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You may often have the responsibility for communicating official messages to others in your organization. A vital part of any such communication initiative is the quality of the feedback, measurement and evaluation that takes place. As well as being integral to the continuous improvement process, communication must be regularly monitored to ensure that the messages are understood, retained and responded to as desired, and also that future messages are constructed and conveyed appropriately.
However, the evaluation of the success of communication is often misunderstood, and statistics such as newsletter circulation figures are measured rather than the real critical success factors, such as the understanding and retention of the message by the target audience.
An ideal evaluation report will contain feedback on:
- content of the communication: has the message been understood and have the communication objectives been met?
- communication channel: has the correct communication channel been used
- communication skills: how good are the communication skills of those conveying the message?
- response to the communication: how has the message been received and what are the perceptions of individuals?
The gathering of feedback for the report may take the form of a questionnaire, a survey, or perhaps even face-to-face interviews with employees. Below are some guidelines on how to approach the gathering of feedback and measurement of success within these four areas.
1. Content of the Communication
All communication initiatives should have their objectives clearly defined in advance. As part of the measurement of the success of the initiative, the audience’s understanding and retention of the key communication objectives should be reviewed. Feedback from the audience on the relevance of the message and their satisfaction with the quality of information provided should also be sought.
2. Communication Channel
With modern technology offering more ways of communicating than ever before, the selection of an appropriate channel is a complex task. Not all channels are appropriate for all types of communication, and if chosen wrongly, they could result in the message being misunderstood or even ignored. Feedback should be sought from the target audience on the effectiveness, accessibility and appropriateness of the channel used.
3. Communication Skills
The way the message is conveyed, i.e. body language, choice of words, tone, etc., is as important as the content of the message itself. The interpersonal skills of those conveying the message are therefore crucial to the successful communication of the message. If gathering feedback on the communication skills of others, care is required to ensure that this information, like any upward feedback, is used sensitively and for development purposes only.
4. Response to the Communication
This is a very important part of the evaluation process as you will be able to identify and anticipate the audience’s key issues and concerns arising from the message. This will also enable you to place any future communication in the most appropriate context. The following areas should be considered: people’s sense of attachment to and belief in the organization, their attitudes to change, and how well informed they feel about events in the organization.
A review that includes feedback on the above four areas will provide a raft of useful data to enable you to plan improvements to future exercises based on an informed understanding of past communication exercises.
5. Listening and Responding to Feedback
By gathering feedback, the organization shows that it listens to and tries to understand employees’ needs. However, there is little point in undertaking such research if there is no commitment to act on the findings. In fact, if employees take the time to assist with this type of feedback, they expect to see a response, not just in the form of improvements, but also in a positive reaction to their feedback.
It is important that employees feel that the time they have invested in providing feedback has been meaningful and beneficial. Failure to do so will lessen future response rates and make employees feel less listened to than before. The more employees feel that they are being listened to, the more likely they are to listen and respond positively to an organization’s messages.
