Communication tools

The following are some suggestions of communication tools that you may use and how they can be used.  A number of tools have been developed for your use and are available for download.

Email

Internal e-mail is an extremely useful, efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly way of communicating a message to staff. However your message could get lost in the abundance of other mail, which staff may receive every day. Because of this, it is important to highlight your Energy Awareness e-mails in some way e.g:

• Send with high importance
• Change colour of type / font
• Title e-mail clearly
• Develop a uniform e-mail design for your campaign

Use e-mail to send messages to the mass audience. They can be used effectively to demonstrate a point using quirky facts, to give instructions on what to do, to promote an event or as a quick way to respond to a situation. You can view an example of this by clicking the following link:

View sample email

Bear in mind that not everyone will have access to email so if using it as your primary information channel, supplement with some of the other tools listed below..

Posters

Posters are an easy, inexpensive and relatively effective way of communicating a message with your staff as well as members of the public, customers, suppliers etc. Posters can have many functions. They can be:

• Informative – highlighting ‘what’ people can do to help reduce energy usage
• Thought provoking – explaining how much energy is currently being wasted and how it can be saved by changing behaviour
• Encouraging – letting staff know of their success to date

Posters should not be used in isolation but in conjunction with and to complement a wider campaign.

A series of poster templates have been developed for you to use as part of your campaign. These can be edited to include your own specific information and your company logo.

Energy Notice Board

Install a Energy Notice Board in each building / department to inform staff of changes in operation, targets to meet and to demonstrate results. This notice board should be used only for energy information. Leaflets, posters, memos, team contacts can be posted on the Energy Notice Board which can develop as a credible source of current information.

Newsletters

A newsletter is an ideal way of communicating complex and lengthy information to your staff. Use your organisation’s internal newsletter or other publication to publicise your new programme and to explain the changes to your staff. In order to have a more focussed publication, you may wish to create a separate ‘energy’ newsletter.

A series of newsletter templates have been developed for you to use as part of your campaign. These can be edited to include your own specific information and your company logo.

PowerPoint Presentation

PowerPoint presentations can be used effectively in two ways as part of an energy awareness campaign:

• To give awareness or training presentations to specific groups of people or
• As a rolling presentation on permanent screens throughout your facility

Either of these can be used throughout your campaign to update people, provide feedback, introduce a specific topic or seek commitment from management. 
A series of PowerPoint templates have been developed for you to use as part of your campaign. These can be edited to include your own specific information and your company logo.

Department meetings / Committees

Try to include the subject of Energy Awareness on all or most of your department meetings. This will keep it topical and will show commitment from management to the campaign. Use department meetings to:

• Give feedback on what has been happening, indicating specifically achievements made by  that particular department 
• Highlight any areas that need improvement and demonstrate how improvements can be made
• Let staff know what initiatives are coming over the next few months and the behavioural changes that will be required
• Listen to concerns, queries, issues etc. that staff in that department might have and try to address these before the next department meeting

If your Energy Awareness Team is well populated with department representatives it should be their job to report back at department meetings.

Provide energy information with payslips

Enclosing information on energy with payslips is one method certain of targeting all staff members. This can be a good way of giving simple, effective messages to people. Don’t make the information overly complex – one simple message is often better than a more complex one that may lose the attention of your target audience. Try to include some messages on energy at home when using this method.

Movable display boards

If you are serious about energy awareness and wish to create a high degree of visibility invest in some display boards which can be taken around and set up in various locations. These can be used to give general energy efficiency information and the design should tie in with the rest of your energy awareness campaign.
These can be especially useful for your Energy Awareness Day / Week. 

Tip: Don’t leave these in situ in the one place. Move around or take down completely, otherwise they lose their value.

Intranet

Keep your intranet up to date with information on your energy awareness campaign. Ideally you should create your own page on energy awareness and management, which should become a central portal for energy efficiency information among staff. Include information such as:

• Past topics that have been covered
• Energy facts section
• Energy at home section
• Contact details for energy awareness team
• Links to interesting websites such as www.sei.ie
• Virtual suggestion box

News Tickers

Rolling scroll bar across top / bottom of your screen with company news which links into a news page. Include some energy awareness information here at selected periods.

Promotional Materials

Depending on your budget, these can be used to display energy efficiency tips. Examples include pens, mugs, rulers, bags etc.