Institute of Internal Communication

In his presentation, Brian Jeavons looked at why the narrowing gap between internal and external communications is a big deal. He discussed one trend highlighted by a recent study on the future of internal communications.

Brian takes up the story:

“The wife of a friend tells an amusing story about an Ocado drop she had recently. She opened the door to be greeted by the anxious, contorted face of her delivery driver - sans groceries - asking if he could use the toilet. Disappointed that the Ocado man may be delivering a package she hadn’t put on her list, she nevertheless felt obliged to allow his request.

Ten minutes later, the Ocado van is still resting in the drive, while its driver remains in the smallest room in his customer’s house. Another five minutes go by… my friend’s wife begins to wonder if all is well with the stricken Ocado man. Seeking some advice she turns to Facebook and asks: “There’s an Ocado man stuck in my toilet, what should I do?” Cyber friends, intrigued and amused by the dilemma, rush to her rescue. The dialogue is hotter than the two bags of Thai Sweet chilli crisps waiting to be carried into the house.

Eventually, after 30 minutes, the toilet door opens. As our Ocado man composes himself with deep breaths, people he doesn’t know across the northern Cotswolds and parts of London are eager to know about the state of his digestive system. “Is he okay?”, “What did he say?”, “How does he look?”

He entered the house an Ocado employee, he emerged a social media celebrity.

Relevance

What possible relevance does this story have to internal communications? Quite a lot, I think. For one, it shows the power of employees as ambassadors of the brand. The exhaustive chain of customer service complaints that used to begin with an angry letter to head office has given way to live feedback. The distance between the customer and the organisation is narrowing. In his book, the social media blogger Brian Solis (http://www.briansolis.com/2008/10/social-media-customer-service-20.html) talks about putting the public back into public relations.

This narrowing of the gap between internal and external communications was one of six headline trends we identified in our research into the future of internal communications. The study carried out at Henley Business School contains interviews with communication professionals in organisations as well as agencies, freelancers and academics, in addition to trend analysis.

The research set out to identify broad patterns in the industry, notably: What will mature or emerge over the next few years? What skills will be needed? What will be the driving forces of the industry? Who will the competitors be?

This narrowing gap between internal and external communication could have profound implications for internal communicators.

Brian Jeavons is launching a new consultancy, thebusinessstory, which aims to help organisations and leaders get their stories across in the new media environment.  It provides strategic consultancy, communication coaching and training. Contact Brian Jeavons via email: brian@thebusinessstory.com or call on 07967 654776. A longer feature on Brian's research will appear in a future edition of communicators - CiB's monthly magazine for members.