| Management guru Tom Peters says white collar | | | | parts. Movie director Alfred Hitchcock put it this way, |
| workers and managers in functional departments need | | | | "Drama is life with the dull bits cut out." That's probably |
| to protect their futures. | | | | not a bad way of thinking about the condensing of |
| They have to learn "the difference between doing | | | | information. |
| totally acceptable work and creating very new value...." | | | | You can also summarize. Rather than distributing |
| he notes, in an Industry Week article. In other words, | | | | selected bits of information, you can write an abstract |
| people in departments like Human Resources and | | | | that captures the key data or ideas and reduces the |
| Finance need to become entrepreneurial. | | | | load to manageable size for others. That's great |
| With that in mind, let's look at three ways you can use | | | | added-value for senior managers who need |
| communication to add new value, whether you work in | | | | overviews, rather than details. Many internal |
| a functional department or not. | | | | newsletters earn their keep by providing regular |
| First, every department of every organization | | | | summaries of useful information. That information can |
| generates unique information. That comes from being | | | | come from outside the organization or from within. |
| astride several communication flows that come | | | | Third, there's other side of the same coin, which |
| together in one office or area. | | | | involves expanding, rather than condensing, information. |
| Information flows in from suppliers, from staff, and | | | | One way to do this is by providing context. Consider, |
| from other stakeholders. For example, people in your | | | | for example, any current issue that gets high profile |
| department read trade magazines, they attend | | | | treatment. Can you take the information you have, and |
| seminars, they're in touch with people in other | | | | then provide background that helps others make |
| departments, and they may belong to trade | | | | sense of it? You might bring in additional information |
| associations. | | | | that provides a brief history, the current opportunities |
| If your department consciously gathers, sifts, analyzes, | | | | and threats, and some possible directions for the |
| and organizes that information - formally or informally - | | | | future, along with their implications. |
| then it's creating new value. It's now more than just | | | | You might also expand information by making |
| information: it's business intelligence, information with | | | | connections to issues that don't seem to affect your |
| added value. That's what we refer to as generating | | | | organization. For example, suppose your factory |
| new information. | | | | serves only the domestic market, so globalization |
| Moving to the idea of condensing information, one | | | | seems irrelevant for at least the near future. But, what |
| striking characteristic of modern communication is the | | | | if you could explain how changes to tariffs would allow |
| amount of it moving around. No doubt you've heard | | | | you to buy your raw materials at lower prices? |
| references to information overload, an all too real | | | | In summary, you can add value to existing information |
| problem for those whose work life revolves around | | | | by turning it into business intelligence, condensing it, or |
| information. | | | | expanding it. All approaches may use the same |
| You can add value by monitoring the information that | | | | material, but manage it differently, to satisfy different |
| comes into your office and selecting just the critical | | | | needs. |