Stories or structure? Trends and developments in (digital) Communication

Stories or Structure?Trends and developments in

(digital) Communication

Translation & adaptation of my presentation for Yacht Noord Nederland

28 september 2013

Luc de Ruijter

Sunday 29 September 2013

Reflection

Historians tend to reflect (and I am an historian by education)

What is the perception of change in the Communication domain?

The bigger picture: crises

Trends

Digital connections

Accountability


Reflection

Improving as a professional starts with asking questions

The Digital (Communication) Revolution forces communication professionals to change

What are our ambitions in change?

To tell the story (of what is changing)?or Realizing change in Communication?


Whiskey is a dog


Whiskey is a dog

And not all dogs are called Whiskey

Media are communication

But is all communication media?

No

Most communication is happening outside the media:

participation, collaboration, interaction

Most communication management is media howeverSunday 29 September 2013

Whiskey is a dog

Communication < Information

What is our perception of Communication?

What is it we are looking for online, both as internal and external users?

What drives our online behaviour?

So what drives the behaviour of our colleagues and clients?


Whiskey is a dog

What is our focus in digital Communication

Editing and presentation?

Logistics and functionality?

Are we dealing with

Virtual shopping windows?

The digital warehouse?


Revolutie isn’t rebranding

Current crises mark a period of profound, revolutionary changes

Thomas Sankara, the “Che Guevara” of Burkina Faso, my country of residence at the moment


System crisis


System crisis

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2013/06/26/the-origin-of-the-worlds-dumbest-idea-milton-friedman/

It’s not only Communication as a domain that’s in crisis




Ecological crisis


Ecological crisis

News value

Short term

Media values

Effects


Ecological crisis

News value

Short term

Media values

Effects

Sustainable value

Long term

Key values

Return


Ecological crisis

News value

Short term

Media values

Effects

Conventional Communication media focus

Sustainable value

Long term

Key values

Return


Reputation crisis


Communication crisis

New communication environments, new players, new roles

End of media monopolies (and monopoly driven influence)

Confusion amongst media managers about what to do

Tendency to rebrand old communication

With recurring problems with conventional communication issues, e.g. recognition by management and accountability


Question

What exactly is the focus in the Communication domain?

Rebranding or changing?


Some Trends




Reputation

From trust us (thought from the sender perspective)

To show us (asked by the user/client)

License to operate

Note: Old reputation management is shared owner of the reputation crisis

Will old style reputation management change anything in the plummeted trust in reputation messaging?


From Corporate Brands to Employees as a Brand

From What’s in it for the business? To What’s in it for me?

From webmanagement To webgovernance

BYOD

Employees as a brand

http://www.pria.com.au/priablog/2013-trends-in-digital-com




Digital transparency forces the removal of all kinds of communication curtains that belong to the Paper Era.

Intranet and website are “open kitchens”

Open creates trust: seeing is believing

Sending messages creates distrust

Engaging and interacting creates empathy

Communication becomes communicating


The proof of the pudding is in the eating, not in the packaging (or the promise)

Messages offer promises; websites and apps offer and create real experiences

Make complexity easy

Move from Big Bang (one time event) to Long Wow (the daily experience)

The experience economy starts only now


Internal Communication


Most internal communication happens in collaboration, amongst colleagues

When ‘the communication in a project wasn’t good’, the ‘communication’ problem has nothing to do with messages and media

Internal communication processes are an increasingly important factor for creating and maintaing a positive external perception of a brand or organisation



Digital collaboration is more than just implementing IT(!)

Collaboration as a Long Wow = a very strong message

Make collaborating easy (eg. by BYOD)

Business platforms = new focus for Communication

Employees interact with information

Information forms the relations in each network



The network connects

People in a network connect themselves (they don’t need messages that tell them to connect)

Modern professionals (and clients/users) are self reliant and independent

The connection between users doesn’t need conventional communication interventions

Make connecting as an interactive activity possibleand don’t spend words or messages on it


Information connects

Having more systems and the newest media gadgets doesn’t help connectivity. They tend to do the opposite: more media create more silo’s

Move from (having) more media to (creating) better (meta) information structures

Move from the presentation to the logistics of digital communication

Facilitate interaction processes instead of controlling ‘the’ message


Question to ask yourself as a communication professional:

Where is it I can create communication value?

Which are the (communication) challenges of my employer?

Adding communication media and content products?

Facilitating better collaboration and information processes?

Accountability


It all starts with asking (yourself) questions

Fact: The Digital Revolution requires professionals in communication to change

So what direction is it you prefer?

Telling stories about (how others need to) change? or Changing the ways we interact as a community?

Reflection


Luc de Ruijter

www.linkedin.com/in/lucderuijter@lucderuijter

www.lucderuijter.nlhttp://www.frankwatching.com/archive/author/luc-de-ruijter/

http://www.managementsite.nl/auteurs/luc-de-ruijter

2007 2010 2010 2011 2013

By far most of my publications are in Dutch


http://www.linkedin.com/in/lucderuijter

http://www.linkedin.com/in/lucderuijter

http://www.lucderuijter.nl

http://www.lucderuijter.nl

http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/author/luc-de-ruijter/

http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/author/luc-de-ruijter/

