How to Know if Your Company’s Communication is Good or Bad

By Anita Eglīte, Brand Communication Strategist

Excluding the cases of obviously bad and improper ways of expression, in the business environment communication itself mostly is neither good, nor bad. It is the matter of whether it is good or bad for your company. If it is effective. If it does its job for you. Meaning – is it working for you or against you. Another question to ask yourself – is the way your company communicates good enough.

Here are 4 questions for self-diagnosing your company’s communication.

Question #1
Does your company have a set of verbal communication principles, guidelines, do’s and don’ts, or “red lines” for your team to follow?

Good for you if you have those – you have a smoothly paved road ahead of you. If you don’t have those just yet, then your communication probably is not as good as it could be for the sake of your: employees, partners, customers, profit.

Having a set of principles on what kind of interaction is and is not acceptable specifically for your company will structure this aspect of your business once and for all. For the sake of illustrating the significance of this, I like to draw a simple example on the way ordinary person’s brain functions.

Do you know that feeling when you catch yourself overwhelmed and your head is spinning because of all the tasks, meetings, enquiries, family issues etc. that you have to deal with today, this week, or this month? Those seem excessive, overbearing and cause additional stress when you’re trying not to forget any of those. Thankfully, there is this simple method of writing all these points down, and it works like magic. You can write those on a post-it note, in a digital or paper notebook, or add to the calendar on your phone. Choose your preference – just get those things on there and out or your mind.

After writing these things down some may realize that, in fact, it’s not that many, and it puts you at ease. This relief reduces your stress level, frees up space in your mind, makes you more focused. As a result of all that you can function more efficiently and get more things done.

Writing down and structuring ground principles for company’s communication works pretty much the same. The main difference is that it affects the motivation, wellbeing, and output of every single member of your team. To realize the magnitude of this – recall that feeling of relief we just discussed… Now multiply that feeling by the number of your company’s employees and you should get the idea of the importance of this matter.

Question #2
Does the superior management have a clear vision on the image of the company that they want to portray?

Presumably, there is one or two people that are guiding your company and that have a clear idea of its desirable image in the world. Having such clear image makes it easy to answer such questions as

What is its purpose?
Why does the world need it?
If it was a person – what kind of person would it be?

Fixing, organizing, and perfecting any company’s communication is only possible if the superior management has such image in their head and is able to express it in actual words. Few CEOs have it on the spot, as far as I’ve seen. Yet, it’s quite simple to get it out of them – it is a matter of asking them the right questions. They might have it as a feeling, not an image or exact words. Yet, it’s the very foundation of building company’s public image.

But how to transfer this feeling to your employees so that all of you would be on the same page? You need the right – precise and unambiguous – words for that. And explanation, for those words to mean the same thing to everyone.

A four-fold question #3

Does every single person in your team know:
– the purpose of this company that they can relate to,
– the impact their work has on the world/people/global or local processes,
– if their personal values agree with the values of the company,
– what image precisely do they have to make of your company and how to do it?

This deals entirely with the internal communication. But the thing is – through your team all this translates into the impression of your company.

Moreover, don’t underestimate the motivation of your team and the reason they wake up and go to work even on the days they wish they wouldn’t have to. Sure, you give them a chance to lead a decent life for the remainder of their time, or the feeling of being cared for, or even some bonusses.

But other companies can give that too, in one form or another.
Give them PURPOSE. Not instead, but on top of it.

What does it have to do with the communication you may ask? Everything! Giving team a clear focus of what your company is, where is it going and what’s their part in that – is the foundation of company’s proper internal communication. So to say – before giving your employees a uniform and tools, get their mindset right, first.

Question #4
Does everyone representing your company leave THE SAME image of your company to the outside world – partners, customers, and prospects?

Whatever the method of interaction – a one-to-one meeting, an exchange of e-mails (the initial e-mail AND the following correspondence) or a post on your company’s social media platform – the overall impression should always be the same.

Don’t fall into the trap of being super kind, friendly and open on your website and turning into something completely different when actually facing your customers. That can have disastrous effect on your company’s image and future sales.

How to get it right every time and for each member of your team? Well… I imagine you know the answer by now – by having verbal communication guidelines or a set of communication principles detailed specifically for your company. It’s like your company’s bible – the foundation of your company’s culture, values, and direction guiding all members of your team.

There are layers of this, and I always recommend going all the way. Yet reaching the final destination starts with the first steps. Even you thinking about this aspect of your business, analysing and looking for ways to improve is a huge step.

Catch up on my other articles, since I have a basket full of ideas on how to move forward and make great turns for your company that you can start doing by yourself.

I hope this helps! ❤

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Are you managing a company; are you the owner, strategic manager, HR manager, or a communication specialist?
Then you are my audience. I need your hand for raising the level of quality of communication in companies. Together we can accomplish so much more.