Communications

Communication is as simple as sending a message from one person to an individual or a group. Or is it? Effective communication engages the recipient - the message is received and understood. Bad communication has the opposite effect.

As the Channels Manager at Scottish Widows I was responsible for managing and developing channels; advising the business on the appropriate channel for delivering messages to over 4,000 employees and increasing the share of voice in the wider LloydsTSB Group channels.

Channels included print and DVD magazines, the intranet, videostreaming, E-zines, e-mails, desk-drops, team cascades and employee engagement events.

Not convinced of the importance of effective communication? Perhaps the following might strike a chord.

"Conversation is a taking-turn game but in real life people tend not to answer questions, directly. They’ll often either ignore the question, or not listen or talk around it, or answer something close to it but not the question itself, or say what’s on their mind before they get to the question.

At home conversations often went awry. Lisa used to moan that he was always asking questions. He thought he was showing an interest. She felt he was questioning why she was doing something. A typical exchange would go something like this:

Lisa: “Let’s go to that new restaurant, the Chinese one, tonight.”

Derek: “Why?”

Lisa: “OK, let’s get a takeaway then.”

Then she would be angry because he hadn’t leapt at the suggestion and he’d wonder why she changed her mind on the spot."