A healthy New Year’s resolution for any company is to improve internal
communication.
More consistent, transparent communication often leads to increased
employee engagement, which is rocket fuel for improved business outcomes.
Here are seven ways to bolster your internal communication efforts in the
coming year:
1. Share your goals and plan.
Your company probably has a mission statement, vision, strategy and goals
for the near future. Make sure your communication initiatives and
objectives align with larger company goals.
Every year, your communication goals should be evaluated and tweaked based
on the past year—and based on any organizational pivots that may have
occurred. Evaluate these changes, alter your plan as needed, and share your
plan broadly. Re-share your communication plan every few months to remind
everyone of key objectives and to monitor progress.
2. Provide insights and data.
If you want more buy-in, share statistics and metrics to back your claims.
Whenever possible, provide tangible results to encourage and motivate your
team.
Don’t limit yourself to internal data. Chase down and compile available
numbers from competitors and industry titans to see how your efforts
measure up. Take the time to analyze industry research and growing trends,
and use those insights to fuel your own initiatives.
3. Suggest different communication channels and methods.
It’s important to standardize channels and platforms, but try to get
communication flowing in different forums that cater to specific
preferences. Create welcoming spaces—online and around the office—that tout
companywide news, provide project updates and make it easy to discreetly
offer opinions.
Consider hosting a Q&A on your intranet, creating a companywide
networking event or launching a forum for meeting with other departments. Prioritize more visual forms of communication.
[RELATED: How video drastically improves corporate communication]
4. Give employees a call to action.
Every marketing piece worth its weight has a specific, clear call to
action. Internal communication efforts should have calls to action as well.
What is it you want colleagues to do in response to your message? Lead with
the crux of your message, and make it easy for people to take the desired
action.
5. Encourage constant learning.
Leaders who offer growth opportunities can expect
higher levels of employee engagement. Communicators should champion opportunities to learn new skills.
Seek out helpful webinars, conferences, master classes and network events
that might be helpful for employees’ career growth.
6. Be honest and transparent.
The greater the understanding that employees have about the company’s
direction, expectations, objectives and goals, the easier it is for them to
do their jobs. Everyone appreciates being kept in the loop—and having a
clear target to shoot for.
7. Ask for opinions and suggestions.
Employee feedback can be a goldmine of insight. Workers are the ones who
will tell you like it really is, but you must offer platforms that
facilitate candid opinions.
Ask for feedback in many forms. Conduct small focus groups, send out
anonymous survey forms and hold one-on-one meetings. Then, of course, act
on those opinions and suggestions. Everyone wants to be heard.
As the year ends, take time to celebrate your accomplishments, but be
honest with yourself when looking toward the future. Were any initiatives a
bust? What was a waste of time? What do your colleagues appreciate, and
what do they ignore?
Don’t continue doing things just because you’ve always done them. Consider
your company’s goals, and build your strategy around them. You have more
power than you think. You hold the keys to a better, more collaborative
workplace.
Natalie Eisele is the community manager at
Enterprise Solutions. A version of this post first ran on
Business 2 Community.