Improve Internal Communication and Improve Collaboration

If you want to be seen as a leader in your industry, you need to make sure you can keep up with the best practices and trends across the board – from customer service to products to marketing. Internal communication can help in every aspect of the business.

Successful businesses measure themselves against the same business practices being implemented by both their peers and competitors. But despite that, internal communications is neglected far too much of the time. It’s not often that we consider how our competitors communicate with their employees, thinking of it as a something unique to each individual organisation.

Keeping Your Eyes Open

However, this isn’t an area that can be ignored; communication is at the heart of any successful business. As is noted by Entrepreneur magazine, internal communication was a vital component of almost 79% of the companies studied. Without effective internal communication, you are hampering an ‘important strategic component in your business’ growth.’ They go so far as to refer to internal communication as being the ‘lifeblood’ of anorganisation.

So what should you do to improve it? Pay attention to business trends and best practices. Internal communications firm Tribe have compiled three trends, which – if followed – can really help boost your communication practices.

Reach All Your Employees – No Matter Where And How They Work

Across their client base, Tribe has reported that companies are struggling to reach their non-desk employees. These employees are critical to success – they work face to face with customers every day, acting as the face of your company. Their adoption of company values and vision is essential to maintaining the reputation of your organisation, both internally and externally.

And yet, despite this, 84% of non-desk workers claim they don’t get enough information from management, according toFortunemagazine. Additionally, 75% of non-desk workers commented that their employers aren’t providing them with sufficient information about policies and goals, even though 74% also stated that consistent messages from senior management are important to them.

Tribe points to UPS as an example of a company that has not only succeeded, but has completely redefined the field of internal communication. Elizabeth Cogsworth Baskin, CEO of Tribe, notes that not only does the company have an intranet site that she described as ‘great’, but that the supervisors are also consistently talking to their teams, keeping everything running smoothly.

In a 2015 report, Tribe advocates the use of a mobile intranet to make sure that non-desk employees can access all the same information that their office counterparts have access to. While such an option can be – as Tribe notes – expensive and time consuming, this is quickly changing. Even in the time since their report was written, cloud computing has drastically changed the accessibility of the Internet (and intranet) from mobile devices. This means that your non-desk employees can have complete access to tools, communication mediums, and files that would normally only be accessible in-house.

You could even utilise user management and security tools to customise the Intranet for different employee groups, making sure that they have access to the data relevant for them. Instead of constantly needing to check email, social media, and other forms of communication, your non-desk employees will have all their information in one easy-to-access location.

Emphasise Your Values

Getting your employees to agree with the company vision is paramount – it doesn’t matter how inspiring it is, or how strong your company values are if your employees couldn’t care less! But by providing effective communication, you can bring your employees together, and unite them in engaging and rewarding work towards a common goal. This is easier said than done, however.