6 Principles of Great Internal Communication

Effective internal communication (sometimes known as IC) is key to a business’s daily operations and employee success. Just as a business invests time and money into external marketing initiatives, it should devote resources to building a smart internal communications strategy. Clear, concise, and transparent communication helps deskless employees feel more connected to brands and oftentimes leads to improved productivity.

Whether you’re rolling out new processes or celebrating organization-wide wins, great communication starts with a plan. Below are six principles to great internal communication.

Build your employee engagement calendar

To launch a successful internal communication, your team needs a strategy in place. If you aren’t sure where to start, mark key events quarter-to-quarter that are relevant to the business.

Examples of “key events:”

• Internal corporate events
• Peak business months
• Business milestones
• Holidays
• External marketing campaigns
• Net promoter survey requests

Identify the types of events that will need internal communications and consider how long you’ll need to create and launch individual campaigns. Ask yourself what employees will need for the success of the event. Will staff need extended training for a new product rollout? Are there promotional materials they need to implement onsite? How are you equipping your teams with the right content for success?

While building out your plan, create a regular – but not overwhelming – cadence of content. You don’t want to inundate your employees with announcements but want to ensure teams feel informed. With the right cadence, employees will come to expect content at regular intervals and be more likely to read and engage. Before long, you’ll have a calendar of internal communication campaigns.

Tie content back to the big picture

Consider how your campaigns benefit the company’s larger goals. For instance, if your organization is prioritizing streamlined operations as a quarterly or annual goal, create an internal communications campaign that gives employees tools to be more efficient in their work. By tying your communications back to company’s larger goals and purpose, your content will be more cohesive and purposeful.

Use the right technology tool

Of course, to implement internal comms campaigns, you’ll need the right technology solution.

Ask yourself:

• How are you currently reaching your employees?
• How are you ensuring employees are receiving and reading key communications?
• How are they being notified of new content?
• Are your communications reaching your employees where they are? Are there multiple ways to access content?

The ideal communications tool enables leadership to make top-down announcements to staff, measures employee engagement, and offers options for employee questions and feedback.

Consider using the following Konverse features:

• Company announcements to engage employees from top-down
• 1:1 and group chat to allow managers to check in with their employees
• Discussion rooms for knowledge sharing and discussion
• Surveys that solicit employee feedback

Learn more about Konverse features.

Make communication great with creative content

Internal communication doesn’t have to be boring. Use marketing tactics to ensure the highest engagement from your employees. Create short, clear videos to make announcements. Use imagery to create memorable messages. Utilize copywriting best practices to write catchy headlines with clear and concise content. Whenever possible, think about how to make your content skimmable by using bolded words, bullet points, and color.

With more interesting content, employees will engage at higher rates, ensuring your messages are heard.

Create channels for feedback and questions

When launching an internal communications campaign, make sure your employees have the ability to ask questions, give feedback, and engage with content. In Konverse, announcement posts have a Like button, Comment options, and admin moderation. These features allow leadership to respond to staff questions and ideas and measure engagement on a post.

Use data to optimize future campaigns

Learn what tactics, formats, and information engages employees the most with analytics. Measure open rates, likes, comments, and click rates to get a clearer picture of how employees interact with internal content.

By understanding staff preferences, you can build optimized campaigns that ensure employees read, understand, and implement important corporate content.

Build a great internal communication plan

Successful internal communication keeps employees engaged, organized, and connected to your company’s brand. With a strategic approach, you can create a calendar of engaging content that helps your business grow.

Want to learn how Konverse unites deskless workforces? Request more information today.