While many have already found their voice when it comes to communicating with an outside audience, some businesses still fall short when it comes to communicating internally. In order to create effective internal communication, companies have to take what they have learned with their communication strategies with audiences outside the business.
In order to create an internal communications campaign, make sure to go through the following steps – whether it be for a newsletter or even emergency alerts:
1. Be clear with your purpose.
Know what your purpose is and be explicit about it. What is the reason for your campaign? Is it to gather and generate new ideas from your staff members? Is it to get feedback regarding a specific program or work process? Is it to encourage a specific action or reaction?
2. Be clear with your desired outcome/s.
Explicitly state what you desire out of the campaign you are employing. An internal communication plan is effective when you are clear about what you want out of your employees. For example, let them know if you want 3-5 ideas from them regarding your current operations; or ask them to hand in their concerns and issues about a particular program by a specific date and time.
3. Know your audience.
In as much as you have to know your audience before employing a marketing campaign outside, you have to get to know your employees when creating an internal communication strategy. Ask yourself who exactly in the company do you want to interact with and reach? Is your audience composed of top leaders? Are they employees with specific skills? Are they already informed of the issue you want to talk with them about, or do you have to orient them of what they need to think about and give input on?
4. Create a strategy and develop your message.
Think of the methods and pathways that are most effective to communicate your ideas and concerns. Are email messages more effective than desktop alerts? Are you better off holding meetings and seminars, or sending out newsletters? Will you be the most effective person to relay the message, or will staff members respond more to their direct managers?
Once you’ve developed a strategy, create a message that is concise and clear, as well as high-impact and memorable. Also, make sure to make the message positive, since most people will respond to something that makes it feel like they are part of a team and that the concern has been brought up for the betterment of everyone.
5. Deliver the message and evaluate.
Deliver the right message at the right time, and to the right people. Plan it out based on these three factors in order to ensure that your campaign is as effective as it can be. Also make sure that you are able to gather all the metrics involved with the campaign so that you can evaluate and learn from all the information after.
Once you’ve gathered all the information you can from the campaign, evaluate them and learn. However, do take note that this is not a one-off strategy. Build on the information you’ve gathered and compare on a monthly or even quarterly basis. This way, you’ll be able to see if all ideas and concerns have been addressed, and if addressing them has proven to be beneficial to the company and to its employees. Through routinized evaluation and learning, not only will your internal communications campaign prove to be effective, you will see an improvement in the internal alignment and collective ability of your staff.
