Internal communication is a business function meant to provide a dependable flow of information that goes up, down and across an entire organization.
It involves the production and delivery of messages on behalf of management, and it should also facilitate an ongoing dialogue. Internal communication can be used for anything from announcing a new project to informing employees of an upcoming event to being a source of reference for company policies. Human resources is typically responsible for handling formal internal communications, but informal internal communications can occur within any department.
To be done correctly, internal communications for companies require a significant and concerted effort. Some organizations may not have the resources to develop a comprehensive internal communication strategy, while other companies may have a strategy but lack the capacity to sustain it.
Communication is essential
Whether they are handled informally in a small company or formally at a large company, internal communications are meant to inform people throughout an entire organization. When a department manager needs to reference official company policy on the company intranet, they are accessing internal communications. When an employee needs to find out the purpose of a new project by opening an internal email, she or he is accessing internal communications.
In a more abstract sense, internal communications help to bind together all the people of a company. They facilitate transparency and conversation.
Research shows that good internal communications programs can also boost both productivity and employee engagement. When employees are well informed, they are in a position to be highly effective and productive. Communications can help keep people all pulling in the same direction and focused on the same goal. Missed deadlines and wasted efforts are much less likely to occur if employees are kept informed.
Employees also like to be kept in the loop and when they feel like they’re in the dark, you can cause them to feel disillusioned and disengaged from their work. Good communications can show employees how their work fits into the bigger picture and why it’s important to meet objectives and deadlines.
Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic showed us that internal communications are worth their weight in gold during a crisis. Companies used communications to inform employees of the necessary changes, new procedures, safety guidelines, any layoffs and plans to take care of employees during a very difficult time. People had a lot of questions when COVID first hit, and companies relied on their internal communication systems to provide answers where possible.
Exceptional communication drives organizational success
While internal communications are essential to basic productivity and daily operations, strong communications programs can also unlock a number of additional benefits.
A strong internal communication strategy will help you establish a more vibrant company culture. Every announcement, news update and post to the lunchroom bulletin board feeds into the overall culture. Good communicators shape their messages to reinforce what a company stands for, its values and why the work that it does matters in the bigger picture.
Internal communications can also knit together the lighter sides of company culture. Whether it’s coordinating a volunteer effort or organizing teambuilding activities, internal communications are important to maintaining the more social aspects of a company’s culture.
Bottom line: An internal communications program should optimize an organization’s most valuable asset, its people. rather than being a one-dimensional necessity, internal communications can make a company more than the sum of its parts. It can promote healthy two-way conversations and lead to creative solutions. Internal communications create space for meaning and engagement. It’s as important to the entry-level worker as it is to any CEO.
Tyrane can boost your internal communications program
If the optimal internal communications strategy described above doesn’t sound like the one being used at your company, now is the time to start implementing a more effective approach.
Better communications among your people should start with understanding how they engage with various aspects of your strategy. This is where analytics and AI solutions from Tryane can help.
With Tyrane Analytics, you can track how many employees read each newsletter, which emails went unopened and how long employees spend reading an important post on the company intranet. By letting you compare effectiveness across platforms like Yammer and SharePoint, you can determine which channels are best for different kinds of messages. You may even discover that a platform isn’t effective at all, allowing you to remove the platform and reduce waste.
Our Analytics solutions also help you identify and quantify key influencers within your company. These de facto team leaders who may have otherwise flown under the radar can then be engaged, encouraged and possibly promoted when the time comes.
If you are curious about the ways Tyrane can make your internal communications strategy more effective, don’t hesitate to contact us today. We can answer any questions you might have and offer a much deeper dive into the power of our solutions.