lean communications: process improvement in pr and corporate communications using lean six sigma

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Lean Communications: Process Improvement in PR and Corporate Communications Using Lean Six Sigma Reid Walker November 2012

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PR and corporate communications programs are critical to the success of your business. However, there is frequently a lack of clarity around the implementation, measurement, and success of many communications programs. Some believe it’s all about having a relationship with a few reporters or sending out the occasional well-written press release, but with the fragmentation of the media, everyone is now a consumer and producer of “media.” Is there a way to create innovative, clutter-busting programs with focused and quantifiable business results without wasting time and money? This paper examines the application of Lean Six Sigma in the development and improvement of communication programs by showing that the processes involved result in data that can be measured and analyzed to deliver more insightful, targeted efforts with more impactful outcomes. Innovative companies can benefit from growth, adaptability and success while enhancing their brands and reputations with the faster and better results that emerge from improved communications programs.

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Lean Communications: Process Improvement in PR and Corporate Communications Using Lean Six Sigma

Reid Walker November 2012

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Overview

PR and corporate communications programs are critical to the success of your business. However, there is frequently a lack of clarity around the implementation, measurement, and success of many communications programs. Some believe it’s all about having a relationship with a few reporters or sending out the occasional well-written press release, but with the fragmentation of the media, everyone is now a consumer and producer of “media.”

Is there a way to create innovative, clutter-busting programs with focused and quantifiable business results without wasting time and money?

This paper examines the application of Lean Six Sigma in the development and improvement of communication programs by showing that the processes involved result in data that can be measured and analyzed to deliver more insightful, targeted efforts with more impactful outcomes. Innovative companies can benefit from growth, adaptability and success while enhancing their brands and reputations with the faster and better results that emerge from improved communications programs.

Some believe it’s all about

having a relationship with

a few reporters or sending

out the occasional well-

written press release, but

with the fragmentation of

the media, everyone is now

a consumer and producer

of “media.”

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PR, Corporate Communications and the Service Process Challenge

Stakeholder communications plays a critical role in business strategy especially when it comes to enhancing brands, as well as building and securing reputations in a constantly changing business environment. By using quantifiable data to improve the processes involved in communications, businesses can benefit from a targeted approach to achieving reputational goals.

Social media is clearly one of the most important factors in building reputations, backed by a global population of more than 1.97 billion Internet users with over 266 million located in North America alone. In 2010, 600 million of these global Internet users were registered on media platforms such as Facebook while 175 million were on Twitter. With such a critical mass of attentive focus, no business can afford to ignore their social media strategy. Unfortunately media fragmentation often results in wasted efforts because businesses end up with uncoordinated and ineffective strategies by trying to reach a wider audience through new channels, without knowing whether their efforts are delivering the needed results or not.Having a corporate Instagram account and posting pictures online is pointless if a business cannot determine whether it contributes to their desired reputational goals or whether their target audience is camped out on LinkedIn instead.

By using quantifiable

data to improve the

processes involved in

communications,

businesses can benefit

from a targeted approach

to achieving reputational

goals.

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PR, Corporate Communications and the Service Process Challenge

With the success recorded by practices such as Lean Six Sigma in process improvement and the high rate of efficiency and quality delivered as a result, it was only a matter of time before considerations were made concerning the application of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in fields such as PR and corporate communications for process development and improvement. However, making this applicable and useable comes with a number of challenges. To better understand the core of the “Lean” aspect in LSS, you must know its sole focus: to arrive at efficiency by eliminating waste from a process, where waste refers to aspects that limit process speed and efficiency. According to Taiichi Ohno of the famous Toyota Production System (TPS), the forerunner to Lean, 7 kinds of Muda, or waste, exist:•Overproduction of products not demanded by customers•Inventories awaiting further processing or consumption•Unnecessary over-processing•Unnecessary motion of employees•Unnecessary transport and handling of goods•Waiting for people, processes or functions

These definitions of waste serve the manufacturing world but will not work for service processes such as communication.

Having a corporate

Instagram account and

posting pictures online is

pointless if a business

cannot determine whether

it contributes to their

desired reputational

goals...

