Today we talk about communication in organizations. In this debate on the “Café con Talento” channel, we have dealt with the issue of communication in organizations. For this, Juan Martínez de Salinas and I have had the participation of two luxury guests: Elena García-Lechuz, Director of Marketing and Communication of Libelium, (a technology company that manufactures sensors to make our cities and our environment smarter) and Aitana Muñoz, (journalist and presenter at Aragón TV and expert in communication and scientific dissemination technician at the University of Zaragoza). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQW0ksdT67I
What are the current trends in communication in organizations?
Elena believes that the current trend is for communication to be two-way. In the past, companies “released” their message in a unidirectional way to the public, (without knowing very well who they were) and now those recipients are very careful, both the internal (employees) and external (suppliers, customers, society, media, etc.). This also takes into account the different channels that must be used to reach each group. This means that over the years complexity has been added to the communication process because there are more and more factors that influence and you also have to be aware of the answers.
Reputation in communication in organizations
Aitana believes that digital communication and strategy are increasingly taken into account, especially because of this “bidirectionality” factor, we must take care of and take into account the response of the people who are “on the other side”. You have to be very cautious with the message to be sent and think about reputation, take care of the image, what they really want to convey. It is important that the people who are in charge of this function in companies are professionals, to know how to deal with crisis situations in communication and give the appropriate response to manage them. Sometimes it happens that companies do not realize that these crises may exist until they happen and they do not previously have a protocol, an action manual to guide them at that time on how to respond. Aitana, paraphrasing Ana Almansa, an expert in communication, believes that on many occasions internal communication is the great forgotten and that the basis of good external communication is internal communication. There are also other current trends that influence this communication, CSR, sustainability, Big Data, etc.
The humanization of relationships within companies must be enhanced. To the extent that we get to know coworkers better, we will be able to better understand their reactions and what motivates them to act as they do. Elena García-Lechuz
Internal communication in organizations
Regarding internal communication, what role do employees play in the organization’s communication?
Elena believes that employees are playing an increasingly important role. They are the ones who are moving the company forward and not only do we have to promote that feeling of belonging and that they “feel the colors”, (like the fans of a football team), but it is important that they feel that they are growing with the organization, with responsibility, training plan, development, etc. In addition, they are increasingly “spokespersons for the company“, even without considering it, because they speak in their social nuclei, in their family networks, in their networks, etc. and they are projecting the image of the company, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Brand ambassador
In this regard, Aitana believes that the employee’s gaze is also more real, more sincere, and reaches people more. There are very large companies that already have this figure of the “brand ambassador“, they even receive more specific training for it and have professionalized it. But it makes sense for all employees, since if they are comfortable in the company they will tell it, and that has an impact on the company’s image. In Aitana’s opinion, there are companies that have known how to do it very well and that communication is no longer only limited to the information of birthday newsletters, or the hours of the canteen, that is something already very old-fashioned. Now what is told in the first person is taken into account, as it shows a pride of belonging. After a few very critical years after the economic crisis, the company gains in positioning and brand image as a good employer if employees identify with the company or with the product they make, as is the case in some advertisements today, and that generates a much more powerful impact, because it enters directly into the emotionality of the listener.
Social media is like friendships: don’t have more than you can cultivate. Aitana Muñoz
Communication problems in organizations
What are the main bottlenecks in organizations that generate communication problems?
Elena believes that the demand for information within organizations is increasing, workers want to know what other departments are doing in order to do their own work better. There are many bottlenecks, but the important thing is to know how to identify and neutralize them. They arise from some people who, on many occasions, are not aware of the impact that this lack of communication has on their colleagues. She believes that training is vital so that they become aware of the impact of their work on the rest of the process. Aitana comments on her experience in gaming in a large company, and where it was evident that they did activities simply to get to know each other and to be able to make communication flow between different departments and thus make decisions more quickly. Elena comments that the humanization of relationships within companies must be enhanced. As you get to know your coworkers better, you will better understand their reactions and what motivates them to act as they do. In the new generations sometimes this is difficult for them, they are very used to digital and technological media and sometimes they do not realize that, simply, what they have to do is get up from the table and have a face-to-face conversation with a colleague.
Changes in organizations and communication
How have the changes in recent years with the massive incorporation of the use of networks and technology in work environments affected the ways of communicating internally and also externally? What are the fundamental changes? Aitana comments that if we think about corporate and institutional communication we realize that it has about 30 or 40 years of experience, which is very little compared to the Anglo-Saxon or American trajectory. In addition, the first cabinets were called “press”, which gives us an idea of the transformation, now the perspective is global and integral. It is not only relations with the media, or with customers, or public relations, now it takes into account communication through the web and networks, internal communication, street marketing actions, etc. Now communication is bidirectional and there is an online world and an offline world. Aitana believes that we must take care of both, not only focus on the online world. Elena adds that you have to choose very well which channel you want to be on and what tool you want to use, depending on what your company strategy is. There are also certain times when one person or another must communicate, depending on the message, what you want to achieve. For Aitana , social networks are like friendships, that you should not have more than you can cultivate. You don’t have to be in all of them and if you are going to mistreat them, that is, you will not be able to provide them with content or take care of them, it is better not to be in all of them. Digital presence is sometimes not taken care of in companies with enough resources and effort or budget.
How does infoxication affect corporate communication?
In Elena’s opinion, it generates saturation in the channels. Sending too many messages does not mean that you are more effective.
Communication is becoming more and more important in organizations, but it requires time, effort and true professionals, who are well trained. Aitana Muñoz
Nowadays we are constantly receiving a lot of information and it is necessary to be more effective and make more targeted, segmented actions and focus on the audience that we really want to receive it, establish clear and measurable objectives.
You have to communicate thinking about the audience and the objectives you want to achieve, with a clear strategic positioning and with a team of people who work on communication considering it a marketing tool for the company. Elena García-Lechuz
And you, what do you think about communication in organizations? What ideas would you like to contribute? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biQmq_aK6VA
