When working with frontline or deskless audiences, a little conversation goes a long way, as 44’s Olivia Rochford found out…

Internal communications is all about people. That’s not a controversial starting point, but it’s worth stating up front. So, when we are brought in to support strategy launches for our clients, we want to know as much about the people who need to understand that strategy as possible.

But reaching people is always harder than identifying them – and that’s particularly true for frontline audiences.

So, site visits form a crucial stage of our planning at 44.

What I learned from a site visit

I recently visited one of our clients’ depots to chat to their teams about how they receive and engage with the business’ communications. What I learned from that visit has helped us to rethink our launch strategy.

Before the visit, we’d been drafting our overarching narrative to guide the campaign, based on desk research and insight from managers and senior leaders. But chatting to people in the depots helped us to target our key messaging to the needs of the audience with much sharper focus.

Think of it like testing a hypothesis. When new information appears, you update your thinking – and that’s exactly what we did.

For head office, the priority for the strategy was the workplace environment and change management. Yet the qualitative evidence gathered from my conversations showed that people were completely customer-driven and mainly needed to know how to get their jobs done safely and efficiently.

Stop and listen

Everyone I met had a unique perspective on the business and how they’d received communications in the past. Some had been with the company for years, experiencing all kinds of change. Others were working out in the field and had limited time to spare – so catching them was a real benefit in understanding their communications challenges.

Having these conversations allowed me to identify what was causing sticking points and how I could tailor the approach to avoid them.

Understanding line managers’ conditions

The visit also helped us to see line managers in action. They sit at the heart of most communications approaches and are a vital conduit for communicating new initiatives, motivating teams and keeping everyone informed – but all of this must be done while managing other critical work, usually in time-pressured scenarios.

Observing them in the depot gave us more insight into how to create a launch plan that fits with their ways of working. They shared their willingness to communicate with teams, but we knew a route had to be taken that made the messaging as efficient for them as possible. We came away with new ideas for tools and cascades, all designed with a newfound appreciation for the real-world constraints these employees are managing.

More than a stock-take

Site visits and spending time where employees are – and not just at your desk – isn’t about walking around and checking which digi screens are working or where there’s space for a poster (though that is useful information!).

It’s not even about getting all the answers to your questions.

It’s about conversation. It’s about listening. And it’s about understanding.

My advice: spend time where your people are and let what you hear shape what you are trying to build.