Top three internal communications best practices
What is internal communication?
Internal communication refers to the exchange of information, ideas and messages within an organisation. It encompasses the flow of communication between employees, departments and management levels to facilitate collaboration, alignment and shared understanding.
Effective internal communication is crucial for fostering a positive work environment, enhancing teamwork, disseminating important updates and aligning employees with the organisation's goals and values. It can take various forms, including face-to-face interactions, team meetings, emails, memos, company newsletters and digital communication tools. By promoting transparency, clarity and open dialogue, internal communication plays a vital role in ensuring a well-connected and informed workforce, ultimately contributing to the overall success and productivity of the organisation.
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Internal communications best practices
To enhance the effectiveness of your internal communications, we recommend implementing these tried-and-true best practices:
Live video is a personal and authentic way for your leaders to share their vision and build relationships with employees. It's also one of the most effective business communication tactics. It can be spontaneous and informal, like sharing a visit to a store or office. Or you can schedule more structured broadcasts, such as town hall meetings, so that people can participate wherever they are.
Eimskip, a logistics and shipping company in Iceland, broadcast their company announcements using Live, so even their crew at sea can join in. Encourage people to submit questions during the Live broadcast to get a sense of what employees are thinking.
MDs can use their own groups to share thoughts in formal and informal posts. Leaders appear more human as they interact using posts, and can unite and inspire the workforce. In turn, leaders can hear directly from every part of the organisation and stay in touch with what's happening on the front line.
Often, no one will reply to an MD's email, but many people feel more comfortable commenting on or liking a post. Key executives can have their post boosted to appear at the top of everyone's News Feed, so that their messages don't get missed.
Managers can use their team groups in the same way, making sure that their team is connected and focusing on the right priorities.
Keep everyone informed
Use a company newsletter group to share regular news. You can create a group document with rich formatting, including inline images. People can comment on and react to your newsletter rather than relying on one-way email communication.
Create a company announcements group and make sure that everyone is a member. Then post in this group to cascade time-sensitive and important updates that affect the whole organisation. Countdown Supermarkets in New Zealand found that groups are the most effective way of getting critical updates out to their stores.
What's more, recognising the good work of employees and celebrating milestones in an announcements group takes that news to a new level of engagement and pride.
If your company has multiple offices and regions, create an announcements group for specific offices, regions and even for specific roles. For posts that are more for fun, it's a good idea to create a separate group for everything else. For example, a social group for each office lets people share more lighthearted posts. They can even find a restaurant or dentist recommendation from their coworkers.
Get ideas from everywhere
Feedback groups make it easy for employees to share their thoughts. Creating a poll in the group can generate instant feedback on topics ranging from employee sentiment to where to hold the next team building event. By discussing internal and external issues in open feedback groups, you can build a culture of transparency and speed.
Your employees can be an untapped source of trends and competitive intelligence. Create a trend-spotting group and get eyes and ears on the ground wherever your employees are. If your company has global operations, this gives you first-hand insights into each of the markets.
Some of the best ideas in a company never surface because they're locked away in an email thread between a small group of people. Using groups to share ideas and innovations has uncovered new product ideas and developed cost-saving efficiencies.
In one company, it even saved them from acquiring a new business when they realised that the innovation was already being developed internally. Recognise and award valuable ideas and watch the group take off!
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