7 good causes to measure communication in your group
When leaders ask us for help in any type of communication, our first step is to understand what is going on. We need to assess the audience and current status to identify important topics or opportunities before making recommendations.
Typically a communication assessment tool or method is used to guide our solution. And lately we have heard more than once: "We already know our communication is bad, why measure?"
A communication assessment gets to the bottom of the problem and / or opportunity
Our answer is: If a company had a problem with customer relationships or was stocking up on financial data, you'd expect executives to say, "We know we're poorly serving customers. So why measure?" Unlikely.
You want to find out what exactly was wrong and take immediate action to correct the problem. You also want recognition for a smart, strategic approach to making fact-based improvement. And they want to be able to keep track of progress so they can adjust strategies in real time.
It is clear that some training is intended to help organizations understand why we need to measure and what communication measurements can do – even after a problem has been identified.
Here are 7 good reasons to measure communication:
- Mark important topics and determine critical fields of actionWe can understand attitudes and levels of communication disruption that highlight the problems that need to be resolved. Advanced statistics help us know where to start, have the greatest impact, or improve a particular result. In this way, companies can target the most critical areas that need to be addressed – regardless of whether it is a specific attribute such as timeliness or completeness or a possibility such as communication between managers. So you can be more precise and get better results faster.
- Establish a baselineIf you are serious about communicating effectively, you need a baseline by which to measure progress and success, derived from an initial assessment of the problem areas. This benchmark provides the basis for comparing future research so you know what is working well and where to adjust future strategies.
- Make wise decisionsMany executives demand (and rightly!) Facts to underpin communication recommendations. Measurement can reveal the numbers behind your efforts, document progress, and help executives understand how and why they need to make smart decisions that will ultimately help you achieve your business and communications results. (It can also build and / or reinforce your case for resources – for both people and dollars.)
- Make sure the audience's needs are metThe communication measurement can find out whether employees have received and understood key messages You want to convey and / or whether the channels you are using are effectively conveying these key messages. The results can help you change and focus future communications, and show employees that you care enough about listening – and responding to their feedback.
- Use communication resourcesWith the right data, you can drill down to understand how communication works across regions, departments, functions, or even at the employee level, and use the results to use communication resources (people and dollars) more efficiently. Best of all, you can stop what isn't working and reallocate resources or save.
- Demonstrate commitment to change If you are serious about improving communication, measuring is a symbol of change and appreciated by the staff. Be careful, however, that you don't have to measure without committing to it. To be effective in supporting change, you need to do something with the data to indicate progress.
- Promote accountabilityThe bottom line is what is being measured. When leaders and managers know that they will be judged on communication efforts, they will pay attention to how and when they engage employees.
Communication measurement is a great way to gauge where communication works – and where it doesn't – within an organization and can help you find the right way to more effectively connect and engage with employees.
What do you do to evaluate and / or measure your communication?
– David Grossman
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