Which is more important, internal or external communications?

I was reminded the other day about a presentation I gave several years ago that turned into a discussion about whether internal or external communications is more important.

During a leadership change at my company, I was giving an overview of the communications function's activities and areas of responsibility to the incoming business head. I had just a few minutes, so I had put everything on one slide under two broad headings — internal communications (intranet, newsletters, town halls, etc) and external communications (media relations, events, publications and so forth).

The outgoing manager interrupted my talk and said something along the lines of "you talked about internal communications before external communications; does that mean internal is more important?"

To be honest, I hadn't given the order much thought. It was simply how the slide was laid out. Even so, I automatically blurted out a "yes" that internal communications was more important. When asked why, I explained that every employee already speaks for the company, whether they've been briefed or not. It's therefore important to bring employees along before going out with the external narrative.

Ultimately, both internal and external communications are important. Unfortunately, I've seen cases where internal comms is an afterthought. Even among communications practitioners, working on internal communications can be seen as less desirable than external communications. Coordinating with IT to roll out a new security policy is seen as less glamorous than organizing a press tour.

At its most basic, staff need to be shown respect by sharing important updates in a timely way. In the age of digital communications, it's also crucial to have employees on board and aligned with the corporate narrative.

If asked the same question today, I would stress the importance of both internal and external communications, with each serving a purpose and targeting its own stakeholder groups. But if pressed to pick one over the other, I think internal would still come out on top. At the end of the day, if your employees aren't on board, then you can't move forward.

Fares Ghneim
Stratetic Communications & Corporate Affairs

Dubai Media City

Ground Floor, Buiding 8

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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