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PR, Corporate Communications and the Service Process Challenge

“Sigma” in LSS refers to a statistical deviation from perfection which may result from variations deviating from standards of quality. The problem is that unlike manufacturing where quality standards are usually exact measurements, quality in service processes is based on individual or collective experiences of people not a measurement against certain specifications as it is in manufacturing. As such these challenges arise: •Services processes are focused on people not machines, so standardization is not the ultimate goal. •The fact that we cannot standardize processes means that quality also cannot be standardized. •Visibility of Work in Process (WIP) is often difficult; however the negative connotations are there all the same. •The flow in such processes is typically of information not products. Information may be written or oral and visibility of such information is limited unlike manufacturing where product flow is visible and can be standardized.

Other differences exist between service and manufacturing processes however the important factor is that these differences create a challenge in applying Lean Six Sigma to service processes. These problems notwithstanding, significant opportunities do exist. In examining several solutions that are designed for service processes using LSS methodology, the answer lies in redefining LSS concepts and applications in the context of communications programs and processes.

We have to examine and

redefine LSS in the context

of communications

programs and processes.

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Lean Communications: Improving Quality and Efficiency in the Communications Process

Redefining LSS concepts in the service context has been accomplished in finance, healthcare and other sectors. Key changes have been recommended which have some bearing in fields such as corporate communications. In terms of redefining the concepts, Bicheno and Holweg1 came up with broad-based recommendations for redefining the original 7 Muda for service-based processes. We have adapted these to serve the needs of corporate communications:•Delay on the part of customers in a communication process where they wait for information or a response. The customer’s time may seem free to the provider, but when the quest for information or response is taken elsewhere the pain begins.•Duplication by having to re-enter data, repeat details on forms, copy information across, or answer the same queries from several sources.• Unnecessary movement with a lack of one-stop solutions to customer requirements, creating the need to seek answers from multiple sources.•Unclear communication and the waste of seeking clarification, confusion over product or service use, wasting time finding a location that may result in misuse or duplication.•A lost opportunity to retain or win customers may involve a failure to establish rapport, ignoring customers, unfriendliness, and rudeness. •Errors in the service transaction or product defects in the service.

1 Bicheno, J. and Holweg, M. (2009) “The Lean Toolbox: The Essential Guide to Lean Transformation”,. 4th edition, Buckingham: PICSIE Books

7 Muda (Waste) of Corporate Communications 1. Delay

2. Duplication

3. Unnecessary movement

4. Unclear communication

5. Lost opportunity

6. Errors in service transaction

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This adaptation provides a good entry point for approaching the issue of defining process improvement within a company’s communication programs from the Lean Six Sigma perspective. In addition, researchers such as Schleusener have also proposed that service-oriented businesses should adopt three principles of statistical thinking in order to apply Sigma methodology to their efforts: •All work is a process. •All processes have variability. •All processes create data that explains variability.2

This approach means that if we can determine processes that provide data we can measure for variations and deviations from means associated with quality. In terms of defining quality based on customer expectations which are subjective, we can use the principle of conformance to customer Critical to Quality (CTQ) requirements to determine the quality of processes. Critical to Quality refers to the core elements of the service that are necessary to meet or exceed customer expectations. These should be clearly defined and agreed to by all parties. A point based system may be used to collect customer responses and grade them against a scale of expectations in order to provide some standardization. Customers from the communications strategy perspective refers to analysts, bloggers, media, and regulators as important target audiences when it comes to building corporate reputations. Once collective responses have been collated they may be standardized to provide data for comparison of processes against CTQ objectives.

2 Smith, Kennedy. “Six Sigma for the Service Sector.” QualityDigest. Kennedy Smith, May 2012.Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.qualitydigest.com/may03/articles/01_article.shtml>

Critical to Quality refers to

the core elements of the

service that are necessary

to meet or exceed

customer expectations.

Lean Communications: Improving Quality and Efficiency in the Communications Process

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

We agree with Bicheno and Holweg as well as Schleusener that waste can be redefined for service processes and all work consists of processes which create data that explains variability. To better align core LSS principles to improve a company’s communications programs we recommend adopting a specific Lean Six Sigma approach called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) where the focus is on streamlining programs and obtaining data in order to analyze, develop, refine, and improve processes for better results that create faster and more focused reputational impact.

Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

1. Define Reputation is a critical factor to a company’s success; most efforts of the communications process are aimed at building a reputation for a company and its products while deriving attendant benefits such as increased sales and improved financial performance.

