Internal communication is everything. It impacts how engaged employees are in the workplace, how often they’re making costly mistakes, and how efficiently they can come together and complete large projects.
This is why developing a strong internal communications strategy is a must once your company reaches a certain size. But there’s no need to do that alone. There are hundreds of tools out there to help you strengthen how your business communicates.
In this article, we’ll show you what makes a good internal communications strategy and what kinds of tools you should look out for.
What is internal communication and why is it important to get right?
What is internal communication?
Put simply, internal communication is any kind of communication that takes place within a company. This can include:
- Emails between employees and supervisors
- Chats on platforms like Slack
- Meetings
- Conversations in the hallway
- Learning programs
- Phone calls
However, in the modern day, not all of these tools will be a good fit anymore. Streamlining internal communication means ditching emails and phone calls for more efficient communication tools.
The success of any company depends on how easy it is for employees to communicate and collaborate on initiatives. It gives business leaders a way to speak to their company, and it gives employees a way to speak with their leaders and each other more productively.
An internal communication strategy is key
Internal communication matters because it dictates how information flows throughout the business. When information is flowing well, teams are more efficient, employees get what they need faster, and productivity sky-rockets. Otherwise, mistakes are more likely to happen, work takes longer to complete, and companies are less profitable as a result.
The key to ensuring that information flows throughout your business efficiently is creating and implementing a strong internal communication strategy. You can’t go into this blind—that’ll only add to miscommunication. If you’re serious about improving your internal communications, planning a strategy is king.
What makes a great internal communication strategy?
A strong internal communication strategy is all about preparation. As a leader, you need to anticipate the different kinds of information that your employees will need from one another. Then you need to create easy avenues for them to communicate that information.
For example, you might have a team of salespeople that have been sharing sales data informally with one another. You could build out a Slack channel for this specific purpose so everyone on the team gets to benefit from the best data right away.
Using the right tools is another major step in that process. You can use products like VODIUM can help you and your team members get more out of every meeting.
Other tips for developing a stronger internal communication strategy include:
- Taking the time necessary to create clear messages
- Involving your employees in the planning process
- Bringing some fun into your strategies to keep workers engaged
- Always being prepared for a crisis
- Having a clear avenue for connecting with every employee
Tools to facilitate internal communication strategy
Now that we’ve covered why internal communications matter and some of the steps you can take to build your strategy, let’s look at some tools that can help you get there. Here are five worth investing in.
Cloud-based intranet
Remote work is more popular than ever, and experts say that it’s here to stay. That means modern workplaces need to adapt the tools that they use to promote efficient communication within their teams. Investing in a cloud-based intranet is one of the best ways to do this.
An intranet is like an internal internet that can be used to securely share information with everyone in a company. However, a traditional intranet only works within your office building and can’t be accessed by remote employees.
With a cloud-based intranet, your employees will be able to access your internal communications network from anywhere they work. This will make it much easier for you to keep your work-from-home employees engaged with the rest of your team.
Encouraging work-from-home can also help businesses cut down on costs by reducing the amount of office space that they need. With a cloud-based intranet, you can take advantage of the benefits an intranet provides while taking advantage of the productivity associated with virtual work.
Messaging and collaboration tools
There are many great messaging and collaboration tools on the market today that can help your team connect throughout the day. Taking advantage of these is a great way to encourage a more free-flowing sharing of information.
You can benefit from using free workplace messaging and collaboration tools like Google Chat and Gmail. There are free alternatives to many of these tools that can help you with internal communications without impacting your budget. However, we all know how difficult it is to keep up with email chains,
To avoid this, you might want to take advantage of a devoted space for work communications. Some of the most popular paid messaging and collaboration tools today include:
- Slack
- Teamwork
- Microsoft Teams
Employees will know to check these apps before they start their work. They can also easily ask questions to other team members. Plus, they usually have channels for different types of communication. For example, you may have a channel for daily standups to stay in touch with what your employees are doing throughout the day.
Project management tools
Investing in the right project management tools can also be an effective way to get more out of your internal communications. These tools are designed to help your teams move through each phase of a project faster. They enable your team to quickly communicate about a project’s status through each step toward completion.
For example, let’s say that you were writing a post for your blog. With a project management tool, anyone who is involved in the writing, editing, graphic design, and posting processes could access a project management platform to see what tasks they still need to complete on the post.
This gives employees a sense of ownership and progress on project tasks. It also gives supervisors and team leaders a greater gauge on who they might need to send a follow-up message to. Automating many of the project management tasks makes handling projects a lot smoother for everyone.
Some of the most popular project management tools on the market today include:
- Asana
- Trello
- Monday
- Hive
Video conferencing software
Since the pandemic started, we’ve all gotten extremely used to the idea of using video conferencing software to connect with team members remotely. For many teams, using platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams is second nature.
Platforms like Zoom have tons of great settings, features, and add-ons that employees can use to engage with one another more effectively. Helping them take advantage of these capabilities could be a boon to the quality of your internal communications.
Your employees may not be getting as much out of the video conferencing software they use as they could be. That’s why it could make sense to host a workplace Zoom training to help everyone on your team get on the same page about how to use Zoom to communicate with one another more effectively.
We’ve put together a blog post on this subject to help you get started.
A teleprompter app
While we’re on the subject of virtual meetings, you may also want to consider investing in a virtual teleprompter app. A teleprompter app works the same as a traditional teleprompter in an intuitive, virtual format.
Teleprompter apps are helpful for a few different reasons.
First, they make it easier for your employees that lead meetings to stay on topic throughout the video call. They’ll waste less time on irrelevant details and get more value out of every meeting. This is a huge advantage to internal communications, which are usually bogged down by digressions and interruptions.
Also, if your employees host meetings with clients, having a virtual teleprompter app will help them stay on target with precise language, appearing more professional as they read off a script. This also helps business leaders communicate with their employees, ensuring they’re explaining their mission or policies correctly.
With a teleprompter app, your team can place it anywhere on the screen. When they place it near the camera, they’ll be making eye contact with the participants of the meeting. Eye contact plays a crucial role in communication, and having a tool that facilitates this can make internal communications smoother.
Add VODIUM to your internal communication strategy
Your internal communication toolbox is just waiting to be filled. You’ve likely already implemented some of these tools in some way, but every tool can bring value and increased productivity to your business processes.
If you think that a virtual teleprompter app could be the right move for your company’s internal communication strategy, you have to check out VODIUM.
Most teleprompter apps were made before the pandemic, but VODIUM was created with virtual work specifically in mind. Our app is easy to use for your team, gives your employees complete control over its display, and improves each virtual meeting you conduct. We know how important internal communication is for your business, and we’re here to help!
Not sure how VODIUM fits into your internal communication strategy? Sign up for a free trial of VODIUM today to experience the value we offer directly.
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