Being an Internal Communicator can be challenging. You have to deal with different people every day, juggle conflicting demands, and capture people's attention in a short span of time and the list goes on! But on the other hand, your role is important for the organization's success.
Internal Communications is now at the core of organizational strategy, as engaging employees and achieving results have become more important than ever.
To help you excel at your job, here are 10 key insights that every Internal Communicator should be aware of. These will make your communication efforts easier and more effective in driving positive outcomes.
1. Everyone Thinks They Are the Best Communicators
The reality is that everyone thinks that internal communications is easy and that they can do it better. It's important not to take this personally, and you should look at the positive aspects of the situation. With the rise of social media, employee activism, and public company statements, people at all levels are more comfortable with communication than ever before. As an efficient communicator, you can easily collaborate with people within the organization, leveraging their preferred communication channels and even adapt your voice to suit their needs. This streamlined approach empowers them to maximize their productivity and effectiveness. This allows you to focus on providing strategic advice and adding value to your role.
2. Good Listening Is a Superpower!
Asking questions can help you take valuable insights from people. As an Internal Communicator, it is crucial to remember that you help every individual in the company, not just its leaders.
To ensure effective communication, it is essential to create opportunities for listening to a diverse range of employees, considering factors like their levels and locations. This will help you in:
- Evaluating if your messages are being understood and leading to desired behavioral changes.
- Gathering feedback on topics that employees want to hear about.
- Testing and refining early ideas.
Listening is often underestimated by busy Internal Communication teams. However, it is vital to prioritize it. When your employees feel heard and see that your communication strategy reflects their reality, they become more engaged with your content and are more likely to take the desired actions.
An additional benefit is that listening is a FREE approach, making it even more beneficial for effective communication.
3. Working with the Leaders and Managers
Leaders shape organizational culture, so it's crucial to collaborate with them. Understand their perspectives, support them in communicating authentically, and connecting with employees.
Managers are instrumental in driving work and motivating employees. Seeing them as important channels seeking advice and suggestions from them is important, as it allows you to gain valuable insights and a broader perspective. By incorporating their viewpoint, you can better understand how things look from the top view and make informed decisions. Listen to their feedback to enable effective communication. By leveraging the influence of leaders and managers, you can strengthen the impact of your Internal Communications strategy.
Inside Out/Outside in Approach to Internal Communication
It's important to assume that anything you say internally can be quickly shared with the world. Employees today are more willing than ever to share information outside of the organization, sometimes as an act of whistleblowing. As an Internal Communicator, it's crucial to consider the potential impact of your words and envision how they might appear on the front pages of the news.
Similarly, what happens externally in the world can greatly affect the lives of your employees. Ongoing pressures, such as economic turmoil, social conflict, and mental health crises can all add to the stress of employees' work lives. Internal Communicators need to address these realities with empathy and remain open to ongoing feedback and communication.
By adopting an Inside Out/Outside In approach to Internal Communications, you can better anticipate the impact of your messaging and remain in tune with the needs of your employees.
5. Stop the Scroll: Captivating Internal Communication
Nowadays, Employees' attention spans are shrinking. With heavy workloads and constant external distractions, most people are spending just 15 minutes or less per day reading internal content. To cut through the noise and engage your audience, it's essential to create communications that demand attention.
Before crafting and distributing your messages, ask yourself these key questions:
- Is this information essential for the audience to know, feel, or act upon?
- 2. Are you linking communication to your business goals, so employees can see the bigger picture?
- Does issuing this communication pose a corporate risk?
By filtering your communications through these questions, you increase the chances of a message breaking through. Additionally, make the content itself easy to digest, using headings, bullet points, and clear calls to action. These simple techniques will help capture and maintain your audience's attention.
6. Focus on Outcomes, Not Just Outputs
Often, Internal Communicators are evaluated based on the outputs they create – videos, newsletters, events etc. While these are important, it's crucial to shift our focus to outcomes. This means understanding what the business needs to achieve and aligning your communication strategy accordingly.
