Evaluating Internal Public Relations Using the Critical Incident Technique

Although the critical incident technique (CIT) is one of the current methods in communication audits, little is known about the way it works. The validity of the CIT in the context of internal public relations depends on 3 assumptions: that participants can describe discrete communication events, that these events have structural connotations, and that they are related to sensemaking. We reviewed these assumptions with CIT data collected within 3 organizations. In this study, participants predominantly mentioned discrete events. Most events related to structural aspects of communication, and in many cases the events were linked to individual sensemaking or storytelling activities. The findings confirm the CIT's potential to assess the quality of internal communication.