August 25, 2008

Set guidelines to harmonize your internal publications

Wouldn’t it be nice if your company’s internal publications could just get along? Instead, many communicators tell us their publications clash with each other. For example, if you took all the employee newsletters produced at your company and spread them out on a table, would you see a family resemblance or would they look mismatched? One way you can help create harmony is by setting guidelines.

1. Design: One of the quickest ways to unify your publications is by establishing a consistent look and feel. As a result, employees will see a clear relationship between the different publications they receive.
   
   Real-life examples:
   
   • Color pallet: Deep Green (PMS 356), Deep Stone (PMS 7503), Black
   • Typeface: Arial for headings, Times for body copy
   • Photography: Black and white only, contained within a circle or square
   • Size: 8.5” x 11”
   • Layout: Three column grid


2. Writing: You can also make your publications more consistent through editorial guidelines. The purpose is to keep communicators focused on clear, succinct writing versus being mired down in overly long, jargon-filled copy that’s meaningless to readers.
   
   Real-life examples:
   
   • Voice: Active (action oriented), casual tone, free of corporate speak
   • Word usage: 6th grade reading level, technical terms/acronyms defined
   • Word count: 500 words for main cover stories, 200-300 for interior articles
   • Structure: Most important idea first, followed with supporting information
   • Modular components: Bullet points, subheads, pull-out quotes, sidebars


3. Content: While key topics and areas of interest may vary across your company, all internal publications should be business focused. This will help ensure every employee, regardless of job function or location, has a shared communication experience.
   
   Real-life examples:
   
   • Acceptable content: Success stories, self-service articles (“news we can use”), updates on process improvements, information about customers/competitors
   • Unacceptable content: Personal, non-business information regarding births, deaths, marriages or farewells