The Why and How of an Effective Internal Communication Strategy

Imagine being in a room and at a distance is a heap of goodies. All you need to do is get up and pick your choice. Now, imagine the scenario with lights out. Let alone grabbing one, you wouldn’t even know that the heap exists. While the exercise might seem like an oversimplification of a problem, it drives a pertinent point: no employee can reach a set goal unless shown the light – a feat that is effortlessly accomplished when a clear internal communication strategy is in place.

While there is hardly an organization that doesn’t have an internal communication strategy in place, the structure and implementation, in most cases, leave much to be desired. The underlying causes are mainly two:

The Constituents of an Effective Internal Communication Strategy

It’s a no-brainer: revamping an organization’s internal communication strategy is quite a daunting task, but the dynamic workspace ecosystem that exists today makes it inevitable. It all begins with looking inwards and asking a few vital questions.

How diverse is the organizational workforce?
Organizational diversity, today, is huge, and comprises of employees that range from 18 to over 60 years of age. While the baby boomers are more comfortable with detailed emails, the millennials veer towards social media to communicate. The ability to get the right message through the right channel matters.

Is the internal communication strategy in line with organizational goals?
The success of a communication strategy depends on executive buy-in, and it must be at the highest level. Why? Because it is the vision of these high-ranking executives that shape the corporate strategy. The exercise ensures that the internal communication strategy is a nudge towards shared goals.

Does the strategy tie well with individual aspirations?
Innovation is never a result of doing the usual. It takes motivation to think out-of-the-box. Achieving this is only possible when the internal communication strategy takes into account individual aspirations. It pushes them to don the shoes of brand advocates who take pride in what they do and truly enjoy their work.

Have deskless workers been factored in?
Not every employee out there works out of the office at all times. Take for instance drivers that power truck fleets, technicians who work in remote locations like oil rigs, hospitality staff, and construction workers. There are about 2.7 billion deskless workers around the world across industries today. If yours is one such industry, this workforce must be factored in. An all-encompassing solution like the one that we, at Groupe.io, offer is the way forward.

Is there room for two-way communication in the existing strategy?
If employees fail to understand why a particular decision is being taken, they feel disconnected from the organization. There needs to be a clear path of communication that breaks down the intent. To achieve this, the company must have a communication tool that reaches the workforce regardless of being by the desktop at all times. Also, the measure of engagement is necessary, which can only come from feedback and well-laid-out metrics.

How dynamic is the strategy?
A strategy that works like a charm today might not have the same impact tomorrow. The fact necessitates dynamism. As digital technologies that surround us today evolve, so must the strategy, and at the heart of this need is the communication tool. From the assignment of tasks to communicating employee welfare programs, the tool must be well-equipped to stay in tune with the times.

The strategy that you devise must answer the questions above in the affirmative. There is no set formula to get it in order. It all depends on your understanding of the organization and being cognizant of what it lacks. Groupe.io augments organizational efforts to reach the employees with the right message, using the right format, through the right channels with analytics that facilitate precise impact measurement.

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