Internal communications, or, as they are often called - corporate communications, business today pays more and more attention. It is understandable: this is not a tribute to fashion, but a growing need and a vital necessity. Much depends on the quality of the internal communications system in the company. And it has already become quite customary that large enterprises single out it as a separate functionality, creating appropriate divisions and hiring specialists in this field. However, small organizations often quite sincerely believe that their small “dimensions” still allow them to do without internal communications. And some companies in their conviction go further, believing that they do not have internal communications, and they do not need them at all. Let's deal with this misconception.

First fallacy: in a small company there are no internal communications.

Before discussing internal communications, let's define the basic concepts.

Internal communications are communication in the company of personnel and management in the course of joint activities: the exchange of information, ideas, thoughts, solutions, tasks.

Internal communication channels are specific ways of moving information flows in a company, which are a tool for distributing information in a certain direction, quality and for a specific purpose.

The internal communications system is a structured set of information channels that allows receiving and optimally distributing information messages of business, intellectual and emotional content in a company purposefully and with a given efficiency.

From the definition of internal communication channels, it is also obvious that communications are not transmitted by airborne droplets, like viruses, but through specific channels. Therefore, if there are communications, then there are channels.

From the definition of an internal communications system, it follows that there is no system in a company where the channels are not structured and not interconnected.

General conclusion: in the most unfavorable scenario, the company does not have a system of internal communications, and not VC as such.

“The enemy enters the city, sparing no prisoners, because there was no nail in the forge”

If we proceed from the thesis that there is a VC in any company, and the system of internal communications is not everywhere, then it becomes clear that in the absence of a VC system, they "live their own lives", develop independently, the company is not managed, but only used.

Misconception two: only big business, large companies need an internal communications system.

Consider the situation. Company A with 60 employees actively uses e-mail and skype for communication. A workplace for a new employee was organized in one of the office premises. After a while, it became obvious that, due to the specifics of the functionality, he needed a local printer. Colleagues told the newcomer that permission to purchase office equipment is given personally by the general director, the purchase is handled by the office manager, and the installation is carried out by a technical support specialist. The employee, following the advice of colleagues, wrote a memo addressed to the general director about the need to purchase a printer, to be sure, he duplicated the application by e-mail, sending a copy also to the office manager. And in order to speed things up, he promptly informed the technical support specialist via Skype that he needed to install a local printer. And the turmoil broke out. While the office manager and the technical support specialist figured out among themselves who and what to purchase / install, while they found a memo with a brilliant general visa, time passed. Which, by the way, both - both the office manager and the system support specialist - should spend not on figuring out such things, but on completely different, useful activities. Meanwhile, the new employee, meanwhile, was sitting without a printer, running for his printouts to a network printer, winding extra kilometers around the office and also wasting his working time.

There is an unsettled process and an eternal companion of this phenomenon - chaos in internal communications. The cost of this chaos is the loss of working time and a decrease in labor productivity.

How often do we encounter the fact that internal communication channels are used irrationally and chaotically, at best, according to informal rules, and at worst, as anyone comes to mind.

If there are several of these channels, and with the current level of information technology development in any office, as a rule, there are not one or two of them, then employees do not have the opportunity to structure the flow of incoming information. And they are forced to parse this stream on their own, often receiving and sending messages that duplicate each other through different channels. At the other extreme, the data is transmitted through the wrong channels. And this is also the result of the lack of a system of internal communications. For example, employees transfer files by mail or other means of communication, and not through server storage, which is found in many corporate networks. Or they schedule a meeting using Skype or some other communicator, instead of Outlook, which has the corresponding service. Unfortunately, there are many such examples.

The smaller the company, the easier it is to build internal communications into a system

As you can see, these things are not connected with the scale of the company's business. Rather, they are associated (and exacerbated) with business growth. And to grab on to building a system of internal communications during the period of rapid development of the company means to follow the well-known domestic principle “you need it yesterday.”

The smaller the company, the easier it is to build internal communications into a system. And when the enterprise enters a phase of rapid growth, it will no longer be possible to restore order in the communication chaos.

Misconception three: the system of internal communications is an expensive pleasure.

Internal portals, corporate social networks and other "corporate communication happiness" - all this requires an impressive investment. And for a compact company that does not have a regional network, these solutions are not needed. She needs order in communications. And order is the system. And no order requires any impressive investments. To restore order, you need to realize the need to restore it, the will of the management and the establishment of a clear, intelligible regulation on the use of all VC channels in the company. Regardless of whether it acquires a corporate portal or uses only the capabilities of Outlook and Skype for communication.

“The song helps us to build and live”

Misconception four: internal communications are part of the corporate culture, and corporate culture is corporate holidays, various events outside of work, and other “excesses”.

Of course, internal communications are part of the corporate culture, and a very important part of it. But corporate culture is not only holidays. This is the culture of doing business in the company, the culture of interaction between functions, processes, divisions, employees. Internal communications are not entertainment, but a realized necessity. Treating it as an excess and luxury negatively affects the quality of any business interaction.

So, we figured out the main misconceptions about internal communications.

Brief summary. Every company has internal communications. They must be linked into a system in order to work effectively. This is not a luxury, but a necessity for a successful business. The quality of communications does not directly depend on the amount of investment in the development of communication channels.

Here comes the crisis...

Now consider such an important aspect as the role and importance of internal communications in times of crisis or changes in the company. It is in these cases that the importance of communications in general, and internal communications in particular, increases so much that they are “remembered” even by those companies that sincerely considered the communications system a luxury or, worse, an unnecessary excess.

