The greatest lie internal communications tells itself

What is the greatest lie internal communications tells itself? What’s the greatest lie you tell?

I’ve shared my view as part of global conversations sparked by Chuck Gose of the fantastic ICology @LearnICology podcast series.

You can hear my answer below and watch me talking about it via Something Else. 

Chuck recently launched Something Else, saying: “There are questions I have for the internal communication community that simply can’t be answered in a podcast episode.

“I asked followers on Twitter whether I should call it Q&A. . . or Water Cooler. . . or Sound Off. And they said I should call it something else.

“So here is Something Else by ICology. It’s a monthly video series where I ask the questions and internal communicators provide the answers. Anyone can participate their thoughts and opinions with a simple video.”

I love the name.

The first topic is: What is the greatest lie internal communications tells itself?

I contributed alongside the following comms pros:

You can watch the edited answers below or listen to the full set via the audio file on this page.

If you’ve never listened to ICology before, it’s a must-listen. If internal communication is your passion, ICology is your podcast.

Keep an eye out for the next episode as everyone is invited to record a short answer and send it in. Why not give it a go? All you need is a phone. Go on.

So what is the biggest lie internal comms tells itself?

What is the biggest lie #internalcomms tells itself? Listen to what these 8 communicators had to say in the 1st episode of Something Else. pic.twitter.com/NbLc2iCOpE

— ICology (@LearnICology) November 7, 2016

Listen to the answers in full:

Part of my answer was…

“I believe the biggest lie or the biggest problem that we have in internal communication right now is that people understand measurement. I don’t think that’s the case. I think that’s a lie.

I think that many internal communicators are having to bluster their way through, when it comes to conversations with stakeholders, particularly about measurement.

Measurement isn’t a dark art. There are many models, ideas, theories and practical things you can do to help you measure. I think the lie that internal communications tells itself is that people know how to do this.”

Do you agree with me?

If you would like some help with measurement, check out these articles via my blog or sign up to an All Things IC Masterclass:

• How to measure communication
• Research takes the measure of networked enterprises
• How to measure the effectiveness of social media
• A measured response
• Focusing on internal comms strategy 
• Mind the comms skills gap.

Internal Communicator Advita Patel @advita_p, blogged this week after attending my recent Strategic IC Masterclass. I tackle the topic in both the Internal Communication and Strategic Internal Communication Masterclasses.

Love it or hate it, you need to do it and I share how you can.

Advita wrote:

“One key thing I wanted to take away from the session was measurement and how to do it successfully. This is one area that I do struggle with and I’m determined to get right as I know when it’s done correctly it can have such a massive impact on influencing key decision makers.

“I seriously urge you to get booked onto this day, I know spaces get sold out quickly so if you get a chance book on. I promise you will not regret a second. Oh I’m now that one step closer to nailing measurement  – thank you Rachel for a fabulous, insightful and interesting day – one of the best sessions I’ve attended!”

What did other comms pros say via Something Else?
The biggest lie…

Brian Moore, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:
“Our materials, internal communications, communications if you will, our podcasts, our videos, our messaging in the written word or our live events are the most influential and the most important things to driving culture in our companies. I think that’s the biggest lie.

What I think is the answer is that the biggest driver of culture change in a company are the employees themselves.

Priya Bates, Inner Strength Communications:
“I think the biggest lie is that internal communicators deserve a seat at the decision-making table.

The truth is they earn a seat at the table through strategic communication planning, understanding the business and linking what they do to measurable results. Without that, they’ll never get there.”

Rocky Walls, 12 Stars Media:
“Originally, I was going to say that the biggest lie internal comms tells itself is that they don’t have enough time. The truth is you don’t have enough time.

I think the biggest lie internal comms pros tell themselves is that they can do everything.

“So I see a lot of internal comms professionals trying to take on massive projects that really aren’t in their job description or massive amounts of really small projects and not being able to do any of them really, really well. The best internal comms pros I know pick projects very carefully, projects that are going to make an impact and they do those really, really well, and say no to everything else.”

What do you think? What’s the greatest/biggest lie internal communications tells itself? You’re welcome to comment below or Tweet me @AllthingsIC.

Post author: Rachel Miller

First published on the All Things IC blog 8 November 2016.