Internal communication is an essential aspect of any successful business. Based on recent statistics on Apollo Technical, teams that communicate effectively within an organization see increased productivity levels of up to 25%. Having a solid internal communications plan is one of the most effective ways to improve employee engagement. Typically, when you share essential company information and insights with employees, they feel valued. As a result, they become motivated to perform their daily tasks to achieve set goals.
Additionally, quality communication can help prevent conflicts in your organization because workers consult each other using the best communication skills. However, you must optimize your workplace communication practices to enjoy these benefits. Below are some tips for optimizing your internal communications toolkit to keep employees connected.
Define What You Want To Communicate
How you choose to communicate in the workplace depends a lot on the details of your message. So, ask yourself what information you want to share with employees. Perhaps you want to inform workers about changes in their employee benefits. Or maybe you want to communicate important company news, like IT outages, business closure, or change in management.
Note that different types of internal communication require a different design, content, and channel. For instance, if you want to share sticky information or internal knowledge, you may choose to create blog posts, podcasts, or videos and share them via your company’s intranet. On the other hand, you may use email to announce upcoming changes in the company.
Also read: 14 Effective Ways To Improve Your Communication Skills
Set Metrics
Like other functions of your business, you should track and measure the performance of your internal communication strategy. However, measuring the success of workplace communication can be tricky. Experts recommend setting internal communication KPIs like employee feedback, channel adoption, and mobile usage to achieve the best results.
Additionally, implement a data-driven communication strategy to audit current processes and make necessary improvements. This tactic entails capturing data on social shares, employee engagement, and channel adoption, then turning it into valuable information to promote effective communication in your organization. The good news is that most internal communication tools offer real-time analytics so that you can collect data easily. For example, let’s say you’re using Yammer to enhance collaboration at the workplace. You can easily track employee engagement by leveraging the Yammer metrics dashboard. That way, you can evaluate how announcements are performing on the platform. With the help of metrics, you can identify and focus on onboarding inactive employees, leading to improved engagement.
Choose Your Communication Channels Wisely
Regardless of the size of your business, you need channels that facilitate effective business communication so that all your employees receive the right message at the right time. Also, give preferences to tools that promote interaction between workers. For example, you may use email, handwritten memos, or face-to-face meetings to communicate important notices. However, many employees find it challenging to interact through email. With this in mind, you may want to invest in online chat or instant messaging channels like Skype, Slack, Zoom, or Google Chats. Online chat facilitates two-way communication, as it creates room for employees and business leaders to ask, answer questions, and share opinions.
Optimizing your internal communications isn’t an easy task. But you can achieve the best outcomes by defining what you want to communicate and settling for the right content and communication channels. Also, set key metrics to measure workplace communication and invest in the best tools for keeping employees engaged.
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