Is there an Internal Communication department in the company? _ Of course! We have the Institutional Magazine…
This is a common dialogue when we talk to the number one or the managers of a company or organization on the subject of internal communication.
In our practice as consultants, we usually find that the management of the institutional magazine is usually thought of in organizations as a one-way communication instance, which starts from an issuer that decides and values communicable content and a receiver that must limit itself to »getting informed» about the contents that other values as important.
The analysis of various publications of companies and organizations shows eminently technical texts that only a part of the company is interested in and / or information concerning exclusively the realities of the organization in other countries, and even magazines produced in other languages.
With these characteristics, the Institutional Magazine has a low reading level, it can be transformed into an investment of capital and time left in the waste basket or stored in a library. From this perspective, in addition to being a non-profitable investment, the Institutional Magazine increases the gap between the organizational image on paper illustration and that which employees perceive from their own experience.
To think about improving the Institutional Review, we should review some concepts:
The institutional magazine is a communication channel and not the communication itself. This requires thinking about it within a communication strategy focused on the organizational culture and its internal problems.
Why an Institutional Magazine?
Defined a communication strategy, the Journal needs to have clear objectives and expected results. We are going to make a distinction between communicating and informing.
Reporting refers to a one-way relationship where there is someone who emits and someone who receives.
Communicate refers to a relationship where senders and receivers alter their roles in the communication sequence.
Communication therefore allows behavior modification while information enables one-way message transmission.
The improvement of the Institutional Magazine needs measurable, quantifiable and possible objectives that contemplate these two levels: Communication and Information.
For whom?
Who is the Magazine for? The Institutional Magazine may have more than one audience as a direct recipient: company personnel at all levels, suppliers, customers, shareholders. How do we do from a communication channel to cover the interests of so many publics? Faced with this plurality, the great challenge is to develop content that covers the interests of all recipients, creating a unified message consistent with the institutional image.
Who?
Should the Communication area monopolize the writing of the Institutional Magazine? The communication area must coordinate and manage the preparation of the Magazine, not monopolize the discourse. Engaging all areas and promoting their participation are the most important resources to improve our channel.
Than?
The contents are the product of the previous steps. A Magazine at the service of the organization allows it to function as a trigger for organizational behaviors that point to the sense of belonging and motivation of the staff.
To achieve the identification of people we must know and take into account their interests: what they value, what they perceive, how they perceive… in other words, we must create a reading contract with our public so that they choose to read us.
To achieve legitimacy and interest we need to involve staff in editing. The participation of middle managers and workers will allow the materialization of valuable contributions on the different perceptions of the organization, making the formal speech approach the true interests of the members of the company.
How?
The design, frequency, format of the Institutional Magazine is also an important resource for it to reach and interest everyone. Consistent with our communication objectives, the design of the magazine, the choice of format (digital or printed), the frequency of appearance, are elements that must be analyzed within each organization.
In communicational terms they are not minor issues, they require careful planning to accompany the communication strategy.
Measure to improve:
In order to improve, we must be able to measure, therefore, the improvement of the Magazine will require proposing strategies that allow us to measure the evolution of the channel and confirm compliance with the objectives.
The information of those who read us, how many read us, how many participate, who participate, why they participate, is an excellent resource to adapt our channel to our audience, in short, the most important actor in the management of an Institutional Magazine.
