Communication is a crucial factor in any organization’s efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Not only does it provide employees with the information they need to succeed in their work, but it also fuels collaboration among teams and across departments, encourages innovation and growth, and serves as a source of feedback for leaders and stakeholders.
A workplace that lacks proper communication methods will suffer. Inadequate and outdated communication can result in unmotivated employees that feel as if their input doesn’t help drive the machine that is your business.
Boost your internal communications with modern channels and tools
There is value in a good internal communications strategy, and modernizing your methods is a great place to start reaping the associated benefits in your workplace.
A lot of communication methods have seen upgrades in recent years. There are more ways to communicate than ever, and taking advantage of modernized channels is important in reaping all possible benefits of having a solid internal communication toolkit.
Read on below to learn more about these tools and how you can use them in the workplace.
Email newsletter
Email has been around for a while, and sending messages to colleagues with this channel isn’t precisely an up-and-coming trend. However, using email as your preferred communication channel for your company newsletter is gaining popularity.
Keeping everyone in the loop is necessary for a business to thrive, and doing it any other way than online is outdated and can result in ineffective message sending. The infographic below is a good example of a monthly newsletter in visual form.
The benefits of email newsletters for internal communications include the following:
- Electronic internal newsletters are cheap, easy to circulate, and environmentally-sustainable
- Employees already have to check their work email regularly for external communication purposes, so you know it will reach them
- Multiple forms of media can be integrated into the internal electronic newsletter, such as images, animated infographics, videos, and gifs
- Updating email newsletters with new information can be done in minutes
If you aren’t sending your internal newsletter using email, updating it will please your employees and provide you with the benefits listed. You can even use a marketing automation tool to schedule your emails ahead of time.
Video conference
Some current job roles would be a lot easier if you could be in two places at once. However, while we wait for the technology that might allow that someday (fingers crossed!), video conferencing software is a great alternative.
Shifts in the modern workplace, such as remote workers and running a business out of multiple offices, have made tools like video conferencing software a must for any business hoping to modernize and optimize their communication efforts.
Tools like Zoom and Slack allow collaboration among remote teams with face to face video conferences that add a personal touch to any conversation. Not to mention the chat, screen sharing, and recording features.
Phone calls are adequate for specific conversations, but there is power behind nonverbal communication, and it is important to make particular conversations as personal as possible with video conferencing.
Intranet
Otherwise known as corporate social networks, an intranet is a private, restricted communication network for your business. Only people within your organization can access it.
Employee intranets provide team members with a centralized location where they can collaborate, share files, communicate, and provide feedback. But it doesn’t stop there. Here are some features that make an employee intranet impossible to pass up:
- Sharing and collaboration
- Document and content management
- Search capabilities
- Security
- Social networking
As teams grow and become more spread out across cities, countries, and the world, having a central place for collaboration can create that escaping sense of community.
Instant messengers
Sending a formal email with a subject, greeting, and salutation to a coworker about a casual matter seems wrong and like a waste of time. If you are still only using email to communicate internally, there’s a tool that can make sending short messages and asking quick questions a heck of a lot easier.
Instant messengers, or internal communication software, is a great option when extensive collaboration among teams isn’t a factor in the conversation.
With these chat tools, questions are answered quickly, different departments can be reached to clarify information, and employees can easily engage with one another.
Yes, adding another software to the bunch might not sound very appealing, but instant messenger tools will provide your team with a quick and easy way to communicate.
Online survey software
Employee feedback is necessary to stay on track, avoid mistakes, stay motivated, and reach goals. Whether you are measuring success on employee engagement or your internal communication efforts, using survey software as an internal communication source to gather feedback, evaluate responses, and make changes accordingly will keep your employees satisfied and engaged.
Once you’re done collecting and interpreting survey data, share it within your organization through infographics like the example below.
Digital signage
People walk past informative, yet boring, pieces of paper every single day. If you are trying to communicate something important to your employees, slapping it on another lifeless piece of paper won’t do you any good.
Digital signage is an eye catching way to deliver information around the office. Displays on electronic screens in communal areas with images, infographic videos, and audio will grab the attention of your employees and ensure they receive that message.
Modernize or lose
Improper and outdated methods can hurt your organization’s internal communication and eventually, your company culture. When in doubt, try the aforementioned suggested internal communications tools one at a time.
If you’d like to learn more about using infographics and visuals in your business communications, read this guide — 5 Essential Infographic Tips to Boost Business Communications
Editor’s note: This guest post comes from Mary Clare Novak, a Content Marketing Associate specializing in internal communications for G2, a business and software services review platform.
About the Author
Mary Clare Novak is a Content Marketing Associate at G2 in Chicago. A recent graduate, she is happy to be back working in her favorite city. In her free time, you can find her doing a crossword puzzle, listening to cover bands, or eating fish tacos. (she/her/hers)