Hive Health

I recently attended a webinar on the barriers faced by organisations and communications teams to internal engagement and was really interested in the differences and similarities between internal communications and marketing.  

In the internal comms world there exists a common frustration with the disciplines lack of ability to get serious attention and ongoing commitment, especially when compared with its revenue generating cousin. A situation that was not expected to improve with the impending financial crisis, and its subsequent pressure to decrease ‘non-essential’ spending.

What also struck me as interesting was that when we discussed communications some of what we take for granted in the marketing world is not adopted within internal comms. Marketing tend to build a foundation for any activities on understanding our audience, their perspective, what they believe. All of which can be much easier when we are removed by the mere fact that we are ‘not one of them’. It seemed to me that viewing the internal audience as ‘one of us’ can tend to skew the approach one takes when communicating with them. This was discussed in depth by the attendees, with the majority considering this to be a challenge that the discipline needs to grapple with.

Despite this, so much is shared between the disciplines. The idea that communication professionals are integral to achieving the organisations goals is certainly common, as is the constant efforts to convert too-often tactical activities into strategic activities and is the need to get the balance right between leadership expectations and communicators’ ability to deliver.

It was a fascinating webinar, and really good to spend some time interacting with a brilliant, diverse group of internal comms bods, I for one was delighted to see audiences/beliefs being pushed to the forefront.

This week we welcome Helen Scott into the Hive. We have worked with Helen previously and have a deep respect for her account management skills.

With a degree in Pharmacology and Medical Neuroscience (she’s a geek), Helen has long been attracted to healthcare work – blood and needles excluded. She has substantial agency experience with Rx and Pharmacy brands.

Having been here all of two and a half days, Helen is full of enthusiasm for the challenges of working in a start up (evil laugh goes here). She looks forward to working on a variety of projects and accounts and getting stuck in on the new business front.

Helen’s worst job was standing in Sainsbury’s for five days, promoting Nectar Card in a very bad purple outfit. We hope to offer her a bit more stimulation. Also, we’d like to see the outfit if it’s still around?

Her first impressions of Hive are pleasing.  ”Everyone admits when they’re winging it, but seem to have an enthusiasm and experience that means they must be getting it right! ”

Thanks for joining, Helen – undoubtedly you will be a real asset in helping us grow into great shapes.

Today is National Poetry Day, which aims to explore the relevance of verse in modern-day life. We love this poem by Elspeth Murray, which echoes our frustration at the complexity, jargon, irrelevance and clutter that litters much of communication today. Elspeth wrote the poem for the launch of the cancer information reference group SCAN (South East Scotland Cancer Network) in January 2006, which has been trying to improve the quality and speed of services for people with cancer. © Elspeth Murray.

Baffled by Wikis?  I really liked this crystal clear explanation from the guys at Seattle based Commoncraft – a great video production company specialising in educational content.