Internal & External: It's all communication

One of the main focuses of our readings this week in my Troy University class was internal communication.  In many organizations, there is a clear distinction between internal and external communications. Internal is usually seen as employee newsletters, and packaging information for the executive suite to aid in the roll out of new initiatives or programs. External is the “sexier” side, dealing with community relations, media relations and a variety of publications designed for external stakeholder groups.

Making an assumption the two “sides” operate independently of each other or can be directed in a vacuum is a mindset the strategic communicator must strive to change.

In 1996, I was hired to direct the internal communication efforts of a faith-based child care and family reunification agency in Michigan. Within three weeks of joining the company, I was thrust into the forefront of a media relations maelstrom, pitting the agency and its clients against concerned neighbors surrounding two different residential facilities where juveniles in the care of our agency “escaped” and stole cars from residents.

While I was focused on learning the internal culture of the agency, I was hardly prepared to serve as the spokesperson for the entire agency about events I had little or no knowledge about the sites around the state of Michigan. “Trial by fire” was the term used repeatedly by members of the management staff and regional directors of the agency in the weeks that followed.

That experience is when I learned how little the field of communication is understood by management in general and how my role – regardless of whether it was called “internal” or “external” needed to be comprehensive. In 1938, Chester Barnard wrote in his book The Functions of the Executive “The first executive function is to develop and maintain a system of communication.” (page 226)

By 1996, that sage advice seemed to have been forgotten or misunderstood. The strategic communicator of today needs to be keenly aware of how all the components of an organization’s communication plan – marketing, sales, community outreach, political action, etc. – fit into a strategic, comprehensive program. Without that vision or knowledge, there is almost a guarantee for wasted resources, counter-productive efforts and frustration at all levels of an organization.

Internal communication is a key component for any company or client because it is where management has the opportunity – no, the responsibility – to keep one of their largest key publics (employees) informed about the goals, direction, and status of the company for which they work. As noted by Parsons and Urbanski (2012), the structure and internal culture of a company will be a key factor in the effectiveness of internal communication efforts.

I served as Director of Communications – responsible for both internal and external communication efforts – for the next 11 years, until the overall economy began its decline in 2007, proving the findings by Garnett (1997) and Sweetland (2008) that management tend to devalue communication’s importance, resulting in early elimination of communication positions during budget cuts or financial hardships.

Prior to joining the child care agency, I was the public relations manager at a hospital in Metro Detroit, responsible for their internal communications. One of the largest parts of my job at the hospital was the production of a weekly newsletter, Friday, designed to keep not only the employees at the hospital informed about the programs, Mission and happenings at the main campus, but to also make the 23 ancillary facilities around the metropolitan area see themselves as part of the team, not off-site step children. With the help of a very talented graphics designer, I redesigned the publication and won Newsletter of the Year designation from the Michigan Hospital Communicators Association (1995).

Specifically as it relates to public relations, there continues to be a gap between public relations theories and public relations practices (Cheng and de Gregario, 2008; Okay & Okay, 2008) that will not be corrected until strategic communicators take direct, demonstrable efforts to show the value of a comprehensive, strategic communications plan that not only supports the goals of the company, but can stand on its own, with demonstrable outcomes justifying the resources required to successfully operate such a critical function of every executive.

Follow Up Note: The media relations fiasco noted above was not only successfully managed, but helped to create two independent community action groups made up of citizens, elected officials and agency management persons to identify opportunities for improved safety as well as strengthen community relations, an effort hailed by all involved as productive and successful for the entire tenure of this communicator’s position with the agency.

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About the Author: David is a dedicated husband and proud father of a strapping fourteen year-old son and twin five year-old daughters. He has twenty years of professional communication experience, working in the public relations field. He has worked for public relations firms in Metro Detroit, hospitals and a state-wide faith-based social service organization helping at-risk children and their families. He grew up on a mid-sized Michigan blueberry farm, spent two years in Texas and now resides with his family outside Tampa, Florida. An avid reader and photographer, David also enjoys building furniture using recycled/upcycled wooden pallets.