Beyond the Babble

This book on internal communication is a plea for clear and straightforward communication through face-to-face discussions between local managers and their teams. Although oral transmission may seem excessively time-consuming for large companies, the book convincingly demonstrates that it is indispensible to ensure that every member of the organization understands and embraces the strategy, and thus effectively acts every day in ways that move the entire company in the desired direction.
Chapters 2, 3 and 7 contain the majority of the key messages of the book. Reading these three chapters alone can thus be a handy shortcut to discover the fundamental points of the book.
To explore the recommended methodology in greater depth, chapters 4 to 6 provide a detailed explanation of what this communication should contain, and chapters 8 and 9 cover how to prepare leaders and managers to transmit these messages effectively. Chapters 10 and 11 focus on how to organize internal communication initiatives by capitalizing on different channels in a coordinated fashion. Chapter 12 also deserves particular mention for a very simple and fairly convincing game designed to point out the limits of human memory and thus why leaders must simplify their messages.