However, corporate communications is not a single monolithic process; it consists of several other processes and sub processes. Public relations is an aspect of communications and has its own sub processes which need to be targeted for improvement. Following the Pareto principle, if we can target 20% of the constituent processes that provide the opportunity for improvement, the remaining 80% may benefit from positive results and the entire communications effort improves in terms of quality and effectiveness. Some companies have defined communication strategies that require process improvement; other companies don’t have such requirements in place and need to develop processes as part of a new effective strategy. All these needs are addressed in the Define phase.

To better align core LSS

principles to improve a

company’s communications

programs we recommend

adopting a specific Lean

Six Sigma approach called

DMAIC...

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

The relevant processes to be developed or improved should be determined in this first phase by defining the necessary reputational CTQs. These reputational CTQs are key factors that need to be met or improved based on the stated requirements of targeted stakeholders. Requirements can be derived by examining both the internal and external facets of the company’s strategy, practices, and market. Internal developments are responsible for external consequences and a synergy between both efforts is required for an effective strategy.

Focus on the target audiences of the communication sub process involved and eliciting information from them should help determine the Voice of the Customer in LSS parlance, which means what the target audiences expect or values and their requirements for satisfaction. Requirements can be determined through surveys, interviews, or the use of tools such as a SWOT Matrix which can help provide some parameters for reputational CTQs and processes that need improvement (see Table 1).

SWOT FACTOR CLASSIFICATION DESCRIPTION

Strengths Internal Aspects of the business and its strategy that count towards an improved reputation.

Weaknesses Internal Aspects of the business and its strategy that place its reputation at a disadvantage when compared to others.

Opportunities External Areas of growth through which a company can enhance its reputation in its niche and marketplace.

Threats External Factors which are a threat to reputation and will have to be dealt with.Table 1: Example SWOT Matrix framework for communications.

Reputational CTQs are

aspects that need to be

met or improved based on

the stated requirements of

targeted stakeholders.

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

Through SWOT Analysis, a company may discover that one of its reputational CTQs is “Great Customer Support.” Following this discovery, the process of customer support may have to be broken down in order to determine its quality drivers and performance requirements from the customer perspective using tools such as CTQ Trees (see Diagram 1):

NEED QuALITy DRIvER PERFORmANCE REQuIREmENT

96% customers satisfied Waiting Time Calls responded to within 20 secondsGreat CustomerSupport 90% say support response is friendly Friendliness Maintain responses typical of friendly engagement

Follow up email/call in 24 hours Follow Up Ask to be of further help

Diagram1: CTQ Tree for “Great Customer Support.”

...the process...may have to

be broken down in order

to determine its quality

drivers and performance

requirements...

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

If the process was a weakness, process maps would also have to be developed in order to provide visualization and determine areas where problems are located, how they affect performance requirements, and how to reduce or eliminate such problems. In some cases processes may not even exist and will have to be developed to meet stakeholder expectations. A new company may have customer support as part of its service offering even though it may exist without being part of a defined communications strategy. The same company might lack a means of distributing communication to stakeholders about new products and services, meaning that this process will have to be developed from scratch and a corresponding communications strategy structured to identify other areas where they may be lacking completely or require improvement.

2. Measure Having established process maps and CTQs in the Define phase, at this stage it is time to measure the attributes of target audiences. The extent to which established processes effectively support the reputation of the company and its brand among audiences needs to be ascertained.

Stakeholders or target audiences are typically classified into 2 categories: a. Primary Stakeholders: People who are the direct targets of the communication programs of a company. This depends on what the company in question is offering but this audience may consist of groups such as: customers, C-level executives, consultants, decision makers, members of the government, industry analysts, bloggers etc.

A new company may have

customer support as part

of its service offering even

though it may exist

without being part of a

defined communications

strategy.

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

b. Secondary Stakeholders: Intermediaries who are indirectly targeted in communication efforts such as: partners, social sites, developers, and members of the media among others.

It should be noted that in regular stakeholder analysis, a third category known as Key Stakeholders or Influencers exist. These are either primary or secondary stakeholders with an influence over others in their organizations or groups.

However in communications, members of primary and secondary stakeholder groups are all considered key stakeholders because reputations are based on opinions formed by a collective group of individuals who are either direct or indirect targets of your communications strategy. Everyone in either category 1 or 2 is considered an influencer with varying degrees of importance.

Consider a company that offers payment processing and had flaws in its gateway made public by a tech blogger having no direct communication channel to inform the company of its problems. Either their communications strategy had no stakeholder analysis that identified the need to target such users or a strat-egy did not exist in the first place. The story could easily damage that business. Influence in communication means anyone that has a say in how people perceive a service or product and their responses to communication efforts have to be measured.

