I’m sure many of us have had that conversation where we explain in great detail what communication/engagement activity we’re proposing , and then comes….
‘Hang on, what exactly do you mean by xxxx?’
As an illustration, in the past week I’ve been told by colleagues that the term ‘insight’ isn’t right to describe what we know about our audiences and have had a number of conversations where it’s been difficult to agree by what we mean by consultation or co-production.
The terminology we use to describe our work is important, and more so that we have shared understanding of terminology with the non communications colleagues we work with.
We spend much of our time crafting messages and content about the business we work for, to inform, drive action and influence our audiences. Spending time to ensure the colleagues we work with and support understand what it is we mean when we talk about our work, is just as important.
Some of the things to think about when doing this:
- Being consistent in your use of terminology
- Understand what your terminology may mean in different professional settings
- Be clear what outputs/outcomes the work your describing can deliver
- Explain what you need from colleagues to undertake specific activity
- What the activity will actually ‘look’ like
Samuel Wallace 