Are these five to-dos on your internal communications checklist for 2023?
It’s hard to believe it’s already 2023. This is the time to take a look at your internal communications strategy for the year and ensure you’re checking the right boxes.
1. Recession-Proof Yourself
The recent spate of tech layoffs and continuing economic turbulence continues to underscore the need for communication leaders to prepare for a more competitive environment when it comes to budget resources, staffing and access to leadership attention.
Communication pros may think that, because of their positive impact within their organizations during the height of the pandemic, they may be less susceptible to cutbacks and other constraints that they faced in previous years.
But complacency is no substitute for preparation.
Get six tips to strengthen your position in the delays, weeks and months to come.
2. Remove I.T. as a Roadblock
The IT department, usually tasked with technical innovation, is often a roadblock to the same thing they are supposed to enable. Make this the year you reduce IT involvement in day-to-day internal communications activities.
Here are a few more reasons why:
- IT often becomes an organizational bottleneck.
- IT is usually understaffed and overworked.
- IT doesn’t have the time to sit down with the internal communications team and help them on a regular basis.
- IT often resists the introduction of new tools even before they understand whether the new tool will add to or subtract from their burdens.
- IT resources have become more and more expensive over the last two years.
- IT demand and turnover are both high so maintaining a qualified IT workforce is difficult and costly for most organizations.
- IT and comms sometimes have an antagonistic relationship.
Learn how to free yourself from IT.
3. Adopt an Omnichannel Strategy to Reach Your Entire Workforce
Regardless of how engaging, relevant and user-friendly an intranet is, it’s not solving the fundamental issue – employees want to be reached on the channels they’re already using day-to-day.
To the employee, the Intranet is just another tool that they have to remember to use, and, in many cases, a distraction from their jobs, reaching them on channels they are already using or spend their time on, makes more sense.
Look at where and how your workforce actually wants to engage with internal communications content and cater your 2023 strategy to their preferred communication channels and preferences. Don’t forget deskless and frontline employees.
It’s time to think beyond your corporate intranet.
Learn more about how to reach each and every employee.
4. Measure and Communicate Impact Regularly
One of the biggest challenges facing communication professionals, and particularly, internal communicators, is a basic discomfort with measurement.
It presents a real credibility problem when many IC pros are unable to look beyond whatever embedded analytic tools, they may have access to - and solely base their measurement approach on such readings as “click rates” and “open rates,” rather than measures that are actually aligned to business performance.
There’s nothing wrong with using embedded analytic tools. The problem emerges when the embedded measures are presented as important without being connected with what the organization is actually trying to achieve.
Your measurement narrative is critical to bringing your leaders into the story being told by your words and numbers - and also for punching up the importance of your numbers to achieving the business’ outcomes.
Learn how to tell better stories behind your numbers.
5. Adopt the Internal Communication Tools You Need to Execute and Measure Your Strategy
So many internal communication professionals today find themselves in a situation where they don’t have the tools they need to do their jobs well. They’re told to use Microsoft as it is (which just doesn’t cut it for a number of reasons) or they’re asked to use free, off-the-shelf tools for internal communications, even if they are inappropriate and not fit for the purpose.
As you research internal comms software, you want to look for an internal comms platform that:
- Is actually built for internal comms professionals
- Doesn’t require ongoing IT intervention
- Natively integrates with Microsoft
- Enables you to reach employees without Microsoft licenses
- Is not just another corporate intranet that no one uses
- Has built-in analytics and measurement tools,
Find out what to look for in an internal communications platform.
Book a Demo of Sparrow Connected
Sparrow Connected gives internal communications teams across the globe the tools they need to measure AND be recognized for what actually matters – business impact.
Book a Demo Today!