New companies need this analysis in order to know how to plan and direct their communications programs. Writing innovative press releases without knowing who these releases are supposed to target in the first place is a wasteful exercise. Through the Measure phase, a business can appropriately classify stakeholders so targeted communications can lead to a higher reputational impact.

Influence in communication

means anyone that has a

say in how people perceive

a service or product and

their responses to

communication efforts have

to be measured.

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

Using tools such as Mendelow’s Matrix stakeholders can be mapped and classified to determine the appropriate communication efforts required to target specific audiences based on the Power/Interest approach as elaborated by Mitchell and Agle3.

INTEREST

PO

WE

RP

OW

ER

INTEREST

SECTION POWER/INTEREST WEIGHT

DESCRIPTION

A Low Interest + Low Power

Require minimal effort in communication programs but should be monitored

B Low Power + High Interest

Should be kept informed

C High Power + Low Interest

Ensure enough information is provided in order to keep them sufficiently satisfied about the company’s brand and reputation.

D High Power + High Interest

These are key players who should be encouraged and influenced regularly as part of communication strategy.

C D

A B3 Mitchell, R. K., B. R. Agle, and D.J. Wood. (1997). “Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of Who and What really Counts.” in: Academy of Management Review 22(4): 853 - 888.

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

For each group of target audiences, a strategy to compare the company’s reputational objectives against the actual situation which currently exists must be developed. Teams working on the strategy use metrics to determine when improvement has occurred after refining a process. Using the same example of “Great Customer Service” in the Define phase above, the process could said to have failed or be inefficient if calls are not answered within 20 seconds or a percentage of surveyed customers, e.g. up to 20%, consider support staff unfriendly. Improvement occurs when standards have been attained. When a new company has no such process in the first place, it has to be implemented by comparing standards that apply in the most efficient businesses in its sector, maintaining and improving on such standards.

Using an alternate example, online marketing as a communications process could be said to be ineffective if the process does not correspond to “X” amount of sales, does not lead to a percentage increase in inquiries about a particular product, or the value of the number of purchases on the company’s website is different from the average recorded in a year. Metrics ultimately help ascertain process improvement. Tools such as CTQ Trees can help determine performance requirements for which successive efforts at process development or improvement can be measured. Performance capability gap analysis can help determine the difference between the process status quo, those of competitors, the best in the industry, and other metrics that should help determine what level the process or overall communications strategy ought to be at.

For each group of target

audiences, a strategy to

compare the company’s

reputational objectives

against the actual situation

which currently exists must

be developed.

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

3. AnalyzeThe team should now understand their current position and the difference between what they desire and the reality of their position in the market. The challenges impacting the attainment of the performance level they need to reach can be analyzed for root causes. Value-stream maps can be used to target areas of improvement such as the appropriate reputational messages to communicate to target key audiences or the lack of relevant data to perform certain internal tasks that help with effective communications. Value stream mapping is a technique used to analyze the flow of systems and information in order to better understand it.

Other tools and methods of analysis such as the 5 Whys can also be used in this stage of analysis. For example if reputational messages are being developed, the 5 Whys application could be used to determine possible reasons why a message does not have the desired effect on target audiences. It can also be used in developing entirely new messages as part of its strategy, where questions are asked about reasons the message strategy may not have the desired effect upon implementation. The 5 Whys help unlock core issues or problem, for example:

1. Why is this message not working? a. Because we can’t be sure we are reaching our target audience.

2. Why can’t we be sure of this? a. Because our distribution system is hard to track and measure.

5 Whys Example

1. Why is this message not working? a. Because we can’t be sure we are reaching our target audience.

2. Why can’t we be sure of this? a. Because our distribution system is hard to track and measure.

3. Why is that? a. Because our target audience is so large.

4. Why does it need to be so large? a. Because we have a great product that could appeal to a lot of different audiences and we are not sure who we will reach.

5. Why can it not be segmented and measured?

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

3. Why is that? a. Because our target audience is so large.

4. Why does it need to be so large? a. Because we have a great product that could appeal to a lot of different audiences and we are not sure who we will reach.

5. Why can it not be segmented and measured?

The analysis stage involves collaboration by the cross functional teams involved. In the case of reputation, new messages may need to be developed which incorporate the priorities that the team decides the company needs to address as part of its communication strategy, and testing may need to be used on target audiences. For proposed efforts to remain within budgeting requirements cost accounting tools may also be required.

