Using Your Inside Voice - Redefining Your Internal Communications
The Voice
If you’re a communications professional like me, you had hopes of spending your days representing the voice of their organization with clients, employees, partners, shareholders and the community. And doing so in a way that brings the organization to life with a brand voice that aligns its verbal, visual and digital messages and activities with its mission and vision.
…And, such is the job description… and the hope of every communications professional that our days will be filled with gratifying positive media resulting in happy customers and engaged employees!
Your day becomes a whirlwind of unwelcome media calls, website crashes, social media trolls, unrealistic marketing deadlines and the executive unhappy with their interview (which will live on in perpetuity thanks to the web). And all this before noon. As we focus on fixing these things to protect the reputation of the organization, there’s that little voice inside your head asking - “what did we forget”?
Right…the internal communications or as I like to call it - using your inside voice.
George Bernard Shaw once said: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” Sadly, the same problem is true of employee communications. Paul Barton, ABC, echoes this in Maximizing Internal Communications. He says, “It’s not due to a lack of information in the workplace. In fact, they are drowning in it… Emails, voicemails, meetings, memos.” There’s lots of information going out - but are the messages getting to the right people, in the right way, with the right clarity and purpose.
Josh Ong, Forbes Council, states in an article I read recently, “A proper strategy for internal communications should do several things…it should also serve to facilitate connections between employees of all stripes, from all divisions. This will help employees feel more connected to the organization, which will, …make them better external advocates for the company as a whole.” Truth is, most organizations pay far too little attention to their most important audience - employees.
The start of a new year is the perfect time to take a look at what’s working well and what isn’t. Break out of old patterns to energize and improve your internal comms. Develop strategies based on the needs of your employees. Make those connections now. Don’t wait until it’s really needed - during a crisis.
Here are a few ideas to try that have worked for me:
Younger employees are more and more demanding, especially concerning the ways their employers talk and listen to them. They expect fewer office politics and increased collaboration, transparency, and feedback.
Try adding social networking to your internal comms strategy and encourage people to connect with each other. It will give you really good insight into what they’re thinking. So remember to listen. Here’s a fun TedTalk on becoming a better listener. Works for anyone not just us communicators.
Video - Everyone’s doing it!
It’s almost expected that companies will deliver information through video. According to a report by Melcrum, “93% of internal communication professionals believe that video has become essential.” It’s a lot more entertaining and engaging for your team than reading a long email.
So many good ideas, so little time…
We’re all busy, facing the same constraints - limited resources, time and budgets. It would be great to just focus on the latest internal comms platforms or the best new apps, but sometimes we have to work with what we have. Internal comms can take many forms - e-newsletters, blogs, town halls, intranets, video blogs, internal social networks. And they all have their merits. The most important thing is that communication actually occurs, occurs regularly, and is sincere.
Did you have some great strategies of your own? What are the exciting ideas informing your own internal communications strategies —and how are you implementing them? Let me know in the comments.
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