For example, suppose the company's goal is to improve customer centricity. Instead of rushing to create brochures or blogs that may support this goal, the focus should be on how you can deliver employee centric messages and visual collateral. This might involve collaborating with HR to develop new training materials or partnering with Sales and Marketing to craft compelling value propositions.
Remember, the key is to consistently link your activities to outcomes, not just outputs. Although it can be challenging, this strategic approach is essential if you want to be effective in your role. So, let's say "no" to things that don't align with your objectives and keep the focus on achieving meaningful outcomes.
7. Measure the Value: From Outputs to Outcomes
It's essential to measure the value of Internal Communications. Many communicators don't measure their impact, but focusing on outcomes can show the real value of your work. For instance, instead of counting meetings organized, track cross-selling rates. Are they increasing? Report on the actions you've taken to support this outcome, like training and messaging. By demonstrating your contribution to strategic goals, you'll be seen as more than just a content creator.
8. Double-Check the Tech: Avoiding Event Tech Failures
You’ve sent all the invitations. Briefed the speakers. Prepared all the content. And then – the technology fails. As a result, employees give up, switch off, or focus on the medium and not the message. Fortunately, while these things can happen, there are measures you can put in place to mitigate them:
- Do at least one, ideally two rehearsals with every aspect of the technology – sign-in, breakout rooms, Q&A, etc.
- Have a Plan B – what will you do if the tech goes down?
- Capture feedback and lessons learnt – so you can improve for the next time.
In the era of flexible working, organizations are hugely reliant on the stability of digital platforms. Outages and failures can render months of hard work redundant. Double check the tech.
9. Being Brave
To effectively navigate the challenges of communication, it's important to be brave. Here are specific actions you can take:
- Learn to say no: Prioritize your work and have the courage to say no when you are overwhelmed. Refer to your strategy, question objectives, or suggest alternative solutions when necessary.
- Speak truth to power: As a communicator, provide honest feedback and insights to leaders, even if it is uncomfortable. Be the voice that brings the reality of the frontline and challenges the echo chambers.
- Be the corporate conscience: Utilize your unique perspective to ensure that the organization's purpose, values, and culture are upheld throughout. Ensure they are not just lived in isolated pockets but across the entire organization.
- Building a Collaborative Relationship with HR
It is crucial for Internal Communicators to view HR as a partner rather than a rival. By joining forces, both functions can thrive and effectively serve employees. Here's why HR can be your friend:
- Employee Experience Alignment: Internal communicators and HR must collaborate to ensure employees have a seamless journey throughout their employment.
- Impactful Moments: Alongside IT, HR plays a significant role in crucial moments such as onboarding. By operating as an integrated team, the impact on employees can be improved.
- Utilizing People Data: HR possesses valuable people data that can be leveraged to inform communication strategies and enhance their effectiveness.
- Budget and Influence: HR often operates with larger budgets and holds influence in the C-Suite, which can be advantageous for Internal Communicators aiming to make a meaningful impact.
Here’s a Pro Tip: Do not hesitate to take External Help!
External platforms that are experts in handling Internal Communication environments can always come to your rescue. Platforms like Sparrow Connected are experts in the Internal Communication fields with top notch strategies and ideas to make your work easy. At Sparrow Connected, we understand the challenges faced by Internal Communicators. Our intelligent tools and solutions are designed to enhance communication efforts, engage employees, and deliver effective results. With our comprehensive platform, you can streamline Internal Communications, align strategies with business goals, and collaborate with HR and key stakeholders. Sparrow Connected empowers you to demonstrate the impact of your work, be a strategic partner in shaping organizational culture, and drive positive change. Embrace our transformative tools to elevate your role and achieve success in Internal Communications.
Key Takeaways
Internal Communications is the backbone of organizational success. Embracing these key insights and leveraging tools and solutions like those offered by Sparrow Connected can drive impactful change within organizations. We encourage internal communicators to Schedule a Free 30-minute IC Consultation to explore how these strategies and tools can be tailored to their specific needs.
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