Individuals, teams, and departments can all be quite different. It seems to reason that an adaptable and flexible internal communication strategy would be required to accommodate the many personalities that exist inside a company.
You must take into account the complexity of the human experience if you want to have a truly effective internal communications plan. Big words, but not a really novel idea. The first step is to devise a strategy, which must include the identification of the eight points listed below.
The Setting
You must first construct a summary of your company before you can start working on your strategy. How many workers do you have? What are the divisions between the departments? What are the company values?
You should describe your current internal communication strategy in this setting. What are you currently utilizing, and how well is it performing? Do you utilize Yammer, Slack, mailings, or meetings to keep everyone up to date on the new workflow software? What kind of feedback do you get from your coworkers regarding these techniques?
The Observant
You need to get down to the nitty-gritty once you’ve described your context. Who is your target audience, and how do they like to communicate (based on the aforementioned analysis)? What do they appear to be passionate about, what do they have in common?
Some individuals adore meetings (they come in all shapes and sizes), while others prefer to work out their differences on Yammer. Keep an ear to the ground to learn about your coworkers’ motivations.
A team of superheroes
To assist implement their strategy; everyone requires a team with diverse skills. HR, the communications intern, mental health first responders, or James in Accounting, who has a knack for designing posters, are all possible candidates. Decide who you’ll enlist to help you with your goal.
Goal-setting
What exactly are your objectives? Is morale higher as a result of this? More comments on your complimentary conference calls? Improved departmental cohesion?
It’s helpful to have a measurable set of objectives, such as increasing survey response rates by X%. Perhaps you’d want the office to do better in the annual happiness poll. Maybe you just want to see more joyful, scary faces at your office’s Halloween celebration. Perhaps you’d like a Secret Santa present of a World’s Best Boss mug. Everything is true!
It’s always better to have less.
You could be tempted to say, “OK, most people are visual learners, so let’s put a bunch of graphs, quotations, and photos on screens throughout the workplace with catchy music and blast it 24/7!” So, friend, hold your horses! You don’t want to make your coworkers feel overwhelmed.
With information exchange, you want to be strategic. Only save what brings you joy, according to Marie Kondo. Your coworkers might benefit from a respite from information overload, much as horses wear those eye cover thingies to avoid being distracted. Your messages should encourage individuals to concentrate rather than be distracted (unless distraction and relaxation are one of your goals, in which case they should be well-intentioned).
It’s All About Timing
Keep time and substance in mind while deciding on your plan. When it comes to communication, you should be strategic about when and what you say. If you constantly bombard your coworkers with information, it will just become background noise. So choose your words carefully, and utter them when the time is right. Instead of thinking like a Super bowl commercial, try to think like a Zen monk.
Some people want it hot.
Some people, on the other hand, do not. As part of your plan, you should think about using a range of communication techniques. For a more casual approach, you might include a monthly video update, a podcast for those who like to listen, or even a social media hashtags. It all relies on the culture of your organization and the demographic you’re targeting.
With its bright advertising and color-coded sales events, society caters to the visual learners who make up 65 percent of the population. But don’t forget about the 30% of us who learn best by hearing, or the 5% of us who learn best by doing.
Keep It Up to Date
What worked in the past may no longer be relevant, so maintain your finger on the pulse and remain adaptive to avoid your communication approach getting stale. You don’t want the same two people reading your weekly newsletter week after week (unless your company consists of just you and two other people, in which case, not bad).
Maintain an approach that is open and adaptive. Consider doing more than just alerting your coworkers about call monitoring to keep it fresh. Make use of social media internal and external communications platforms like Jonathon Spire to get your coworkers interested in anything work-related. In your emails, you might include a call-to-action button. You may conduct frequent polls to gauge public sentiment.
Upgrading
Your internal communications plan is a powerful weapon that can transform your workplace. Don’t let it go to waste, and don’t be afraid to try new things. You can promote real involvement from your coworkers by being open to criticism and new ideas, and perhaps see more smiling faces at the next Halloween office party.