Gower Handbook of Internal Communication

Citation

Line, M.B. (2000), "Gower Handbook of Internal Communication", The Electronic Library, Vol. 18 No. 6, pp. 448-469. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2000.18.6.448.1

Internal communications

This claims to be the most comprehensive guide to internal communication (IC), and it is hard to deny the claim. It is based on the surprising belief that “the thought that IC can be a strategic tool, rather than a strictly welfare one, has begun to enter the management psyche”: surprising because I thought its importance to the wellbeing of an institution had been recognised for years. What does seem to have happened more recently is that IC is becoming accepted as a special area of expertise, often with a senior member of staff in charge of it. The Preface also suggests that “IC can usefully take on a much expanded brief: the professional management of interactions between all those with an interest – or a ‘stake’ – in a particular organization”.

There are 38 chapters, divided into six parts. The first part, “The business context”, sets IC in the context of the organisation. Part II, “Effective communication strategies”, discusses setting objectives, planning and strategy. Part III, written by the editor with a collaborator, is the core of the work, and by far the longest section (120 pages) excepting the case studies. Entitled “Turning strategy into action”, it deals with a large variety of techniques – over 45, we are told – from face‐to‐face through events (workshops, etc.) and print to electronic and other computer‐based methods. I would guess that this will prove the part of the book that is turned to most.

Part IV, “Developing good communicators”, consists of three chapters on understanding how communication works, communication skills, and managing through supervisors. The fifth part is concerned with “measuring success”: why measurement is needed, what to measure, surveys, audits, and benchmarking.

If Part III is likely to be the most useful in the longer term, Part VI, the case studies, is the most readable. There are 16 of them, all written from the inside (several by persons with such titles as “director of internal communications”), and all from well‐known organisations. They deal with different aspects of communication; for example, the chapter on Bass Taverns is concerned with winning senior management commitment, that on Kent County Council with how they measured the effects of communication, and that on WH Smith Retail with running a video magazine. This variety of themes adds greatly to the usefulness of these chapters.

One limitation must be mentioned in relation to libraries, most of which are in the public sector. The editor admits that most of the contributors assume the organisation to be commercial, but she hopes that this imbalance may be redressed in subsequent editions. However, most of what is said is as relevant to non‐commercial bodies as it is to commercial ones.

The book is expensive, presumably partly because of the number of contributors. But it is good value, and should prove something of a “bible” for those involved in communications – who are certainly not confined to specialists. The index is thorough, and I spotted no misprints.