Biz-commPulse

Branding a company is important for distinguishing it clearly from the competitors through planned communication strategies but it also expands to other functional areas in the company, for example, a   reliable customer service   when dealing with customers’ email, written, personal and telephonic enquiries and basically all instances where customers come into contact with the company. A reliable customer service is also applicable to effective brand administration in that customers can benefit by the whole administration process.  As indicated in previous posts, the role of happy employees in this regard is of utmost important.  The happier the employees, the better the customer service will be. But how should it work?  A   brand communication strategy , as part of an internal communication strategy ,   should include strategies how to offer value to the customer in all areas of service delivery, including administration. When a company has ineffi...

Cultural intelligence refers to behaviour based on the knowledge and skills related to the cultures of employees with whom the manager interacts in the business.  This can range from language skills or other qualities such as tolerance for uncertainty or flexibility which could also be enhanced because of emotional intelligence (see my post on emotional intelligence ). Cultural intelligence is developed by learning about the beliefs, customs and even restrictions of specific cultures as well as showing an understanding of a different culture by blending in. Cultural intelligence consists of four aspects, namely linguistics, spatial, intrapersonal and interpersonal. Image Credit:  http://www.freedigitalphotos.net Linguistics refers to successfully interacting with employees from other cultures whose native language is different and thus overcoming any language barriers.  For example, learning some key words or even lingo of another language spoken by emplo...

Photo credit : Photobin. Are your employees spending too much time reading emails?  Many employees are constantly being interrupted by reading emails throughout the day resulting in a loss of productivity for the business.  Once interrupted by an email, some experts suggest that  employees can on occasion waste up to 30 minutes to get back to work again.  Many of these emails are from colleagues and not really that important.  As a result some businesses now do not allow employees to send emails to their colleagues and only to clients of the organisation.  However, since emails have become essential for daily, instant communication, some businesses even introduced instant messaging for employees to communicate with each other without having to send emails while file sharing through applications such as DropBox or similar  applications are encouraged. What do managers need to do?  Depending on the nature of the business, it is ...

Source: Freedigitalphotos.net Implementing changes in a business could be very difficult but even more if employees are not in favour of the changes.  By knowing why employees might be resistant to change, effective communication strategies and media could be developed in advance to overcome any obstacles and to adequately  inform employees about the changes (also read my post on how to communicate change s). Here are the five most common reasons why employees might resist the changes you want to implement in your business: Employees do not really see or understand the need for any changes. Fear of management changing the status quo. Reluctance to work with other colleagues or in different teams. Employees not willing to take on more responsibilities. Employees might fear retrenchments, early retirement or other issues that might threaten their long-term security in the business. Honest and open communication play a crucial role in implementin...

Any change management process requires good communication skills as many employees are naturally resistant to change.  If changes in the business are also not congruent with some employees' self-seeking interests, the challenge for managers is even greater.  Employees also have unique personalities and may react to change differently (also read my post why employees might be resistant to change ). Employees need to prepared for the change in the business and all changes need be reinforced.  What role does communication play in the change management process? Source: Soshable.com Before the changes are implemented, the manager first needs to motivate employees to appreciate the need for the change.   Many employees feel too comfortable in the current status quo and need to see how the changes could benefit them in the long term.   The manager could, for example, communicate current problems in the business and explain how the changes would solve the...

I came across this video on breaking down barriers to effective communication on Youtube.  It has some useful information on how some barriers to effective communication can be overcome.  Sometimes just a change in behavior can make all the difference. Biz-commPulse homepage