And the last introductory "news" in this regard - the crisis has become a permanent phenomenon. Crises only change their configuration, scale and appearance, but accompany the business environment constantly. Hence the moral - to build a business and, accordingly, internal communications should be with the understanding that we are in a state of crisis, not serene stability.

With the onset of the crisis, the competitiveness of the business environment sharply increases. And this environment requires prompt response to any information signal, to any change. In a competitive race, the winner is not the one who owns the information, but the one who quickly and efficiently manipulates it: finds, structures, transmits, receives. This is exactly what the communication system provides. All major business transactions must be carried out quickly, clearly, and efficiently.

The internal communications system (ICS) is a tool for company management. Clearly built, it allows you to increase the involvement of employees in the implementation of business strategies, manageability by reducing and optimizing information chains, thereby reducing costs. Agree, in a crisis this is extremely important. The speed and quality of information flows is a necessary condition for a company's prompt response to a rapidly changing business environment and market situation.

An effective ICS is a tool that helps reduce the stress of all staff in a company in a crisis situation. It is internal communications that provide opportunities to convey the leader's ideas to the staff, reduce the demotivating influence of aggressive external circumstances, unite the team and unite it against the "external enemy".

One of the most destructive factors for the corporate environment is information hunger. The information space of the company does not tolerate a vacuum, and any “hole” in it is instantly filled with fantasies that can undermine any, even the most harmonious system. It is the ICS that maintains a smooth information background of the company and ensures the timely receipt of the necessary information.

Thus, ICS today is by no means a luxury and a privilege of big business, but a system that ensures the survival and development of a company of almost any size in modern conditions.

For the formation of the ICS, it is not at all necessary to unfasten impressive investments. There are many budget solutions. Including those that allow you to more effectively use the communication tools that the company already has.

Every organization has a corporate email. A well-organized system of mailing lists, the rules for their use: who, what, to whom (target audience) and for what reason sends out. This is one solution that does not require additional investments - a more efficient use of an existing channel.

Bulletin boards, flyers, corporate paper media - the old fashioned way. To some, it will seem too unfashionable, but nevertheless it is effective and attractive with its budget.

Information events: different formats, fast, mobile, for different staff audiences. A little organizational effort - and the required information background has been created.

The so-called speakerphone is a fast and effective way to promptly notify the office of any event.

All this and much more, linked into a logical system managed by a single communication center, can effectively solve the problem of information support without additional funding. Only by putting things in order and regulating the work of internal communication channels.

Internal communications must be proactive. The external environment is active, it quickly forms an information field on any event, so the company needs to be ready not to catch up with explanations of information received from outside, but to get ahead of its penetration with its informational message.

You can fight as much as you want with office abuse of employees in the use of social networks. But in any case, it is possible to lower the "iron curtain" only for a period of working time. Outside of it, no prohibitions on employees apply. They actively scoop out from the external environment what they were deprived of during working hours. If a company is not ready to oppose them with its high-quality information field, then it will inevitably fail in this unequal battle.

The recent global financial crisis has clearly shown how helpless in the face of panic, penetrating from the external environment, were companies that did not work on their internal communications. They were forced to respond to circumstances that did not directly affect their business and work on the demotivating factors brought by employees from the expanses of a nervously pulsating market. All this can and should be prevented using internal communications. During the crisis of 2009, there were massive layoffs in companies, and budgets for social security and training were sharply reduced. Information was unloaded in a stream into the external information field, creating nervousness (to put it mildly) and anxious expectations of the personnel of those organizations where things were going well. This inevitably led to a decrease in work efficiency and labor productivity.

If, under such conditions, the company does not work with its own information field, does not create transparency for the staff regarding the state of the company's business, then one has to reap the fruits of such an external panic. And the internal corporate information field is formed and filled with internal communications.

When any factors really undermine the company's business, causing damage to it and forcing it to take unpopular measures against personnel, internal communications can reduce the severity of the situation and stress reactions. If the company's informational response to negative factors arrives untimely, then there is a risk that the staff will work ahead of the curve, and react faster and more aggressively than management can expect.

SVK creates controlled information flows aimed at company employees and displacing informal speculation, external and internal panic reactions.

SVK - tool of any modern leader. After all, the manager must form communication and broadcast his version of the explanation of what is happening to his subordinates. Today, the leader who manages information flows is successful. And you can manage them through the SVK. And today, those companies that are able to act quickly, providing high speed and quality of information exchange in their business environment, are successful. All this is solved by the system of internal communications.

In a crisis period, the possibilities of long-term planning with a high share of implementation are sharply reduced. The periods of real planning are becoming short, which, however, does not cancel the natural need of the staff to understand the prospects: business, company and their own. Management cannot afford to make promises to people without guarantees that they will be kept. But if the staff does not receive such forecasts from the management, then an information vacuum arises, which is always filled with their own assumptions, usually negative ones. Employees always need long-term forecasts - this is the only way they can plan their own future or get confidence in its stability. In a crisis, the only way is to move in small steps, highlighting business plans at accessible and visible (planned) stages. Therefore, constant communication between management and staff regarding plans and business opportunities for the short term is extremely important. Employees transform the company's strategic plans into their little guarantees of a "bright future". But when great plans become essentially unfounded slogans (which is obvious to people and therefore does not “warm”), it is imperative to offer “momentary reality”.

