LOOKING AHEAD - THE FUTURE OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Executive Summary

1.   Senior executives increasingly perceive that internal communication can have an impact on the bottom line. However, because this has become the widely accepted view only in recent years, the internal communication function does not yet have the systems and structures in place it needs to fulfil its potential.

2.   Although the internal communication world of 2001 described in Business Intelligence's 1996 report, The Strategic Management of Internal Communication,¹³⁸ has not entirely come to pass, the profession is evolving in the direction predicted and is now more closely linked to business goals. It has also gained higher status, greater staff numbers and better access to resources.

3.   If these trends continue, internal communication professionals of 2006 will play an even greater strategic role in their organizations than they do now.

4.   The internal communication professionals of 2006 are likely to be part of an integrated corporate communications department, with responsibility for communicating to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

5.   Internal communication professionals are also likely to act as internal consultants, helping senior executives and other departments meet their strategic objectives.

6.   Internal communication's new remit will include changing people's behaviour to better align with corporate goals and helping to improve the communications competency of the organization as a whole.

7.   Some of the many challenges that could affect the internal communication function in the future include balancing the demands of increasingly impersonal technology with a demand for more personalized levels of service.

8.   Internal communication teams will also need to find ways to manage their growing portfolio. As the function's job description expands to include strategic problem-solving and improving organizational communication structures, someone will still have to write the speeches and edit the newsletters, through delegation, outsourcing or increased staff numbers. Internal communication teams will need to find the resources to manage this increased workload.

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