Interviews and other means of opinion measurement which take stakeholder responses into account can be compared against desired goals of the reputational messages they might have been subject to. Care must be taken to ensure that the interviews result in honest responses not responses that are given in order to benefit from perceived rewards. Impact can also be determined by finding out focus group opinions through independent research and examining sources of public user opinion, e.g., forums, blogs, social network comments, and other media sources.

Care must be taken to en-

sure that the interviews

result in honest responses

not responses that are giv-

en in order to benefit from

perceived rewards.

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

4. Improve At this stage data and information should have emerged from previous phases which will highlight areas of communication tactics and messages which need new processes or which can be improved, such as the reputational message example described above. Some of the information which may have emerged from earlier phases can include:•List of reputational CTQs ordered by rank.• Process maps showing deficient or non-existent communication processes, areas that fail, and why they fail.•Measures that identify what elements of independent communication processes need improvement to satisfy reputational CTQ requirements. Measures also identify processes that need to be developed to achieve objectives.•Strategies that address new requirements through varied methods.

Process maps resulting from team analysis can help in making comparisons between old processes and new processes based on recommendations in the “Analyze” phase. Showing clear causes of defects or failures in the old way of doing things is critical as well as how the new processes aim to solve the underlying problems. In the case where entirely new processes are being developed with no baseline to compare them to, analysis with the existing processes of a competitor may be required before development.

Process maps resulting

from team analysis can help

in making comparisons

between old processes and

new processes based on

recommendations in the

“Analyze” phase.

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

Implementation should be in pilot phases to compare the performances of the newly implemented processes and determine if indeed a solution has been found that improves on the existing process. Pilot phases should be compared to determine which provides the most significant degree of effectiveness, determined by the number of reputational CTQs they help improve with the least amount of risk. Benchmarking tools are essential in this stage to determine the actual rate of process improvement versus the status quo. Launch timelines for new process implementation are also a critical aspect of this phase and should result in a detailed plan which can be tested in real world situations. Internal and external aspects of the strategy will also need to be tweaked to improve the communications program.

5. ControlBenefits gained should be documented and maintained in order to not lose ground on areas of improvements. Areas for future improvement need to be determined and continuously incorporated as part of Communications Process Improvement (CPI). One key is reputational behavior observed and feedback gained from external sources measured through means such as surveys, opinion gathering, social media monitoring, and other analytical methods.

In areas where positive benefits have been gained from new or improved processes, teams must assess such processes and determine a reputational plan of action should circumstances change.

Areas of future improvement

need to be determined and

worked on as part of a

continuous process known

as Communications

Process Improvement

(CPI).

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

This means if the old process was a Plan A and the new process a Plan B, a contingency Plan C or even an additional Plan D should be in place to deal with potential new problems that may arise impacting the effectiveness of the new process.

Continuous improvement means assessing reputational CTQs to determine if there is any change in requirements. The “Great Customer Support” trend may have shifted in a specific sector and using old performance requirements alone may be ineffective. In an age where social media is growing exponentially, Mashable noted that 62% of customers have already used social media for cus-tomer service issues while 56% of the major brands don’t respond to complaint comments on their Facebook page and 71% ignore customer complaints on Twitter4. But that statistic will continue to evolve quickly. Already a large number of companies are shifting towards social media for customer service in addition to regular channels. If this becomes a performance requirement for your sector from the stakeholder perspective, getting in late will be a disadvantage. People want their problems attended to faster and when competitors are doing so via social media, focusing on email and telephone channels alone may be a company’s path to extinction. After all, more people these days spend their time on social networks, with 66% of online adults using social networking websites5. Scenarios such as this make continuous improvement an integral requirement of communications programs.

4 Rollason, Harry. “While Social Media Makes Better Customer Service.” Mashable. Mashable, 09 Sept. 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://mashable.com/2012/09/29/social-media-better-customer-service/>.5 Brenner, Joanna. “Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.” Pew Internet: Social Networking (full Detail). Pew Internet, 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2012/March/Pew-Internet- Social-Networking-full-detail.aspx>.

Continuous improvement

means assessing

reputational CTQs for

desired audiences to

determine if there is a

change in requirements.

