Report records developing role of communication management

COVID-19 has normalised video for stakeholder engagement and accelerated the role of professional communication as a management function.

The European Communication Monitor (ECM) 2021 reports on the adoption of technology in communications and the role of communication management.

The report examines the impact of COVID-19 on the communication profession. Its publication the UK emerges from lockdown is timely.

“There will be neither a return to the old familiar nor a new normal that reflects today’s practices. Instead, communications in the post pandemic world will be transformed by digitalisation on all levels,” said Professor Dr. Ansgar Zerfass, Leipzig University, lead researcher, European Communication Monitor.

Technology: media and workflow

Most practitioners across Europe highlighted the importance of digitalising stakeholder communications (87.7%) and building a digital infrastructure (83.9%).

Current levels of digital maturity are often unsatisfactory. Only a minority (43.8%) of communication departments and agencies is considered mature when it comes to providing digital tools to support activities that are specific for communications.

Video conferencing for stakeholder communications

Video conferencing has been widely adopted during the pandemic, with 89.2% of communication professionals across Europe using it for stakeholder communications during the past year.

The most frequent use if for internal communications for informing and engaging employees (92.5%).

This trend is expected to continue post COVID-19. The majority see the technology as an effective tool for organisational communication and equally expect their stakeholders to share this opinion. Three out of four practitioners (72.8%) intend to use it for stakeholder communications even when the pandemic is over.

Developing role of the communication professional

Professional communicators devote most of their worktime to the traditional communicator role (42.8%), followed by management task (31.1%). A quarter of respondents spend a substantial share of their worktime as a coach (27.7%) or advisor (26.2%). More than half of the surveyed practitioners expect that these two roles will rise in importance in the next three years.

Most respondents consider themselves well equipped to communicate on behalf of organisations (77.1%), but only one in two consider their management competencies to be high.

Practitioners who perform an advisory role most often advise top managers or heads of other departments on strategic business decisions, rather than middle managers. These advisors often have more than 10 years of professional experience and they have received training in management concepts and strategic decision-making.

Best practice communication teams

The research team applied the Comparative Excellence Framework for Communication Management (CEF) to identify high-performing communication departments and their attributes.

Excellent communication departments put a stronger emphasis on using big data and algorithms and on digitalising communication processes. They are significantly more mature both in digitalising stakeholder communications and in building a digital infrastructure and their strategies for transforming technology, people, structure, and tasks are all better developed.

About ECM

ECM is a long-term study now in its fifteenth year. The survey polled 2,600 communication professionals in 46 countries. It is the most detailed and robust benchmarking study available for the public relations profession. The full report is available from the ECM website.