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Corporate Communications Policy.
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- South Hams District Council
acknowledges that good communication is fundamental to the
effective delivery of its services.
- We will apply our definition of good
communication to all written, oral, visual and behavioural acts by
the Council, its staff and its Members. This includes
communication between staff.
- We define good communication
as:
- a two-way process for giving and
receiving information efficiently and effectively
- addressing our audience in whatever
way they find most appropriate and easy to understand
- using plain English principles,
which means avoiding jargon, baffling, complicated or officious
language, and long sentences
- listening carefully, exchanging
information, and improving mutual understanding
- building lasting relationships with
the people and organisations affected by our work
4 The way we communicate must ensure our
policies, strategies and working practices are easy to understand
and seen to be fair.
- The way we communicate must show our
employees to be professional, diligent, fair, and
accountable.
- We will regularly ask for people’s
opinion on our policies, strategies and the way we work. We will
use the information they give us to do a better
job.
- We will adopt a ‘house style’ guide to
be used for all written material, including letters, produced by
the Council.
- The way we communicate will reflect
the Council’s legal and moral responsibilities in areas such as
human rights, equal opportunities, health and safety.
- The Council’s internal communications
structure will reflect our definition of good communication.
- Members of the Council’s corporate
management team (CMT) are responsible for ensuring this policy is
implemented within their teams. They must show their staff how to
use the principles of good communication to improve their
work.
- Managers must ensure their staff are
fully aware of our internal communication facilities, including
our house style when published, and make sure they use them.
- All our plans and strategies, such as
our annual service plans, will include steps to improve
communications.
- We will assess the internal and
external communication skills of our staff, including managers, as
part of their annual appraisal and development process.
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