Communication within the company is everyone’s work

A well-thought-out internal communication strategy is the basis of high team productivity

Imagine a typical meeting of the whole team: someone takes notes and asks questions, someone is late and sits, buried in the phone. If at the same time you are the leader yourself, it is probably unpleasant for you to see smartphone screens that illuminate the faces of employees. But if you are a simple worker, and the information provided is not related to your daily duties, it is easier to ignore it. The described situation is just one example of how communication within the company can be disturbed.

Internal communication is any communication related to work occurring within an organization: from general announcements to conversations between colleagues. If you see the corporate strategy in internal communication, rather than the responsibility of a specific person or department, this will help the organization eliminate some structural problems and create a culture of trust, transparency and cohesion.

James Harter and  Amy Adkins of the Gallup Institute wrote in an article for  Harvard Business Review : “Often communication is the foundation of a healthy relationship, including that between the employee and the manager. [Continuous communication] - in person, by telephone or electronically - is associated with a higher level of engagement. ” And the higher the involvement, the better the profit.The Institute recently found out that companies with a high involvement of employees on dividends per share are ahead of competitors by 147%.

And the good news is that absolutely everyone can play a role in shaping a culture of open communication at work.

Translated to Alconost


Image Author - Wanging Lee

A good internal communication strategy starts with leadership

The human resources department and management staff can communicate daily with employees, but the latter expect a two-way flow of information exchange with management. Company-wide meetings and newsletters are convenient when you need to make announcements, but if this is the main way to contact employees, they may feel alienated .

Everyone wants to be appreciated, so when it comes to internal communication, the most important thing is accessibility , publicity and  transparency . In this case, several considerations should be kept in mind.

Big ads should be done first by you

It is unlikely that you will want employees to learn about major events (for example, a merger or a change of leadership) from an external source (social networks, news sites, etc.) for the first time. If you develop an alert plan before major changes, it will help maintain employee confidence and improve their response. A Slack Future of Work study found that employees value transparency: 80% of employees want to know more about how leaders make decisions.

Mailing list personalization

A beautifully designed letter is great, but it’s just as important to think about the content: messages should be concise and easy to read, with a minimum of acronyms and jargon. When sitting down to write ad text, try to make it a little more personal. Ask yourself these questions:

• What is currently optimistic about you?
  
• How can I thank employees for their excellent work?
  
• Turn to your experience: has something happened in your personal or professional life that can be connected with this moment in the life of the company?
  

Be sure to always tell when and how employees can ask questions and continue the conversation.

Improve your knowledge management system

Is it easy for teams to find the information they need to work? Maybe documents and meeting records are lost in email folders that are already starting to resemble dolls? If finding information and sharing it in an organization becomes a problem, it may be worth evaluating the effectiveness of the knowledge management system used .

Leaders must be constantly open to communication

If you are a leader, then you have a clear idea of ​​the team’s work processes and you are ready to defend them. In addition, you have the opportunity to improve internal communication: for this you need to stimulate feedback and act in accordance with it.

The best-selling author Jacob Morgan in The Employee Experience Advantage says this: “There are still places in the world where employees are not invited to give feedback, express ideas and do not encourage them to share their opinions. Often in such organizations, when someone does speak out, he comes under the pressure of bureaucracy and office intrigue. ”

If you remain open to communication with employees, this will help everyone to feel that they are respected, and arouse the desire to contribute to the long-term success of the organization. How this is done is below.

One-on-one regular meetings

How to encourage each employee to give honest feedback? Find out which approaches work, which ones don’t, and if there are any removable obstacles. Remember that regular meetings are especially important for  building the trust of introvert employees who can best be thought outside of group work.

Plan meetings strategically

Indeed, many do not like team meetings ; however, a personal conversation is the best way to make a decision. Therefore, before planning a meeting, compile and publish its agenda (this will help to keep to the schedule), as well as give the participants information necessary for preliminary preparation. And after the meeting, send out a letter with a list of actions and notes made during the discussion.

Submitting ideas should be easy

Pixar Studio co-founder Ed Kathmul told us about a curious trend that he noticed as the company grew: employees began to be afraid to give ideas . Kathmul suspected that the cause of the fear was the high standard set by the studio, as well as an expanding hierarchical structure.

He managed to eliminate the influence of the hierarchy on the Pixar brainstorms - and the team members again began quietly voicing their own thoughts, no matter what position they were in. Giving everyone the opportunity to freely share ideas, you increase psychological safety , show that you value the vision of team members - and perhaps some of the proposals will eventually “shoot”.

Pay tribute to a job well done

Make it a habit not to skimp on  positive feedback . Recognizing someone’s merits in a common document or on a joint work site, you will show the employee that they are especially appreciated: thanks to this “documentation”, teams better understand each other’s work, and senior management learns about successes.

Everyone can participate in the formation of a culture of transparent information exchange

You represent the company as an employee - this seems to be a responsible and difficult task, and for good reason. Here is what Rita Lingyuan Meng , associate professor of public relations at Florida University says about this : “The attitude of employees towards their place of work and their public statements often inspire more confidence and form the basis for how external stakeholders see the company. Therefore, we believe that the organization’s strong positive reputation is built from the inside. ”

When everything is fine with you, everything is fine with the company. Below are a few ways to help build a culture of transparency and information sharing.

Speak honestly about pleasant and unpleasant

Do you feel support or does it seem like nobody needs you? What projects do you like to work on? You have the right to have an honest conversation with your manager about work. Alison Green of Slate magazine , the author of Managing to Change the World , recommends creating a communication system that is acceptable to both: “Once this system is defined, take responsibility for it to work: for example, if the boss cancels meeting, you need to take the initiative and pick a different date. "

Strive for clarity and consistency in everyday work

Internal communication is the exchange of information at all levels, even with regard to daily affairs discussed with colleagues in the department. Here are some tips to help your team move in the right direction:

• Document decisions and processes on shared resources, for example, on a collaboration site or in a folder that anyone can easily access.
  
• If you like to compile checklists and develop other materials for project management, share the fruits of your passion with colleagues: do not hesitate to create and publish documents that will help coordinate teamwork and timely inform its members.
  
• Just finished a project? Think about what went well and what didn’t, and ask your colleagues to give honest feedback - this helps to improve.
  
• Set aside time for projects that require undivided attention. If they have specific dates, plan separately working hours on your calendar and let your teammates know about it.
  

Share your experience

What unique skills and vision can you offer colleagues? Do not be modest: if you find skills or knowledge that may be useful to others, try to share them - in the internal blog, newsletter, at lunch presentations or at the collaboration site. By sharing knowledge, you not only support your professional development, but also strengthen the team and improve the working atmosphere - after all, it is important for many to be part of a team or community , and the exchange of information helps to overcome the fragmentation of units and increase cohesion.

Communication within the company is everyone’s work

It is generally accepted that the human resources department or the communications department is responsible for internal communication, but everyone's contribution is important here. Ultimately, building a culture of trust, transparency and respect in the workplace comes down to how employees share information and communicate with each other.

About the translator

Translation of the article was done in Alconost.

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