FINE Communications

I sometimes get asked to define "good" communications.  Defining communications is a bit like defining good marketing or good art.  It is hard to put words to but you know it when you see it.

Unfortunately, when I give that answer, almost no one is satisfied.  While there are many different definitions of communications, most don't seem to include all of the elements that I consider important.  So, in the interest of keeping  people who ask me about communications from walking away muttering rude things under their breath, I cobbled together a workable definition.

In my opinion, good communications should be FINE communications:  Familiar, Interactive, Newsworthy and with Everyone involved.

• Familiar: For communications to be effective, you need to communicate to your audience in a language and using a medium that they use and are familiar with.  We all know people to whom it is useless to send an email, because they never check their email.  Similarly, you can talk to me all day in Portuguese, but you won't do much communicating because I am not familiar with the language.

• Interactive: Truly excellent communications is always two way and interactive. We have all heard the old adage that we were given two ears and one mouth because we should listen twice as much as we talk.  There is a lot of truth to that.  The best communicators are ALWAYS those who connect the most with their communities, constituencies and audiences.  The only way you can do that is by listening to them and hearing what their issues and concerns are.

• Newsworthy:  For communications to happen, the receiver of a message has to value the message enough to accept it and process it.  The message has to have value to that person.  It has to be newsworthy to them.  It is important to remember that newsworthiness is determined by the receiver of the message, not by the sender.  It doesn't matter how important a message is to the sender, if the receiver isn't interested, it is not received.   Also, our definition of what is newsworthy varies significantly depending on the situation. While virtually everything my 4 year old nephew says is newsworthy to me, if a coworker said the same things, it would not only NOT be newsworthy, but would be a cause for concern!     

• Everyone involved:  For communications to be effective and to have impact, it must reach an audience.  As we discussed above, first  the message must have value to the receiver and they must accept it.  Good communications is not a spectator sport.  Both the sender of the message and the receiver of the message must be actively engaged in the communications any communications to happen.  Furthermore, communications is most effective when it spreads.  For that to happen, the receivers of the message need to become the spreaders of the message.  They need to believe enough in the importance and newsworthiness of the message to pass it along to their communities, to their contacts.  Everyone needs to be a part of the communications.

If you can get these four elements working in your communications, everything will be just FINE.