Figuratively speaking: we do not know what will happen to the climate in 10 years, and people need to plan their lives in favorable conditions. Therefore, we show the weekly dynamics of the weather, on the basis of which you can build small forecasts and be sure that tomorrow the ice age will not come.

The only way out of this situation is constant communication between the management and the company's personnel, which ensures the regular flow of reliable information in equal doses over short periods of time. Such a rhythmic dialogue - as evidence of the presence of constant communication - stabilizes and improves the situation in the company, which is extremely important in a crisis period. And in a favorable market situation, loyal and engaged employees will allow the organization to get ahead, maintain its position in the market or capture higher ones.

So, we have considered what an internal communications system is, and how significant a role it plays in the company's business. It is obvious that the internal communications system is not a luxury available only to large businesses, but a recognized necessity for a company of any size if it seeks survival, prosperity and development.

Who should be in charge of all this "restless economy"?

In practice, if the company does not allocate ICS into a separate cross-functional area, then this function belongs to the HR or PR department. In my opinion, it is more efficient to transfer it under the responsibility of HR specialists, because ICS goals are directly correlated with the goals of the HR department, which, in turn, permeates all business processes of the company. The PR service is a partner in the ICS, since it is she who owns the main tools of internal communications. Often there is a situation when IT is engaged in internal communications in a company. This is fundamentally wrong, because. The IT department only delivers technical solutions through the main ICS channels.

The great era of proud silence of management and obedience of the staff is gone forever. It's the age of communications. They "flash" our whole life and are the key to survival. Therefore, the illusory belief in the absence and uselessness of internal communications due to the scale of the company is not an argument for ignoring the fact of their impact on life in general and business in particular.

An internal communications specialist is needed for a company in which several tens or hundreds of people work on projects. Such a person becomes especially necessary if employees work remotely, if offices are located in different parts of the world and time zones. The task of an internal communications specialist is to synchronize the work of different departments, monitor the microclimate in the team and organize joint leisure activities for colleagues. But there are other responsibilities as well. The Secret asked several internal communications experts to talk about their work.

Zlata Nikolaeva

Head of External Communications at Qlean, ex-RBC, ex-Afisha-Rambler

Let's imagine a company of ten people, including a CEO, a developer, and an accountant. The head of such a company probably does not need to come up with any special communications with the team. Everything is clear and so: people communicate with each other, learn news about the company and the market in which they work, celebrate holidays together and experience failures. No additional tools are needed here, except for mail and messenger, smoke breaks and corporate parties in the “Cover a clearing in the office” format. However, if several dozen people work in a team, and not everyone communicates with each other (which is absolutely normal), it is worth considering that all employees are informed about what is happening in the company, about its present and future. If this is a company of several hundred people, this can be very important.

There is no need to make a cargo cult out of the very concept of internal communication, they say, we will now hire a special manager, and he will do magic for us. First of all, it is important to understand what exactly you want to achieve with the help of internal communications. Do you want your employees to pray for you, be satisfied, happy and rush to work every day with butterflies in their stomachs? This is unrealistic, and no communication can achieve this.

It is important for everyone to achieve several goals: for the employee to be informed about what is happening in the company and its key projects, to be aware of the company's plans (product, marketing and others), to know by name and face the key people of the company. And ideally, he knew that the employer did not give a damn about him, that he was taken care of, because he was an important part of the mechanism. There are other tasks: so that the employee can relax and have fun with colleagues, no matter in what form, beer on Fridays, team building or corporate events. This is a great and useful thing, conversations in an informal setting bring people together. The main thing is not to overdo it and start forcing the team to sing the corporate anthem on Mondays at 10 am.

It is very important that people know what they are doing, why, and how this "what" and "why" is related to the overall direction of the company.

At Qlean, there is no big need for serious work on internal communications yet, we are not very big, and tools like Slack are enough. I didn’t have KPI at previous places of work, there were only tasks and deadlines. For example, every Friday it was necessary to send out a letter with the news of the company, if there is urgent news, it was necessary to quickly prepare and send it. It is not so easy to evaluate the result, in the end, someone may simply not read, not listen, not know and not want to know. All people are different, and so are your dear employees. When, in the event of a non-standard situation and with any incomprehensible question, employees turn to you as “knowing the answers to all questions, or knowing who to turn to” - this is the result.

We did not have such serious scandals that they caused a violent reaction within the team. Firstly, everyone is passionate about their work and often some things are noted later. Secondly, if someone wants to ask: “What is this, the position of the company?” or “Are you crazy?” - he (she) asks a question in the same Slack, for example. We quite calmly discuss, argue, even swear, and everyone can reasonably say to the other: “It seems to me that you behaved (behaved) yourself. *** ". Some disputable situations and their resolution lie mostly in the field of external communications.

Evgenia Shipova

Uber Communications Manager in Russia

At Uber, the internal communication system is well built and works, because it is very necessary in the company. The focus of our business is to improve the efficiency of processes, their scaling and simplification. That is why constant communication between team members, the transfer of experience based on the results of already implemented projects is very important. Internal communication and internal management help to make decisions faster and move forward.

Internal communications are very important for companies with high growth rates. If we talk about Uber and the scale of business growth, then on December 31, 2015, users around the world made a billion rides through the platform. In mid-June 2016, this figure doubled. At the same time, in order to make the first billion, it took us about six years (from the moment the company was founded in 2009 until the end of 2015), then to reach the second one - only six months.