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Applying DMAIC to Corporate Communications

There should be frequent assessment of existing processes which may work optimally in their current configuration but may require improvement if audi-ence requirements and opinions change. Measuring changes and determining how to sustain gains and improve the communications strategy may involve the following:•Regular assessment of the voice of the target audiences and stakeholders (Voice of the Customer) to determine if reputational CTQs have changed.•Brainstorming sessions to determine if the reputational messages developed and the manner of message dissemination comply with current needs and future requirements.•Ensuring new requirements are embedded into planned processes.

Concerns may exist about the involvement of metrics in what communications team members believe should be strictly a creative process, but it is important that they understand and accept this aspect of process development and improvement for future situations. Excellence and effectiveness in communications can be improved substantially through data-oriented methods which complement the creativity of communication efforts and innovative strategies. This approach can help ensure that a firm outperforms the competition and builds a positive reputation in the eyes of stakeholders concerned.

Excellence and

effectiveness in

communications can be

improved substantially

through data-oriented

methods which complement

the creativity of

communication efforts and

innovative strategies.

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Incite and the Lean Communications Advantage

Incite and the Lean Communications Advantage

Lean Communications goes beyond the simple application of Lean Six Sigma principles to the field of communications. It also goes beyond removing waste from communication processes or developing new processes without waste; it’s about developing, streamlining and fine-tuning communication programs for faster and better results. Lean Communications uses Lean Six Sigma to unlock the potential of businesses through an innovative approach to communications strategy. The mode of application of LSS in service sectors differs from one service to the other. In the field of public relations and corporate communications, process development, improvement, and streamlining requires specific and prov-en applications of the LSS methodology. Using its own personnel skilled at apply-ing LSS to corporate communications, Incite helps new and innovative firms de-velop effective public relations and corporate communication programs with the following benefits:•Improved value of internal processes•Increased productivity without increasing resources•Strengthening of brands•Improved reputations•Reduced time-to-market•Reduced costs •Increased management control efficiency

Lean Communications uses

Lean Six Sigma to unlock

the potential of businesses

through an innovative

approach to

communications strategy.

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Incite and the Lean Communications Advantage

All these benefits are achieved synchronously and without improvements resulting from one affecting the success of another. The positive effects on business growth are especially important for new and growing businesses competing for public attention while coping with the challenge of media fragmentation.

The need to effectively reach out to target audiences such as social media groups, opinion leaders, bloggers, and industry analysts as part of reputation building measures is important to a successful enterprise.

Conclusion Effective communications is a key contributor to business growth by enhancing the public image, reputation and brand power of businesses.

The multitude of media channels today means that reputations can be made, broken, and repaired faster than was previously possible when traditional media was the sole focus of your customers and stakeholders. By understanding that all processes result in data which can be assessed, Lean Six Sigma provides an opportunity to develop processes, measure, analyze, and improve the quality and efficiency of a company’s communications strategy while recognizing the dynamic nature of the current media landscape. LSS helps by fine-tuning strategies that ensure sustainability and growth, and helping companies identify and engage effectively with stakeholders.

Communications Process Improvement (CPI) accelerates from a strong foundation by applying the same elements of LSS to secure gains and plan for future improvements in a way relevant to target audiences.

Effective communications

is a key contributor to

business growth by

enhancing the public image,

reputation and brand

power of businesses.

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About Incite and the Author

About Incite

Incite helps new, growing, and innovative companies develop and implement proven communication methods which are scalable, affordable, and deliver significant advantages for businesses seeking to benefit from the application of Lean Six Sigma. Incite brings together the entrepreneurial energy of a start-up with the experience and tools of a Fortune 500 business, merging process development and improvement together with creativity and innovation to offer clients communication solutions to help drive their corporate strategies.

About the Author Reid Walker is a Co-Founder and Principal at Incite, a communication consultancy. He has led the communication function for Fortune 500 companies, including GE, Honeywell and Lenovo. He most recently led communications for Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile business. Reid began his career at NASDAQ leading media relations during a time of crisis and extreme growth. With more than 20 years of experience in multiple sectors, he has led domestic and international corporate communications programs, including strategic planning and issues management, media relations, social media programs, internal communications, crisis, financial, non-profit and community affairs programs. Reid has experience in a range of sectors including software, hardware, telecom, chemicals, energy and finance. He received his initial Lean Six Sigma training at GE and continued to study and implement programs at Honeywell where he received a black belt in Lean Six Sigma for a global web strategy.

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Contact: Incite220 2nd Ave SouthSeattle, WA 98104Phone: 206.641.9750

Email: [email protected]

Web: incitecommunication.com

Twitter: @InciteComms