaging, accountability and responsibilities. Turning communications chaos into cohesion through a facilitated process can help protect and grow your business, no matter if that business is private, public or nonprofit.

Taking communications systems for granted

We see two different types of organizations come through the Frause doors:  those that understand the value of communications and feel their system is broken and those that just want a quick media hit.  We love the first.  We also know the “quickie company” is doomed to a communications nightmare.

Reliance on complex communications systems

All businesses rely on a complex communications system to work.  Every moment of every day, people send messages back and forth. They pass on pertinent details to get work done. They aspire to a vision and work toward goals.  If information is blocked by limited sharing, misinterpretation, cultural barriers, irresponsibility or unclear direction, the system fails.  Communications is the thread that weaves together all business components.

Chaos adds to poor performance

The result of communications chaos is a poorly performing organization. The outcomes are many.  Anxious employees spend precious time worrying about their futures. Sales people limit profit by confusing customers. Inefficient internal operations waste resources. Internal team members create HR nightmares through squabbling. Worst of all, chaotic communications can result in a CEO who is out of touch with reality.

Just ask Howard Schultz

Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company recently spoke at the Seattle Chamber of Commerce Leaders and Legends lunch about how his team harnessed a wayward vision and misinformation to get the company of 150,000 partners back on track when it tanked in 2007.  Talking about his new book Onward, Schultz recapped how listening, gathering information, admitting mistakes, collaborating on a solution and ultimately sharing a new vision helped move the company forward. In short, Schultz harnessed his communications chaos (and his business strategy) to ensure Starbucks would remain a viable and thriving business.

Need solutions?  Watch for my next post later this week on “Six Steps to Harnessing Communications Chaos.”

-Erika Schmidt

More companies these days – large and small – are working harder to address sustainability in their daily operations and long-term planning, according to a recent story in the New York Times.  However, this same article chronicles the fact that climate may not be part of the equation when corporations consider how sustainability impacts their bottom line.

The reason for this oversight could be tied to the fact that here in the U.S. we don’t have national policies in place to address climate change – no cap and trade system or other regulatory trigger. However, can corporations work towards long-term sustainability without addressing what most in the scientific community agree is the biggest environmental threat we as a country, and as a planet, currently face?

The New York Times article addresses two approaches to addressing sustainability – the cautious dabblers versus the embracers.  The dabblers tend towards more short-term, measurable investments, such as energy efficiency.  The Embracers are making a stronger commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and tend to come from more energy-intensive sectors – companies that make products versus selling services.

And some of the embracers are taking their message to Capitol Hill. A representative of Timberland, speaking on behalf of a group of companies, presented a report by CERES to Congress stating that meeting U.S. EPA regulations would create about 290,000 jobs a year.  If these numbers are accurate, meeting the climate challenge could dramatically help to create greater economic stability and prosperity. Should we step up to that challenge, or are we blowing in the wind?

-Josh Chaitin