There are about 7000 employees in our company. The application is available in more than 500 cities around the world, and each city has employees of the company. The selection of employees and the work of management with them is aimed at ensuring that people understand how their role affects the operation of the company - even in the most junior positions or in functions that companies traditionally perceive as a “support function”, that is, not core tasks.

It is very important in this sense to constantly exchange information - and not only with employees of your department, but with other departments and colleagues from different countries. This happens regularly at Uber. Each employee knows that such meetings are an opportunity to understand what his team has done over a certain period, how it differs from what teams in other countries have done. This helps to avoid situations where we reinvent the wheel. Using the experience of colleagues helps to improve what they have done, but in relation to local conditions, taking into account possible errors.

It is very important to break down tasks into several components, set goals for teams and plan their work for some short period of time (for example, a week or two) and report on the results. This helps to efficiently allocate resources and achieve results, even when there are several tasks and all require simultaneous response.

Among the tools: internal chats, teleconferences, planning tools, the ability to remotely access different documents from different offices. All these tools reduce bureaucracy, help increase the efficiency and transparency of processes, and make the exchange of information easier.

It is very important to be able to quickly find the information you need. To do this, Uber uses internal resources (where you can easily find certain documents). The company has cross-functional divisions that know what is happening on the ground, and can at any time find the right person in order to request the necessary information from him. As a rule, following the results of large projects, teams make up so-called playbooks, which then become available to all employees. The purpose of playbooks is to briefly describe the implemented project and results, indicate what difficulties have been encountered and what could be improved. This helps new teams start a new project with the experience of the previous one already behind them.

An important point: well-established internal communications help to get rid of bureaucracy. At Uber, the function of internal communications is performed by the employees themselves, but each in his own field. Almost every department has its own pages on internal resources, where you can find out information about the latest projects, find the right employee. There are no separate employees who deal exclusively with internal communications.

A situation where there are conflicts or misunderstandings between departments is rather unlikely, because everyone has their own KPIs that are part of the KPI of the global function or country. Working groups for projects are always created, especially when it comes to launching a new city, a new feature in an application, a new product. As a rule, in each situation, teams work together that are responsible for building processes for working with drivers, marketing, communications, lawyers and other departments.

Janis Dzenis

PR director of Aviasales

The fact that you do not know all your colleagues by name can be a definite signal to turn on internal communications. And the second point: it is much easier to work on something when all employees understand why and for whom they work.

In addition to Aviasales, we have three more brands, and the number of products cannot always be counted. Let's add geography to this: mobile development is located in St. Petersburg, some of the programmers leave for Moscow for the summer, support works from Vilnius, and most of the employees are in Phuket (there are 150 people in the company). As a result, we get a strong need to connect all these people.

Of course, we are not talking about corporate parties. Guys can leave for the whole weekend in a neighboring province simply because they are interested in being together, and in this a significant role of HR is to find people who are comfortable with each other. The task of internal communications is to identify "thin" places (where information is lost) and create situations for communication.

From the point of view of delivering messages, we broadcast from quarterly meetings from Phuket, where the CEO talks about what is happening in the company and what awaits her in the future. Watching these broadcasts, of course, is optional, however, according to my feeling, everyone who is online at the moment is watching them, because everyone is interested. In addition to the quarterly broadcast, there are monthly letters to all employees with a report: no brainwashing, only numbers and facts. If someone wants to talk about the "mission of the company", they will probably be thrown into the pool.

Internal research and interviews are good ways to understand if communications are working. It makes sense to include relevant questions in the Employee Survey / One-to-one Performance Appraisal and track projects that have appeared at the junction of different teams, if this was the goal. In fact, sometimes even a sticker on a laptop is an element of internal communication.

If the goal of internal communications is some kind of synergy, KPIs can be in projects that have appeared at the junction of different products and teams.

We have a common channel in Slack, where everyone can speak out quite calmly. If you remember

Director of the Communications Department of the Polytechnic Museum

In such large-scale projects as the Polytechnic Museum, a clear and well-thought-out system of internal communication is indispensable. I am now thinking about how to unite the Polytech teams scattered around Moscow. Before 2018, we will not find ourselves in the historical building on Lubyanka, and our exhibitions at VDNKh and other venues, scientific laboratories at ZIL, Open Funds in Tekstilshchiki continue to fully exist. It is important for employees to understand what certain departments of the museum are doing in order not to stray from the general course. Heads of departments should meet at least once a week. And the follow-up of such meetings is also necessary to write: always and not “on the table”. E-mail, workgroups and a clear corporate website should be actively used in work. And it is desirable to leave the minimum number of working chats on Facebook.

Meetings and a shared document in Google Docs help us a lot, a tool that everyone understands and is easy to use both online and offline. Trello and Slack are great programs for small workgroups. Now we are preparing for one of the biggest projects of the year, the Science and Technology Film Festival 360°. External curators and three of our departments are working on it. In order to synchronize and quickly resolve issues, everything is used - from Google Docs to instant messengers.

After the “Context” training (Business Relations course), I began to pay attention to how important it is to trust your team and to say as frankly as possible all the pros and cons of what was planned. The guys want to understand the main goal, see the interconnections of processes, and receive detailed briefs. And most importantly - feedback on the work done.

