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According to McKinsey, 44% of executives report that communication issues contribute to project delays or failures. Conversely, effective internal communication is linked with improved productivity, satisfaction and alignment among teams.
Taking steps to improve internal communications at work is essential for unlocking your team’s full potential. And quite often, a little bit of creative communication could be just what you need to spark better engagement.
Related: 6 Communication Tips to Strengthen Your Company’s Culture
1. Make employee emails interactive
The Harvard Business Review reports that the average full-time employee receives roughly 120 messages each day. Obviously, that number of emails can be overwhelming, and it can all too easily cause important messages to slip through the cracks.
Aside from reducing the total number of emails that are sent within the organization, leaders can also improve engagement on important messages by taking steps to make their emails more interactive. For example, emails that include surveys, comment boxes or other interactive elements can help drive engagement on important topics.
2. Let your employees do the talking
Leaders aren’t the only ones with important insights to share. Employees at all levels and in all sectors of the company can help others improve by sharing their own knowledge and experiences.
Many companies encourage this higher level of engagement through an employee blog. Blog responsibility may be delegated as a rotating assignment to different departments, or utilize volunteer signups. Allowing a broader range of perspectives helps keep the blog engaging and diverse. And by enabling comments, thoughtful blog posts can spark additional discussions and idea sharing among team members.
A blog with publicly available content can also make your business more appealing to prospective clients or new hires as they learn of your team’s passion and expertise.
3. Use digital signage to reach non-desk employees
Not everyone spends the entire day at a desk. This is especially true of workers at warehouses, industrial facilities or manufacturing plants, who are on their feet throughout much of the day. Emails tend to be ineffective at reaching these non-desk employees, but placing digital signage throughout the workplace can help ensure workers get engaging and up-to-date information anywhere in the facility.
Switching to digital bulletin boards (rather than continuing to rely on manually updated bulletin boards) is an especially important element of making this form of communication more effective. As a case study by Valotalive reveals, a business with 12 sites can save $17,830 per month by replacing manual bulletin-board updates with digital signage that uses automatic updates. These also provide significant time savings and improved engagement with messaging as content is updated more frequently.
Related: 10 Measures That Improve Internal Communication
4. Create a company app
Another way to ensure your communications can reach all employees within the organization is through the creation of a company app. An app designed specifically for your company can serve as the go-to location for getting relevant updates in a timely manner. Your app can be customized to the needs of your company to include features like message boards, push notifications, newsletters and other relevant tools.
Consider the different types of communications your employees could benefit from. Aside from team and project-focused communications, your app could include everything from an internal job board to training materials. Adapt your app based on employee feedback and requests so that it can help them work more effectively. Whether at a desk or not, an app enables everyone to keep in touch.
5. Use virtual focus groups and town halls to get feedback
Communication isn’t a one-way street. Unfortunately, in larger businesses, it can become challenging to effectively gather employee feedback. In-person focus groups and town halls can be good opportunities to collect feedback, but don’t be afraid to use virtual options as well. This can be especially helpful for engaging remote workers, who often feel isolated or overlooked by their organization.
Leaders who are open and willing to answer questions or receive feedback from employees in both in-person and virtual settings will be far more effective at resolving concerns. Acting on the feedback you receive will help employees feel valued and make them more likely to value your communications in return.
6. Embrace personalization and segmentation
Email personalization and segmentation are often cited as key components of successful marketing to consumers. For example, NotifyVisitors reports that segmented email campaigns see a 20% higher open rate and 11% higher click-through rate than non-segmented emails. This not only drives revenue, but it also reduces the number of subscribers who choose to unsubscribe.
The same qualities can also make a noteworthy difference in internal communications as well. When leaders personalize and segment their communications based on factors like an employee’s position, department or amount of time at the company, they can ensure that each person receives messages that are actually relevant to their work. This helps reduce the total number of messages an employee receives, ensuring they give the necessary time and attention to communications that are meaningful to them.
Related: Why Effective Internal Communication is Critical to an Organization’s Well-Being
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to effective communication with your team. Quite often, you’ll need to incorporate a variety of communication methods so the right messages can reach every member of your organization. By making quality communication a priority, you can keep all team members fully engaged and provide the resources they need to maximize their impact.
