Communication is key for practically every organization on the planet. When communication falls apart, so does everything else. This is why managers and CEOs are constantly trying to improve the quality of communication among staff members.
Bearing this in mind, communication at the upper level must also be streamlined to prevent hurdles from getting in the way, and this is where news and announcements come into play.
When an organization reaches a certain size, gathering around the conference table to make an in-person announcement or communicate recent news and happenings isn't really possible. After all, much of this information needs to be distributed throughout the entire company, rendering this method highly ineffective for companies consisting of 50 or more employees.
Finding a communication tool to spread the word about company news is a crucial. In this post, I'm going to cover some internal communication tips, and how you can use social intranet software to distribute company news and announcements.
As technology progresses, new business communication tools are popping up all the time. Some of these serve as passing trends, but others come with staying power that simply cannot be denied.
Intranet software finds itself sitting comfortably in the latter category, as it can be used by everyone in your organization. The best intranet platform will grow alongside the technological landscape itself, incorporating new advancements and further working towards creating the best possible user experience.
Company intranet software is embraced for many reasons, with communication being one of the most important to highlight.
In addition to interaction and collaboration benefits, your intranet serves as an excellent platform for company-wide communication from upper level staff members. It is, in this sense, a fully-functional intranet news channel for your organization that can be used any time of the day or week.
Your intranet news channel will have measurable results, but it's helpful to solidify your goals before moving forward.
Improving communication at work is an effective way to take your business to the next level, but this just scratches the surface of what is possible when your intranet software is properly utilized.
Before listing out some internal communication tips, you need to think about your goals. Now, your goals may vary considerably from other organizations, but the following are some example goals and benefits you'll experience when you improve internal communication.
Once you have defined your goals and why you need to improve internal communication, you then need to figure out how to achieve them. So again, before diving into internal communication tips, lets look at some factors that affect the distribution of company news.
In most cases, your intranet's "activity stream", or homepage, or department homepages will list the latest news and happenings that are occurring within your company. Whether or not this is actually effective will depend on many different factors.
Understanding the building blocks of a well-designed plan for internal communication is crucial, with the following being just a few of the most important factors to consider:
People in leadership positions are generally aware they need to take a different approach to passing down information. Even though they realize this, they may not know where to start or which route to take. This is especially true for anyone new to intranet software, but it's important to realize that making noticeable changes isn't difficult.
Here are a few internal communication tips to help you get news and announcements distributed on your intranet -- don't forget to combine them for best results:
Communicating company news and announcements often gets difficult if you are a large company, since it typically comes from the top and can get mangled and twisted as it trickles down. Let your company's social intranet serve as a vehicle for distributing news, and past headaches will quickly begin to fade away.
Hopefully this post, which is more about your approach than actual internal communication tips, helps you take a deeper look at improving communication in the workplace.
Do you have any ideas?
Let me know in the comments below.
Tim is president and co-founder of Axero Solutions, a leading intranet software vendor. He's also a bestselling author of Who the Hell Wants to Work for You? Mastering Employee Engagement. Tim’s been featured in Fortune, Forbes, TIME, Inc Magazine, Entrepreneur, CNBC, Today, and other leading publications.
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