Leaders know one can only go so far without effective internal and external communications. Successful businesses are built on solid communication and the trust it builds.
Strong communications are at the foundation of successful businesses. So whether you are just starting your company or have been at its helm for years, it's always a good idea to evaluate and maximize your company's communications practices.
The proper communication outputs will build bridges of trust and understanding between you and your stakeholders, employees, clients, prospects, and peers. Effective leaders focus on relationships, and good relationships are built on connections. Communication done right will catalyze those connections, setting forth your company's vision and value proposition, allowing you to engage with audiences, and painting an overall picture of who you are and what you stand for. Conversely, failure to build such trust connections can risk your company's reputation.
Internal and External Communications
Communication plays a crucial role across all levels of an organization, both internally with your colleagues and employees and externally with the outside world. An essential component of any marketing plan is an external communications component to foster strong relationships with your key audiences. Effective communications planning starts with a clear definition of the target market and the channels and tactics to reach it. On the other hand, internal communications flow from how you as a leader communicate to your colleagues and employees to engage them with your vision.
What about my bottom line?
According to a study conducted by Gartner, effective internal communications can improve employee performance by 10% and positively impact profits by 29%. Employees who feel supported (virtually or in-person), connected to a goal and company vision, and recognized as valued members, can do wonders for the company's bottom line. Similarly, effective external communications can capture the attention of your current and future stakeholders, cultivate healthy relationships, inspire trust, develop new contacts, and ease the path to better agreements.
It's all about storytelling
Communications are all about sharing our messages and purpose through storytelling. "Storytelling can generate a shared understanding among people about a situation, a topic or a problem, and through its engaging nature, it has the potential to attract and sustain interest and enable audiences to make meaningful connections," according to T. Greenhalgh from Wiley Online Library. Studies show that stakeholders engage more effectively through contextual narratives such as stories to help gain understanding and perspective and build strong connections. Applying what we know about how our brains and emotions work to connect to a story is the main point of storytelling and a proven communications tactic that has stood the test of time.
At DuartePino, our licensed advisors help your business design and manage an effective internal and external communications strategy aligned with your overall brand and reputation management strategies — two areas of our expertise. Contact us to learn more about what we can do for your comms and public relations strategies.
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