A lot goes on in large businesses that house employees working across multiple departments. With so much going on it can be hard to communicate all of the great progress that a company is making. Enter the public relations team – responsible for gathering information and sharing it with external partners, collaborators and the general public.
Great PR teams can make a monumental difference in how a company is perceived within the surrounding community and beyond. But finding the right messaging that accurately portrays the work of various departments can be challenging, especially if internal communications aren’t all that great. Communication is still king when it comes to long-term success, but how can a PR team build strong networks internally?
“Communication is still king when it comes to long-term success, but how can a PR team build strong networks internally?”
Managing Conflicting Priorities
Most experts agree communication is the foundation of a strong, positive company culture. However, dreams of transparent and efficient communication between teams in different departments can seem far off when each appears to have differing priorities. This can be especially true when those priorities appear to conflict with each other.
“However, dreams of transparent and efficient communication between teams…can seem far off when each appears to have differing priorities.”
Although employees in different departments may be working on projects that appear to conflict with each other, it is important to take a step back and help everyone to recognise that they are all working towards a larger company goal.
From a PR perspective, one of the best ways to do this is to help build a shared language and common knowledge of technical terminology amongst teams. Develop a list of shared terms and their definitions that everyone can calibrate to and use them to understand the shared goals of the departments within the company.
“Develop a list of shared terms…that everyone can…use…to understand the shared goals of the departments within the company.”
Building a workplace that values positive accountability can also help with managing conflicting priorities. Positive accountability involves building trust in employees to make their own decisions that will benefit the company. Trusted employees feel more accountable to maintain that trust by performing to a high standard, maintaining communication, and helping to reach company goals.
“Building a workplace that values positive accountability can also help…”
From the role of a PR professional, this can be done by telling positive stories about the work people are excited about and not mischaracterising the things they say.
Fostering Internal Communication
Of course, it is easy to recognise that greater communication is needed between departments, but it can be harder to really build the connections that foster that communication.
Transparency and a focus on building positive relationships from the top down is critical. This means admitting to failures, striving for empathy, and leading by example when it comes to how employees should work with one another. In the PR world, this means fessing up to mistakes and striving to do better as you interact amongst teams.
“Transparency and a focus on building positive relationships from the top down is critical.”
Although a lot of the tone for communication will come from the top, there are still plenty of things that PR professionals can do to help foster greater internal communication and collaboration. It can start with assessing how the PR team is currently interacting with various departments. Ask for honest feedback about how communications can be improved or how PR can work better to collaborate with different entities internally.
“Ask for honest feedback about how communications can be improved…”
It can also begin with addressing communication issues amongst remote teams. One straightforward strategy might be working with schedules to find a regular meet-up time where remote employees are able to gather online together and discuss project status and strategies and ask questions they might have.
“It can also begin with addressing communication issues amongst remote teams…”
Another strategy might be to start increasing the flow of internal news and information, which can actually help reduce employee stress. A PR team can really help get a movement like this off the ground by facilitating news sharing from the top down and the bottom up.
This effort can also help to build a more positive company culture by sharing more than just company news and policy updates; spending time sharing the successes of teams and individuals, updates on special projects and interesting tidbits about how things work in the office can have a huge positive influence.
Striving to Stay Stress-Free
Bolstering internal communication and working towards a streamlined internal PR strategy will inevitably pay dividends in boosting external communication as well. But it sure can be difficult and stressful to get the ball rolling. And it can seem like one more task to now take on internal communications as well as external ones.
“…working towards a streamlined internal PR strategy will inevitably pay dividends in boosting external communication as well.”
Managing big workloads can take a lot out of anyone, but it is important to strive to limit the amount of stress generated by tackling internal company communications. One strategy is to reduce workloads by delegating. Have one person on the PR team become a point person for internal relations and encourage them to develop strategies that can be incorporated into how the whole PR team does business with other departments.
“One strategy is to reduce workloads by delegating.”
All employees should feel as though they are able to prioritise their self-care within their working environment, and that includes PR professionals.
Fostering communication is an important goal and can boost any company’s culture in important ways. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the PR team should sacrifice personal time for professional needs. Striking a good balance between work and home is another essential aspect of creating the right working environment.
Conclusion
Working internally across departments may be one of the biggest challenges that PR professionals face within their organisation. But striving to develop a culture of shared goals and positive internal communication are vital aspects of a positive work environment. Done well, strong internal relationships can also make the work of external PR communications better and more transparent for everyone.
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