In addition, we need trips, matinees, meetings where ideas are discussed (and always in a friendly atmosphere, without the mood of “at school in front of a deuce”), the ethics of work correspondence, respect for personal space - everything seems to matter when it comes to the team. The result of such work is expressed, it seems to me, in greater enthusiasm of people, their dedication, and as a result, in better performance indicators. I like the lyrical approach here: all team members should be not indifferent to the final result. It is important to work together, not against each other.

Cover photo: Thinkstock

The structure of the organization and the decision-making process are served by the internal communications system (ICS). The analysis of communications is necessary, since the relationship between employees of different ranks has a direct and tangible impact on the work of the organization as a whole, influencing motivation, value systems, and positions of groups and individuals. In addition, it is impossible to fully cover intra-company relations without studying the channels for disseminating information.

One of the main communication problems is the problem of the quality of information, as well as its sufficiency, timeliness, and accuracy. Both formal and informal communications obey some general laws:

Before a communication is established, both sides of it, as a rule, quite accurately determine its goals.

Strong communications occur when both parties do not try to achieve results immediately and in full.

Of great importance for the effectiveness of communications is their physical and psychological environment, as well as the ability to quickly adapt to specific conditions.

Communication is more effective when non-verbal communication methods are used (intonation, gestures, posture, etc.).

The effectiveness of communications is increased by valuable and useful information for the recipient, even with fragmentary contacts.

Feedback is essential to control the quality and content of information and the quality of communications.

Within the organization, communications should be based on long-term interests and goals. This increases their stability and flexibility in everyday work.

Of great importance for communication is the practice of active listening, which involves, first of all, the cessation of one's own speech, benevolent attention to the interlocutor, the absence of a dispute and extraneous activities during the conversation and an attempt to accept the interlocutor's point of view (or at least understand it).

Stable two-way and one-way channels in an organization form a communication network. It relies on intra-company communication and is mostly informal, like communication in a small team as a whole. Modern psychological management argues that management should take an active part in informal communication. In addition, the manager can use informal communication channels to quickly disseminate important information. This approach seems to be effective in the presence of a small team. With its help, it is possible to determine with a high degree of certainty the internal springs of personal communication - the goals and motives of communication.

All personal relationships have at least one of four main goals:

• Formation of a correct idea of ​​the surrounding world and society, including - and of oneself;
• expression of feelings and emotional contact with others;
• influence on the behavior of others, including - its change in the desired direction;
• business goals.

In each case, communication has several goals, but one of these will play a decisive role.

Note that, from the point of view of each individual, business goals are by no means the only component of human relationships. Moreover, according to P. M. Diesel and W. McKinley Runyan, the most important and widest function of human personal relationships can be considered the formation of a correct idea of ​​the world around, society and oneself, which is also confirmed by research in the field of motivation. It is the realization of this goal of communication that allows each person to satisfy a number of higher-level needs.

For the identification of the world, society and self-consciousness, the following factors are of decisive importance: perception, communication, the role of a person in an organization. Thus, building an effective system of internal communications in an organization is an important and necessary condition for its prosperity.

The internal communications system (ICS) is a set of information channels that allow the transfer of information of business, intellectual and emotional content within the organization between employees. At the same time, top managers, line managers and employees of specialized departments that work with the ICS in the organization can be singled out as subjects of communication.

Ideally, the ICS in any organization, regardless of its type of activity, should meet the following principles:

l openness;

l simplicity and clarity;

l regularity;

b sufficiency;

l complexity;

l credibility;

l timeliness.

Communications must be clear, precise, provide the necessary information related to professional activities. They should create an atmosphere of trust, improve the socio-psychological climate in the team.

The causal relationship between the effectiveness of the ICS and the results of the organization's activities is confirmed by studies conducted among employees of Western companies, 28% of which showed that the information they need reaches them too late, and more than half (58% of employees) believe that the disseminated in the company, information is not related to professional activities. As a result, 60% of the employees surveyed want to change jobs. At the same time, to change the composition of personnel, serious financial investments will be required both for the selection and determination of the level of professional competence of personnel, and for the adaptation period. It will take three to nine months for new employees to reach the level of "self-sufficiency" (when the economic result of the new employee's activity exceeds the investments invested in him).

The main criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the internal communications system are:

l number of communication channels;

the quality of joint work that requires the efforts of different departments of the company at the same time;

l the number of intermediate links in the transmission of information;

l timeliness of dissemination of information;

l adequacy of the use of information channels in the field of activity of the enterprise;

ь the presence of a balance between vertical and horizontal communications within the company, between documented (formal) information and verbal means;

l the state of the socio-psychological climate in the team;

l the number of disseminated informal communications (rumors).

To create a positive image of the company in the market, it is necessary to bring the necessary information to employees in a timely manner, which, as a result, will make it possible to increase the overall manageability of the company, increase work efficiency, staff motivation and operational activities in the market, and will also improve the socio-psychological climate in the team.

Creating an effective internal communications system consists of seven main steps.

First of all, it is necessary to diagnose the existing communication system. For example, find out if company meetings are held, is there a corporate Internet portal, bulletin board or honor board, where photos of employees and a list of their achievements are located, understand through whom and how quickly rumors spread, whether opinion polls, questionnaires are conducted in the company, in-house training. The next stage is the creation of a single information space, the development of a company policy and standards in the field of VC, then the implementation of these standards, strengthening the loyalty of personnel, then monitoring the performance of the VC system, assessing its effectiveness and taking measures to improve it, setting new tasks in the field of internal communications management.

