Critical mass

I keep an eye on Intrascope, an interesting blog about internal communications coming out of India. A recent post documents a visit to Bangalore  by Mike Green, who heads up internal communications at high tech giant Intel. It reminded me that employee communications is often practiced at its highest level at big multinational companies. Why? Because they have big needs. And because they have the critical mass to be able to have more than one employee communicator -- in Intel's case it's probably in the dozens. This allows for things like mentorship, career development and meaningful collaboration. Thank goodness for outfits like IABC, which fill the gap by creating a supportive community for internal communications professionals who would otherwise live in relative isolation, suffering the abuse of those who don't understand or care about what they do. Yesterday's Dilbert strip illustrates this nicely.