Unifying conversation and instruction in business communication

One of the challenges organisations face is how to create a system that unifies all the different ways its staff communicate information. That’s because conversation (written and oral) can be very different from instructional information.

For example, conversations are often reflective, insightful and repetitive, whereas instructions are typically results-driven, concise and commanding.

We can see from the video clip below, by storyteller Daniel Morden, how the nature of oral storytelling differs from the written word:

If we cannot access both forms of communication, we’re getting an incomplete picture. Somehow an organisation needs to provide the correct form of communication to staff and end users at the right time.

Although Search can provide part of the answer, there’s also a need to provide links to the different “channels”. This means, in addition to technical solutions (which look to unify different forms of information), someone needs to curate and edit the content.

I’m not sure this challenge will ever be fully resolved, but it’s a goal worth pursuing in nearly every organisation.