Tools for building and improving the efficiency of the internal communications system are divided into four main types: informational, analytical, communicative and organizational.

It is important to note that most companies use no more than two groups of tools at the same time, while it is recommended to use the tools of each group to build an effective system.

In general, we can say that the most effective use of communications depends on such important factors as the professionalism of managers, the structure of the organization and its characteristics, the presence of stable interpersonal relationships between members of the organization, the culture of subordinates, the position of the organization in the external environment (closedness or openness), the competence of employees .

Thus, the effectiveness of management depends on the effectiveness in communications and building an optimal communication process.

As a result of studying this chapter, the student should:

know

• - goals and objectives of managing internal communications of the organization;
• - the meaning of the term public relations and why organizations need public relations;
• – know modern systems for managing external communications;
• – how does the communication system work aimed at establishing public relations;
• - what types of texts are used in PR activities to convey information;
• - why do organizations need to build relationships with government agencies - GR (Government Relations);
• – how the work of a GR manager in a company can be organized;
• – what justifies the need for the activities of organizations but relations with investors;

be able to

own

– ways of organizing work on managing internal and external communications of the organization.

Management of internal communications of the organization

Any process must be managed, especially such a branched and important for the life of the organization as the movement of information in the course of its activities. It is extremely important to manage the technological (production) process, the processes of supply and shipment of products, the process of hiring personnel, training workers, etc. But all these processes cannot be managed without organizing the movement of information.

Improving the work with information today is very active. At the same time, the main directions are: the creation of databases, computer networks, the introduction of professional software products. These are certainly very important aspects, but technical means alone cannot solve the problem of improving communications. The fact is that the main problems lie in the "man-man" field, and this problem cannot be solved by improving the "man-machine" interaction. However, only a few organizations approach the issue in a comprehensive manner, improving all aspects important for communications - both technical, and aspects of human relationships, and issues of attitude to work, etc. Communications management should be carried out systematically, i.e. a coherent, well-thought-out management system should be created.

Main objectives of the communications management system is forging:

• information support of management decisions;
• information support for change management - company restructuring, development of new technologies, business mergers;
• reduction of resistance to change on the part of employees of the organization;
• identification of communication and management problems of the company;
• formation of a corporate community of the team and the creation of employee motivation;
• formation and support of corporate culture (corporate values ​​and norms of behavior).

As well as other areas of functional management (personnel, financial, quality management, etc.), communication management follows from the goals and strategy of the organization, is implemented in tactical decisions, has its own goals, programs, and budget.

Communication management within an organization is essential to form and organize the flows of information circulating in it. The implementation of this function plays a huge role in shaping the ideology of the company. Directed flows of information create a psychological atmosphere, work attitude, help to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings.

The work of internal communications specialists differs from company to company, due to the specifics of their activities. The following is a sample list of areas of activity for an internal communications specialist:

• – creation and maintenance of portals, blogging;
• - organization of various events, including professional competitions, sports competitions, holidays;
• – work of corporate mass media;
• – support for social programs, etc.

As you can see, the work on managing the internal communications of the organization is diverse and quite voluminous. Rarely does a specialist deal with all the listed works simultaneously and individually. As a rule, if a company needs a wide range of activities in this area, then a whole division is created, for example, an internal communications department. However, even if there is such a need, it is not easy to make a decision to create such a structural unit.

Internal communications are a relatively new type of work for domestic companies. The need for them is recognized not so long ago, and the importance of managing internal communications often remains underestimated by leaders. Indeed, far from all managers understand why internal communications are needed. The main argument "against" sounds something like this: "they lived somehow before" or "for decades there were no specialists of this profile at the enterprises and nothing, everything functioned." The management of the company constantly solves the issues of expediency and efficiency, i.е. the ratio of costs (money, time, effort) and results. Finding a qualified specialist, providing everything necessary for work, paying wages and taxes - all this requires the costs mentioned above. And what will be the result? For large companies, internal communications are a task for a whole team of specialists, hence the costs are even higher. However, in large companies, the need for internal communications is more obvious, which means that the decision to create an appropriate department is, to some extent, easier for the manager to make.

Let us consider in more detail why a modern company at a certain stage of its development cannot do without building an internal communications management system.

Generally speaking, activities in this area have four main tasks.

• - form corporate culture organizations;
• – motivate staff;
• - Build and maintain company image- employer;
• - raise labor efficiency.

Corporate culture as a set of norms, rules, values, ethical standards shared by all employees, is formed in the course of the organization's work. It is necessary that this process does not occur spontaneously, but purposefully. In this case, it is possible to form a corporate culture that will contribute to efficient work. Internal communications play an important role in this process.

Motivation. What is material motivation is clear to everyone. This is primarily wages, bonuses and bonuses, health insurance, discounts on meals and a variety of services included in the so-called social package. And at first glance, it may seem that decent pay can inspire an employee to labor exploits. However, numerous studies have shown that this is not entirely true. It has been proven that material motivation in itself is far from being so effective. For example, any salary increase has a motivating effect for a very limited period. Then this fact is forgotten, employees get used to the new level of payment and perceive it as the norm. The social package is also neutrally perceived and bonuses seem to be taken for granted. The expression of gratitude for the work and recognition of the usefulness of the work done is required by employees much more often than the employer can afford to raise their wages. And here the question arises - how can the employer maintain good relations with the staff and not spend more money on it than the organization can afford? Answer: in addition to material incentives, use the levers of non-material motivation: the employee's awareness of his success, the perception of respect from colleagues, pride in working in the company, etc. Non-material motivation is an issue that is almost entirely the responsibility of an internal communications specialist. It is this specialist who formulates and broadcasts information about achievements and successes in the internal media, is directly involved in organizing professional competitions, sports competitions and other events that create a sense of belonging to the company among employees, pride in their successes, their profession, their team.

