3. Agenda
1. Information Overload - the Impact
2. The Old vs New Comms Paradigm
3. 3 Suggested Solutions
4. Examples & Takeaways
4. 1. Info Overload: a real issue
First, some stats:
Information Overload costs the US Economy $650
billion a year in lost productivity and innovation due
to unnecessary interruptions (Basex Research Dec 2007)
“The average e-mail user spends 25 per cent of their
time checking and responding to e-mail – and up to
half of that time is wasted.” (Jan 2008, Edinburg Evening News )
Effective employee communication is a leading
indicator of financial performance and can produce a
higher shareholder return. (Watson Wyatt, 2007-2008 Report)
5. 1. The Business Impact:
Too much email
and communications clutter
means
important business info
gets missed
6. Agenda
1. Information Overload - the Impact
2. The Old vs. New Comms Paradigm
3. 3 Suggested Solutions
4. Examples & Takeaways
7. 2. Levels of Communication
1. Get their
Attention
2. Build
Knowledge
3. Drive
Action/Change
8. 2.Old: Push and Inform.
Change to staff healthcare plan
Welcome new hires
Human Weekly positions vacant Your
New Expense claim form
Resources New employee disputes process from 1st Jan
Employees
Financial industry forecast
Finance Annual Shareholder Meeting live webcast
SAP Training for Accounting Dept – sign up
Corp Company mission statement and annual
Comms objectives now on intranet
New intranet goes live
Executive Briefing coming up
R&D Sales Conference - register
Executive Annual Engagement Survey - complete this week
New Communities of Interest - Innovation
Sales Brown Bag lunch on retail industry trends
New sales claims process
Marketing Upcoming Product Launch – X version 6.2
January special offers and promos
Monthly call center performance stats
Customer Top Telesales rep for the month
Service Customer support stories
Cisco Certification coming up
New technology updates
I.T.
Outage notifications
9. 2. The New Paradigm: Pull and Push,
2-Way Conversations
10. Inviting Employee Interaction
“We need to „push‟ out information that explains
WHAT the business is doing,
and WHY it is doing it . . .
and then use interactive social media tools
to get employees to start talking about
HOW they‟re going to help make it happen.”
Steve Crescenzo, Consultant
11. 2. Implications of New Paradigm
Internal Communicators‟ role changes:
• Channel (but don‟t Control) the Conversation
• Coaching Execs rather than simply “Order-Taking”
• More Complicated, More potential noise
The Comms Change:
• Better Target employee audiences
• Provide more PULL options for employees
• PUSH used to spark interaction, not just to inform
• Incorporate Social Media and ask for contributions.
• Change the business‟ comms culture
12. Agenda
1. Information Overload - the Impact
2. The Old vs. New Comms Paradigm
3. 3 Suggested Solutions
4. Examples & Takeaways
13. Suggested Solutions
Manage Optimize your Provide
Broadcast Broadcasts – Alternatives –
Comms – Take Improve the Remove the
Charge message noise
18. Measurable
Measure, Benchmark
1. Are you getting through? Do you even know?
2. What’s a normal response rate in yr org?
• Readership
• Click-throughs
• Survey responses
• Ratings
1. Pick your ideal target outcomes
• X entries tagged in CRM by at least X sales reps
• X click throughs to new product page
• Training module viewed/completed by % reps
19. Context
Context:
1. COMPETITION. Who else sends them
broadcasts?
2. FREQUENCY. How often do staff receive
broadcasts?
3. VOLUME. How many other
emails/voicemails do
they get a day/week?
4. PAST RESPONSE. How have they
responded in the past?
5. INTRANET. Quality of intranet/in-depth
resources
20. Optimize your Message*
Message
Six key recommendations.
• Consistent structure
• Make it fresh
• Pare it down
• Overview for context
• Use more than one format
(text, image, table, video…)
• Invite interaction
*based on IABC Research Report:
Preparing Messages for Information Overload
Environments,” Eppler/Mengis, 2009.
Read it for more great details!
22. Inviting Interaction
Interaction
“We need to „push‟ out information that explains
WHAT the business is doing,
and WHY it is doing it . . .
and then use interactive social media tools
to get employees to start talking about
HOW they‟re going to help make it happen.”
Steve Crescenzo, Consultant
23. Solution #2: Outcomes
Make Comms easier to absorb
Make Comms more
enjoyable and interesting
for employees
24. Suggested Solutions
Manage Optimize your Provide
Broadcast Broadcasts – Alternatives –
Comms – Take Improve the Remove the
Charge message noise
25. Solution # 3: Provide Alternatives
I.M.
Digital Signage
E-Bulletin
1. Convert info to PULL Boards
RSS
2. Consolidate Interruptions Posters
Print pubs
3. Provide Channels for every
Videos
requirement
Wikis
Team Meetings
Leader Visits
Conferences
Letters to Staff
26. Email Overload Case Study
2005: 3,000-employee company, knowledge
workers, email overload.
• Volume: hundreds of email broadcasts per day, mostly
spam (corporate, divisions, employees… free for all).
• Audience: Email fatigue, “one-to-many” deleted unread
• Comms Team: Even the best email in the world would get a
low response. Struggling to get key info to audiences.
• Impact: team meetings – 20-30 mins for announcements
27. Email Overload Case Study
Solution: Consolidate 90%, showcase 10%,
stop broadcast email.
