Yesterday, I received an e-mail from a colleague asking for a definition of “business communicator.” As a regional chair for the world’s largest association of business communicators, you’d think I’d have a fast answer for that. But I didn’t.
My first reaction was, “Anyone willing to spend the money to join your chapter. ” But that sounds waaaaaaay too crass. Besides, it’s not creative and it’s not true.
Business communicators, in my view, are people who view themselves as spending a significant amount of on-the-job time communicating in, to, or about business, specifically the businesses that employ them.
I left journalism when I discovered that the employee magazine at the bank that employed my husband had a wider circulation than the glossy consumer publication I was running. A few weeks later, as the new editor of TD’s Bank Notes, my boss took me to a local meeting of the International Association of Business Communicators where I heard a brilliant speech by a very senior communication manager.
She spoke of the importance of our work in helping our businesses be successful. Yawn. She spoke of the importance of our work in helping customers relate to our companies, our products and our services. Ho hum. She spoke of the importance of our work in helping employees understand where they and their work fit into the business so they can find meaning in their work. Yes! At that moment, I became a business communicator. (She also said, “It is not enough to know your craft – you have to know your business.” At that moment, I also became a banker. But that’s another column.)
In the 20 years since that luncheon, my business cards have had a lot of different titles and postal codes. My activities have been even more varied – editing shareholder and employee publications, hosting videos, organizing meetings, holding focus groups, training managers, leading orientation programs, advising executives on major change, introducing new computer systems, facilitating cross-functional team meetings, counselling managers on dealing with a multicultural work force, designing procedures, managing a team of teleworking procedure writers, web development and usability, writing for a business magazine, fundraising for a nonprofit heritage association, developing a leadership competency model, and, now, business and communication coaching. At every point, I have considered myself a business communicator.
Is business communicator something you BE or something you DO? I vote for BE. Regardless of your title, and whether or not you belong to a professional association with “communicator” in its name, you may be a “business communicator.” If you’re consciously and carefully communicating with people about their work, their products, their customers, or the future sustainability of their business, that’s what you are.