Creation and maintenance of the image of the company-employer. This is a job that has two main goals: attracting qualified specialists to the company and retaining existing employees in it. In other words, we are talking about two target audiences - already working and potential employees of the company. And working with both of these audiences is fundamentally important for the effectiveness of the company as a whole. The task of attracting is solved by broadcasting positive information about the employer company to the external environment.

Retaining employees in other words is called increasing their "loyalty". A loyal employee is, ideally, a person who shares the goals of the employer company, is devoted to its interests, and is fully interested in its success. There are few loyal employees among employees, much less than employers would like to think. Increasing employee loyalty is largely ensured by competent and timely submission of information, which again is the result of work on managing internal communications.

Improving labor efficiency. The motivation of the personnel, which was mentioned earlier, ultimately leads to an increase in labor efficiency. However, internal communications have another function that allows you to influence efficiency directly. We are talking about the creation of so-called informal horizontal ties.

Informal connections are extremely important, because for interaction and, especially for cooperation, it makes sense to at least reacquaint employees of different departments. Giving or asking for advice, asking for or offering help, "throw" an idea or get it - all this greatly increases the speed and efficiency of work. Especially if you communicate directly, bypassing formal bureaucratic channels. To do this, it makes sense to know colleagues "in person" and by name, as well as to imagine who does what. Even if the company has a well-developed platform for online communication, with colleagues, at least with office neighbors, it is always useful to get to know each other personally.

By means of internal communications, it is possible to achieve the formation of stable informal ties, and therefore, unification and rallying, or, at least, acquaintances of employees from different departments.

The immediate supervisor is responsible for the atmosphere and teamwork within each department. Relationships between employees of the company as a whole are often left to chance. And the result can not always be considered good or at least satisfactory.

In addition, in the presence of a highly developed system of informal communications, the process of adaptation is greatly facilitated; entry of new employees into the organization. For the company, this means that the new employee will quickly begin to benefit the company.

Internal communications management is an activity at the intersection of HR (Human Resources, personnel) and PR (Public Relations - public relations). An internal communications department may belong to HR, a PR department, or a department with some generic name.

Organizations have a variety of means of communicating with key elements of their external environment. So, for example, firms communicate with existing and potential consumers of goods and services produced, primarily through advertising and other means of promoting goods on the market, as well as conducting various sociological surveys.

Much attention is paid to creating a favorable image of the organization in public opinion, for which special public relations departments (“public relations”) are created in large firms, whose specialists, using a variety of means, disseminate the information necessary for this. This is not a complete list of examples of communications between an organization and its external environment.

Internal communications are understood as information exchanges carried out between elements of the organization. Within an organization, information is exchanged between levels of management (vertical communications) and between departments (horizontal communications).

For a long time, internal communications in an organization were seen as the "foster" of PR, but now that has changed - now PR and corporate communications departments in organizations follow the old adage: "good PR starts at home."

External communications system

External communications are the exchanges of information between an organization and its external environment. Any organization does not exist in isolation, but in interaction with its external environment. And on what factors of this environment (consumers, competitors, state regulatory bodies, public opinion, etc.) have the greatest influence on the work of the organization and its results, the nature and methods of its communications depend.

The task of external communications is to transform the desired strategic position into the behavior of the organization, its communication messages and symbols at the organizational, production and functional levels. Managers must clearly decide how they want to represent the organization and its products, clearly identifying key public groups, and understand what the image of their organization is. Then they must develop a set of corporate image tools that can communicate it to the public, while keeping a close eye on competitors' corporate image development and changes. An acceptable set of such tools should include:

* definition of communication tasks;

* selection of target groups (customers and members of the public relevant to the organization);

* formulating appropriate message(s);

* choice of funds and planning;

* organization (coordination) of actions.

The task of corporate communications is to reduce the gap between the desired and actual image of the company; creation of a consistent holistic portrait of her, development and application of recommendations for the coordination of all internal and external communications, as well as control and management of communications. To achieve the goals of the company among the external public, PR also includes marketing communications.

A corporate feature (personality) is a strategically planned and tactically (at a practical level) applied self-presentation of an organization (corporate "I") based on the desired image. A strong corporate identity contributes to:

* increasing the motivation of employees;

* creates a sense of confidence among representatives of key groups of the external public;

* Recognized as vital to an organization based on a good knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of both its own and other suppliers. Managers must decide where and how to compete. Now on to external communications related to strategic PR. Probably the most obvious activity is media relations to create popularity and positive interest in the company. And managers must win their respect, show an understanding of the essence of the news, be constructive, go towards journalists and producers, and create media confidence in the company. As a rule, journalists expect: * a quick response to requests; * an open and honest policy towards the media; * a willingness to deal with negative news; * the availability of managers, and not the press and media department in general; * an easily understood object can be recognized, and with the help of which people describe, remember and form their attitude towards it. It is the result of the interaction of human beliefs, ideas, feelings and impressions about the object.

Impression management is the policy of presenting an organization to key groups in order to create a favorable image for them or prevent them from developing an unfavorable image.

