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Staff communication more valuable than PR campaigns

Man and woman outside Campus Helsingborg
”If we want proud employees who will represent the University externally, we need an internal culture that is secure”, says Mats Heide, pictured here with Charlotte Simonsson. Photo:Jenny Loftrup

How staff communicate – at lectures, meetings, via email and on social media is more valuable for the trust in the University than PR campaigns. However, to talk about Lund University staff as ambassadors for the university brand is to choose the wrong perspective, say communication researchers Charlotte Simonsson and Mats Heide.

On social media staff has a bigger impact than the organisation

“I would be suspicious if people sounded like an advertising column at a university – where is the freedom of thought? However, we do need to reflect more on how we communicate”, says Charlotte Simonsson.
In the business sector there is currently a trend to present staff members as ambassadors for the brand – preferably twenty-four seven.  
 

“However, in the public sector, trust is a better word for brand”, says Mats Heide.
How staff communicate about their workplaces on social media, for example, has a bigger impact than when the organisation or company posts their own messages on their own social media channels. Employees in the private sector also speak more positively on the whole about their workplace than in public organisations. However, according to the communication researchers, reaching an agreement on a common message that university staff are to convey would undermine trust – critical thought is an important part of the ‘brand’.  

The University should highlight more and diverse voices

“It would be devastating for the University if everyone thought the same way and only certain messages were communicated. Instead, more needs to be done with the polyphonic, more and diverse voices should be highlighted”, says Charlotte Simonsson.

Together with Mats Heide, she has started a new research project on communication in public organisations. It is a follow-up to the project ‘The communicative organisation’, which is one of the largest studies on strategic communication in Europe.  In the first phase, they will focus on staff communication with external contacts. 

A communication climate can be brave and open - or defensive and aggressive

Key to how staff communicate is the social tone in the workplace. A good communication climate is brave and open and provides the conditions for staff to contribute their opinions and to take responsibility. Both staff and managers can then listen actively and provide constructive feedback. 

“However, in a closed communication climate the behaviour is defensive and in the worst case, aggressive. There is secrecy, people are territorial and staff go quiet”, says Mats Heide.

It is not possible to whitewash bad decisions with good communication

Information may flow freely both within and outside the organisation. However, the word flow does not imply that there should be as much communication as possible or that too much faith should be placed in good communication as a panacea – it is not possible to  whitewash bad decisions or organisational issues with good communication.

“There is always a risk of becoming a chattering organisation instead of a communicative organisation. In chattering organisations there are many meetings and meaningless discussions that lead nowhere. With lots of communication it is also easy to miss important information”, explain the researchers. 

“Being clear is not about saying everything, it is about choosing what not to communicate and prioritising fewer messages”, adds Mats Heide.

Teachers need to discuss how quick they should respond student questions

The communication researchers also believe that staff in workplaces need to discuss the increasing number of emails and how this should be handled. Is it possible to send fewer but more thoroughly considered emails? Maybe by not including quite so many people in email threads? For university teaching staff, the learning platform, Canvas, also means that students have yet another way to ask questions – and they expect a quick response.

“At our department, we sometimes discuss how we can create good communication with the students, without burning us out. Canvas entails something new ­­– if the students do not receive a response from one member of teaching staff they quickly move on to the next”, concludes Charlotte Simonsson.

 

 

 

 
cover photo

About LUM

The first edition of Lund University Magazine – LUM – was published 1968. Today, the magazine reaches all employees and also people outside the university. The magazine is published six times per year. Editor Jan Olsson.

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Facts "The communicative public organisation"

The research project ‘The communicative public organisation’ will run from 2020 until 2022. Researchers Rickard Andersson, Charlotte Simonsson and Mats Heide, all three at the Department of Strategic Communication, are leading the project. The Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish Public Employment Service, the City of Malmö, the City of Stockholm, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the Swedish Police Authority are examples of organisations taking part in the study.