INTEGRATING INTERNAL COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER FUNCTIONS

Executive Summary

1.   Developing working relationships with other functions continues to be a challenge for communicators.

2.   While most internal communication professionals accept that helping other departments communicate is an essential part of their role, they would like their colleagues to recognize that communication is, ultimately, everyone's responsibility.

3.   The types of relationship that an internal communication function has with other departments are largely dependent on how the internal communication function is structured. Three models described in Structure and Development of The Internal Communication Function (the integrated, account manager and hybrid structures) can all help create working interfaces with other departments.

4.   Helping other functions get their key messages across is a priority for virtually all internal communication practitioners.

5.   Approximately three-quarters of practitioners actively help other departments devise and implement communication plans, and most also have formal arrangements for doing so.

6.   Internal communication departments are less closely linked with HR than might be expected. Only about half of the respondents to the Business Intelligence/item survey, Internal Communication in Transition,⁷¹ work with HR to develop communications plans and only about a quarter formally integrate their activities with HR.

7.   The widespread use of intranets and e-mail mean that internal communication is more closely linked with IT than it has been in the past, although the question of which department is responsible for the intranet remains unresolved in many organizations.

8.   Knowledge management has been widely adopted in recent years, but it remains uncertain whether or not management of this function should be part of internal communication's portfolio.

9.   A trend towards empowerment means that many communication departments are now charged with communicating far more sensitive material than they have in the past.

10.   Linking internal and external communication is complicated by the difficulties involved in distinguishing which stakeholders are internal and which external.

11.   Although many internal communication teams feel undervalued relative to external communicators, more organizations are recognizing how valuable internal communication can be in supporting external marketing efforts.

12.   Maintaining consistency between internal and external messages is essential to maintaining credibility with both audiences and to protecting confidential information when necessary.

13.   At Nuffield Hospitals, the unique structure of the medical services markets has meant redefining traditional boundaries between internal and external stakeholders.

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