Corporate reputation is what people think and say about the organization, its products/services, and the behavior of those people.

Strategic positioning is essentially the conscious choice of a specific basis for building a competitive advantage. It is a combination of appeal to a customer or stakeholder and competitive considerations that can endow a company or brand with a distinct identity as perceived by those people. Thus, a company in the mind of its target group must be better than its competitors, regardless of what its members themselves consider important. The company must appear better than it really is, and therefore must sell its products to the "right" customers, based on a good knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of both its own and other suppliers. Managers must decide where and how to compete.

Now let's move on to external communications related to strategic PR.

Probably the most obvious activity is media relations to create popularity and positive interest in the company. And managers must win their respect, show an understanding of the essence of the news, be constructive, go towards journalists and producers, and create media confidence in the company. As a rule, journalists expect:

* fast response to requests;

* an open and honest policy towards the media;

* readiness to deal with negative news;

* the availability of managers, and not the press department and the media in general;

* easy to understand and easy to use information (not overloaded with unnecessary technical or other details);

* a proactive policy of maintaining contacts (regular, consistent, personal).

The main topics of media coverage include marketing news, company policy coverage, news of general interest, personalities, current events. Messages should be intended primarily for articles on specific topics and not just for self-promotion of the company.

Publicity is the dissemination of deliberately pre-planned and highly executed messages through selected (unpaid) media in order to arouse public interest in an organization or individual.

Press relations activities differ significantly from promotional and sales activities in that they are aimed at gaining publicity or satisfying public interest in an organization and/or its product(s). On the other hand, propaganda is an attempt to influence public opinion in order to spread a particular desired belief.

Financial relations are aimed at creating relationships of support and management of communications with shareholders (both current and potential) during the financial year, as well as with investors, representatives of the business community (in particular, with analysts, stock market brokers, merchant banks) and financial journalists. magazines.

Preparing for public events can include planning strategic communications and dealing at a corporate level with a variety of audiences—government and business representatives, the press, civil society organizations, shareholders and trade unions, and the general public.

Lobbying (government events) occurs and operates among legislators and government agencies in the specific interests of the organization at the local, national and international levels. In fact, to really present any issue that needs lobbying to ensure constant strong pressure on legislators, a wide-ranging study, even intelligence, is required. This is a more complex process than simple monitoring of parliamentary activity. The purpose of lobbying is to influence government circles and the legislature and thereby push through decisions that are beneficial to the organization, which can seriously affect the effectiveness of its activities in the present and future.

Industry links include communications with various organizations within the same industry in which the company operates, such as trade associations, research (expert) agencies.

Corporate advertising sees the company as a product and is the "face and voice of the company". Managers often have little understanding of corporate advertising and are wary of this high technology public communications that does not directly increase sales or market share and is therefore often difficult to justify. Research has shown that despite being expensive, corporate advertising can enhance a company's image.

Corporate social responsibility is by far the most important item on the agenda of any PR manager. In the field of corporate social responsibility, the key for managers is the concept of beneficiaries as individuals or groups with legally secured property rights (or participation). They interact with the company in some of its activities. Their participation is essential if the company is to succeed and prosper. Beneficiary relationship management can be seen as an investment and as one of the core areas of business planning and management.

Sponsorship - a company acquires the exclusive right to any event or sports competition or lends its name to any product for the purpose of promoting itself through media coverage and / or planting in the minds of citizens a positive association of its name with an interesting or significant event. By supporting an event or activity, company managers can expect to receive a material return on the money and effort expended - for example, in the form of the notional value of business relationships, i.e. the price of accumulated business relationships, the company's intangible assets, say, brand prestige, experience in business relationships, acquiring the ability to influence customers, creating a high reputation for the organization, its product or trademark.

Information services are an essential part of the process of building mutual trust and understanding between a company and other groups in the public. The PR department must take the lead in coordinating the delivery of information to the media about the company's activities, and this often requires accompanying explanatory material to help the public learn more about the company and its scope.

Advice and consulting is also one of the most important activities of PR teams in many companies. PR professionals are increasingly being called upon to provide advice and guidance on organizational management and policy issues. As communications management is taken more seriously and is increasingly recognized as an important competency in business, PR professionals are increasingly being brought in to advise managers on communications with the "outside world", also to provide the technical side of the relevant PR communications chosen by the specialist.

Crisis management looks at the future in terms of anticipating and preparing for likely events that could destroy relationships that are important to the organization. Here, the responsibilities of a PR specialist can extend to a wide range of activities, including contingency planning, limiting damage, taking into account the lessons of previous crises, streamlining and managing managers' ideas about the crisis and their attitude towards them, up to managing the crisis itself.

Problem management is the systematic identification of possible problems that cause concern to the company, and actions aimed at correcting its policy in the conditions of their occurrence. Problem management differs from crisis management only in time frames and a sense of panic. Managers must learn to view problems from the perspective of different groups of the public. PR in its activities must anticipate the possibility of these problems and be able to manage the organization's response to them.

Designing and writing printed materials is also one of the responsibilities of the PR department for external communications. These are special literature on PR, brochures and booklets published by the company (annual report and history of the company, as well as a story about the main products of the company). Increasingly, the preparation of audio and video materials is required. Much of this work is planned to be promotional, and therefore close collaboration between marketing and PR professionals is needed to ensure consistency in creating and maintaining corporate identity. Analyze the communication needs of the organization and the coverage of all its key public groups. Planning is an essential part of the PR manager's role.