• Consolidate: Employees invited to stop emailing,
submit to weekly employee bulletin
• Consolidate: Division/depts invited to stop emailing,
submit to weekly corporate bulletin
• Showcase: Comms Team manages screensaver
slideshow, pop-up alerts, quizzes, surveys and
onscreen newsfeed content.
• Email: reserved for one-to-one or one-to-team.
Only CEO can use email distribution lists.
29. Solution #3: Outcomes
All Communications still given
an outlet (nothing stifled)
Info available on demand
Delivery method matches
content relevance
30. TAKEAWAYS
&
QUESTIONS?
MANAGE
your broadcast comms company-wide
OPTIMIZE
Checklists,
each message to be easy for staff to
absorb and action
CHANNEL
content into appropriate mediums to
reduce noise, maximize cut through
31. THANK YOU!
5 ways to reduce Email Overload:
http://blog.cutthroughcommunications.com
IABC Preparing Messages Report:
www.iabc.com (free for members or $99)
CHECKLISTS HERE: http://bit.ly/lqkjc
Feel free to contact me/us at Cut Through Comms
www.cutthroughcommunications.com
Paula.cassin@cutthroughcommunications.com
Paula Cassin
http://www.twitter.com/paulacassin
1.805.715.0300. Twitter: paulacassin. LinkedIn: paulacassin
for Webinar: July 2009
Editor's Notes
I’m Paula Cassin, CEO of Cut Through Communications, an internal communications technology company. We specialize in broadcast communications software….and it’s in working with our customers that we’ve started to see several ways to optimize broadcast comms
First we’ll talk a bit about the current state of broadcast communications and the problems most of us face, then we’ll give you three different ideas on how to tackle them.
First we’ll talk a bit about the current state of broadcast communications and the problems most of us face, then we’ll give you three different ideas on how to tackle them.
Right now, with broadcast comms, most people get stuck here, right at the beginning. We’ve heard stories of communicators who are getting the blame from management for not getting through to employees – optional event that no one showed up to, despite emails.
Let’s take email as an example, as it’s the main broadcast channel we all use. Status Quo in depts is…
First we’ll talk a bit about the current state of broadcast communications and the problems most of us face, then we’ll give you three different ideas on how to tackle them.
Here’s what you need to consider, probably down on paper, to be really effective in terms of your broadcast communications, OK?Right now, most people will plan around their initiative or project, and they’ll pay attention to message content, but they’ll really gloss over the rest. Let’s go through each one in detail and I’ll give you some examples.
When you send an email or text or promo pack out to your sales reps, how do you know it’s been effective? For most of us, we really do not measure at this level. We have high level goals or even specific goals for the PROJECT, but not for individual communications. EXAMPLE: let’s say you’re working on the new Sales competition – great prizes for reaching certain levels of sales in your newest categories. You’ll know what sales levels you need and probably analyze where you’re at each month. But it turns out you sent the initial email launching it on the day Corporate Comms announced the closure of your chocolate factory in Ohio, which was also the day that airplane landed on the Hudson River AND the day everyone got their quarterly retirement plan statement. In fact, a lot of Sales Managers were rather preoccupied in the team meetings going over the plant closure and grandfathered product lines, so they sort of glossed over the competition. This is why you better be measuring click throughs to the intranet page, downloads of the pdf, sign ups to email notifications. Whatever you can measure that will tell you whether employees have responded in some way to what you sent.Keep breaking down your goals until you’re at ground level - Where do you need them to go? Did you get them there?
EXAMPLE: let’s say you’re working on the new Sales competition – great prizes for reaching certain levels of sales in your newest categories. You’ll know what sales levels you need and probably analyze where you’re at each month. But it turns out you sent the initial email launching it on the day Corporate Comms announced the closure of your chocolate factory in Ohio, which was also the day that airplane landed on the Hudson River AND the day everyone got their quarterly retirement plan statement. In fact, a lot of Sales Managers were rather preoccupied in the team meetings going over the plant closure and grandfathered product lines, so they sort of glossed over the competition. This is why you better be measuring click throughs to the intranet page, downloads of the pdf, sign ups to email notifications. Whatever you can measure that will tell you whether employees have responded in some way to what you sent.
So on this one slide we’ve got a whole nother 30 minutes! Here’s we look at WHAT you’re writing, the content. Recently IABC, the international association for Business communicators put out a very good report on preparing messages for information overload environments. They make 6 recommendations and are a pretty good way to review your content/messages. CONSISTENT STRUCTURE. Do you send out a weekly email newsletter giving key info and linking to more details? Do you structure your emails consistently to give readers CUES.Sumup at the top, ACTION REQUIRED clearly marked. Who what when why howProctor and Gamble Memo template: the idea, background, how it works, key benefits, next steps.
EXAMPLE: let’s say you’re working on the new Sales competition – great prizes for reaching certain levels of sales in your newest categories. You’ll know what sales levels you need and probably analyze where you’re at each month. But it turns out you sent the initial email launching it on the day Corporate Comms announced the closure of your chocolate factory in Ohio, which was also the day that airplane landed on the Hudson River AND the day everyone got their quarterly retirement plan statement. In fact, a lot of Sales Managers were rather preoccupied in the team meetings going over the plant closure and grandfathered product lines, so they sort of glossed over the competition. This is why you better be measuring click throughs to the intranet page, downloads of the pdf, sign ups to email notifications. Whatever you can measure that will tell you whether employees have responded in some way to what you sent.
You’ve worked hard to put together a treasure trove of resources for employees. But they have to get there and use it
