internal communication ideas - 10 simple secrets to totally rock your internal communications

Post on 08-Jan-2017

42.097 Views

Category:

Business

0 Downloads

Preview:

Click to see full reader

TRANSCRIPT

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION IDEAS10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

A good internal communication strategy makes good business sense.

If your employees are communicating effectively, you’ll have a highly-committed and well-performing workforce. Effective communication also creates a can-do culture and leads to a learning organization.

If you want to totally rock how your management team and employees communicate, here are 10 internal communication ideas to get you started.

We’ve come up with a list of common business communication questions and how their solutions will fit into your internal communication strategy.

Here we go ...

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Question 1

How do I keep my team updated in the most engaging way possible?

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

1Integrate Video into Your Internal Communications Strategy

Solution

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Using audio and video is way more entertaining and engaging for your team than reading a long email.

Consider some of the following:

• Online training and how-to videos• Weekly or monthly company newsletters• A presentation from your CEO• Employee contributions to boost moral• Company-wide meetings• Important updates to company procedures• Interview your employees about a topic

Keep videos short and punchy, make them conversational, record interviews, and use animations.

Integrate Video into Your Internal Communications Strategy1

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

How do I flatten corporate hierarchy, encourage people to connect with each other, and help my company search, source, and identify employee skill-sets?

Question 2

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

2Launch an Internal Social Network

Solution

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Deploying an internal social network is one way to introduce social media into an organization. Social networking software can be a great information resource because employees use and contribute to it.

Users can also decide on the type of content and the people they want to interact with, similar to public social sites like Facebook and Twitter.

With most employees already using public social sites, using an internal social network will not seem challenging.

Ultimately though, the power and success of social media in your internal communications plan will depend on the enthusiastic participation of everybody within the organization.

Launch an Internal Social Network2

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

How do I empower my employees to have and share opinions?

Question 3

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

3Start an Open Door Policy

Solution

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Rather than settling for what the management team says, encourage two-way feedback and emphasize to employees that their opinions will not affect their standing in the organization.

Having an open door policy reduces office politics and helps employees realize that their opinions and thoughts matter.

It also lets them know that they have an impact in the organization.

This is, by far, one of the most effective ways to improve internal communication in the workplace.

Start an Open Door Policy3

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

How do I easily share information?

Question 4

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

4Set Up a Wiki for Sharing and Building a Knowledge Base

Solution

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Wikis are excellent tools for documenting personal information, knowledge management, or anything of interest surrounding projects, tasks, and teams.

Within an organization, these tools are great for information sharing, building a knowledge base, and for responding to queries from employees.

Wikis are especially encouraged within an organization or departments that thrive on creativity and shared ownership.

They establish platforms where everyone, including senior management, can search and locate contributions from the team.

Set Up a Wiki for Sharing and Building a Knowledge Base4

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Question 5

How do I improve collaboration, employee engagement, and access to information?

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

5Deploy Social Intranet Software

Solution

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Social intranets are a great way of empowering employees and teams. Rather than keep them in the dark, social intranet software improves internal collaboration, employee engagement, and access to information.

This approach has been shown to increase productivity and enhance internal communication.

Executives and management can use social intranet software to disseminate information, offer updates on company policies, and keep in touch with the rest of the organization.

Employees can connect directly with management right on the intranet, contributing their opinions, thoughts, and insights.

Learn more about social intranet software.

Deploy Social Intranet Software5

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

How do I encourage growth with visual representations and trends?

Question 6

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

6Establish and Drive Metrics

Solution

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Which is more likely to have a positive impact:

• an bland email that tells employees where to focus to reach company goals

... or ...

• a visually appealing report that includes quarterly results, data, graphs, and growth numbers to encourage focus on a certain area

The answer is clear.

By using metrics, you are more likely to encourage growth. Adding visuals that show trends lets people see where they can focus without having to tell them.

Metrics speak louder than words and make your internal communications strategy more impactful.

Establish and Drive Metrics6

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Question 7

How do I get employees to contribute more effectively?

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

7Communicate Up and Across

Solution

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

In many organizations, communication happens from the top down. The management team feels responsible for communicating necessary information and deliberating among itself with little to no input from the employees.

Consider having a bottom-up internal communications plan where employees can contribute their ideas and opinions ... and have these discussed openly by other employees and management.

By involving employees in decision making process, you’ll likely enhance collaboration and appreciation for what management is doing.

How do you do this?

Open up the lines of communication. This is as simple as providing a way for them to add comments or ask questions.

Communicate Up and Across7

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

How do I put meaning into metrics?

Question 8

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

8Be Transparent with Company Goals and Objectives

Solution

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Transparency of goals drives performance because it creates both a sense of urgency and commitment. By telling everybody within the organization your goals, you are helping them pursue those goals in their own way.

Goals and objectives that are publicly available to your employees also help put meaning into metrics.

Updating employees on your progress of achieving goals, with metrics, gives it a whole new meaning ... helping everybody see how their efforts are contributing to the goals.

This is a powerful means of improving your internal communications that helps meet expectations.

Be Transparent with Company Goals and Objectives8

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

How do I increase awareness of the company and update employees on recent developments?

Question 9

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

9Publish a Company Newsletter

Solution

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Publishing a newsletter gives you an opportunity to increase awareness and understanding of your company, its products, and its services. This is important for new employees who need to get acquainted with processes and procedures.

A newsletter can also be an effective for updating employees on recent developments and metrics.

You could go through the trouble of having a paper newsletter designed, formatted, printed, and then dispersed ... or ... you could dedicate a blog on your social intranet to be the newsletter.

If you have your newsletter online, it’s easier for your employees to access it ... plus, as we discussed in point #7, you can collect comments and feedback.

Publish a Company Newsletter9

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

How do I keep communication open at all times and let employees work from anywhere?

Question 10

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

10Use Mobile Tools and Technology

Solution

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Mobile devices are changing the face of communication for all businesses.

The use of smartphones and tablets for work has enabled companies to operate across a number of geographic locations and time zones effectively.

Using smartphones and tablets can also greatly improve your internal communications strategy. There are many apps available, like a mobile intranet, that enable companies to push notifications and allow employees to respond right from their own device.

This is not only convenient for them, but also ensures communication channels are open at all times for both management and employees.

Use Mobile Tools and Technology10

10 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Internal Communications

Wrapping it up ...

The people inside your organization are what make your company possible. Unless they are communicating effectively, it is difficult to know where you stand ... and it’s even more difficult to grow.

The preceding 10 internal communication ideas will totally rock your internal communicaiton strategy and help you gain an efficient, highly-committed, and well-performing workforce.

About AxeroAxero is the leading provider of social intranet software for small and medium sized businesses. Our product, Communifire, is a central, instantly searchable hub for your teams, conversations, and documents.

Today, Communifire powers social intranets, collaboration spaces, knowledge management, and internal social networking. Our estimated user base is over one million people. You might have even heard of some of our customers, like Toyota, Hyundai, Bravo, Schneider Electric, About.com, and USA State and local governments.

Replace your outdated, socially challenged intranet software with Communifire, the intranet solution for teams that hate intranets. 100% useful. 100% customizable. 100% loved by nearly a million people.

More information can be found at https://axerosolutions.com.

The Central, Instantly Searchable Hub for Your Teams, Conversations and Documents.100% useful. 100% customizable. 100% loved by nearly a million people.

We’ll help you evaluate Communifire for your business, no sales pitch.

Contact Us: Phone: 1-888-976-4446 | Contact: http://info.axerosolutions.com/contact-us | Web: https://axerosolutions.com

See Communifire in Action

START FREE TRIAL SCHEDULE A DEMO

top related