A strategic internal communications strategy is crucial to the success of every organization, from giant corporations to small businesses.
The communication strategies you choose impact every area of your company, especially your financial bottom line.
The following ten tips are by no means a complete list of the best communication practices out there, but they all touch on a crucial aspect of communicating effectively.
Each tip also includes a link to an article with more in-depth information.
#1 - Ask your employees for feedback.
Instead of wondering how employees feel about managers, daily tasks, and the company overall, just ask them directly. And not just once a year during their performance evaluations. Ask them direct questions regularly, and use a tool as simple as email.
For example, one question you ask could be “is there anything in the office that hinders you from feeling more productive?” Asking direct questions helps you get the bottom of problems (sometimes before they even start).
Want to know what workers think? Ask them a direct question
#2 - Plan “stay” interviews.
Sometimes employee departures are inevitable, which leads many companies to conduct “exit” interviews. But a number of employee departures could be prevented with one simple strategy: the “stay” interview. This interview helps you engage your employees before they become disgruntled. Done correctly, the “stay” interview will help you learn both why employees want to keep working for you and what might make them want to leave.
The One Meeting That Will Help You Keep Your Top Employees
#3 – Create a company culture of trust.
The culture of your organization is crucial to employee retention and engagement. One of the biggest ingredients in a strong company culture is trust. Can your employees trust you as their manager? Are you honest, direct, and fair? Or do you micromanage and play the power game?
It is said that employees don’t leave their jobs; they leave their bosses. And it’s the boss who is mostly responsible for creating a positive (or negative) company culture.
Employee Retention Doesn’t Just Happen: Five Keys to a Clear Strategy
#4 – Listen more than you speak.
There are lots of great tips about the best ways to communicate both personally and professionally. But being an effective communicator is not possible without the ability to listen. I would even suggest that managers should listen more than they speak, because, as we all know, talk is cheap. Taking the time to really listen to what your employees are saying is crucial for an effective internal communications strategy.
Good Workplace Communication? It Means Good Workplace Performance
#5 – Understand how to leverage the benefits of technology.
So much has changed about the way we communicate that it can be hard to keep up. And while some could argue that technology is distracting, it can also make your workplace more efficient than ever before if used appropriately. Companies that stay ahead of the technological curve will be poised for greater success than businesses that hold on to their outdated processes.
Big Trends in HR Technology 2014 and Beyond
#6 – Use as many communication channels as you need to get your point across.
Speaking of technology, there are now more opportunities than ever to communicate with anyone, anytime, anywhere. Smart companies and managers will use these communication channels (i.e. mobile, email, websites) as much as possible to reach out to employees and make sure everyone is getting the same message.
#7 – Learn the best ways to use email.
Email is still the workhorse of professional business communication, which means you should know how to use it in the most effective way possible. There are lots of good tips on how to communicate with email, including creating very specific subject lines and keeping your emails short. Make sure you’re following the good suggestions out there, including these:
10 Essential Rules of Business Email
#8 – Share as much information as you can with your employees.
In addition to creating a company culture of trust, managers need to build a culture of openness and transparency. Withholding information can cause paranoia, and mistakes get made because staff doesn’t have all of the information they need to do their jobs properly. Employees are important ambassadors of your company’s brand, and they can’t be good representatives or advocates unless they have all the necessary information.
Companies That Share Information Build the Culture They Want
#9 – Keep your communications clear and simple.
One of the best recent examples of the importance of communications strategy came from GM. Their tolerance for ambiguous words and long, confusing presentations eventually lead to the loss of lives. The lesson is that if your communication system is dysfunctional, it’s going to cost you big at some point.
Two Misleading Words Triggered GM's Catastrophic Communication Breakdown
#10 – Put in the time to actually create a communications strategy in the first place.
Not have any communications strategy is almost just as bad as having a dysfunctional one. Organize your plan and then document it on paper, focusing on (among other things) the tools you’ll use to communicate and collect feedback. There’s a saying that goes something like this: if you aim for nothing, you’ll hit it every time. Don’t leave anything in your business to chance.
Never Leave Communications To Chance In Midsized Companies
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