Software that helps businesses manage employee communications is an internal communication tool. These tools can make it easier for employees and managers to communicate with one another. They can also help cut down on the number of in-person meetings that are required, which can save money and time.
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What is Internal Communication?
Internal communication is the way members communicate with each other. It entails the distinct story of an organization, which includes the voices of every person working there. This mode of communication relies on the transparency and openness of all participants. Most companies use internal communication tools to reach this goal.
Benefits of Internal Communication Tools
To build a buoyant internal culture, you must set up strong foundations, similar to a house. Otherwise, it will collapse. With the right communications strategy, your team’s ability to anticipate and respond to problems can be greatly improved, strengthening your cultural foundation. Employee engagement and retention go up when you engage with your team members. A company’s internal communication strategies should be properly planned and structured for the following reasons:
Faster Response Time
Problems don’t get much worse if there is a clear method for getting everyone on the team the correct information at the right time. A well-thought-out communications plan enables the entire team to respond quickly if something goes wrong. No one needs to be informed about the situation. Frequently, the most terrible chance to raise a worker to an acceptable level is when something turns out badly. There’s high pressure, and complex components are moving excessively fast. Viable team communication stops this issue before it begins and makes better correspondence in all cases.
Employees Feel Valued
A team can only get halfway to its goals with information flows that only go one way. Acceptance of feedback loops is necessary. Additionally, feedback can take many forms. One example of the many available resources is the 360 team performance review, in which a person reviews (and is reviewed by) a coworker, manager, and reporting employee. People feel free to share their thoughts in a secure and encouraging environment created by internal communication channels. A comprehensive communications strategy can help employees feel valued and demonstrate that their ideas are important if verbal communication is limited. Their supervisors are observing; they are respected and given attention. They also stop thinking they are just a cog in a machine because their ideas are valued. It makes them much happier, and happy workers are 12 percent more productive.
Reduce Turnover Issues
According to the Harvard Business Review, more engaged employees are also less likely to look for work elsewhere. Even remote workers can be engaged if a digital communications strategy is in place. In fact, turnover decreased by 25% when businesses with high turnover problems increased engagement. The reduction was 65% in companies with low turnover rates. A team with more experience and fewer turnovers results in the utilization of fewer scarce resources for rehiring and retraining employees. As a result, employees benefit from an established team rather than one stuck in a cycle of hiring and training, which ultimately reflects this retention level across the entire organization.
As we have come to know how beneficial internal communication can be for a business, now we will turn our attention toward which tools should be used by organizations.
Must Have Internal Communication Tools
Intranet
One of the essential pieces of software for internal communications is the intranet. It is used to share knowledge among large groups of workers. A team or department can use a company intranet to share relevant articles, charts, and other materials.
The ability of an intranet to connect all employees from multiple locations is one of its most significant advantages. Your intranet makes it simple for employees who work from home or in satellite offices to keep up with company news and events.
Instant Messaging Tools
You can instantly send messages of text, images, videos, or web links to other employees of your company using an instant messaging tool. It is a quicker, more natural method of communication that closely resembles the tools we use in our personal lives, such as Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp.
When you write an email, you know that it will end up in someone’s inbox and could be reread later. With texting, it’s immediate so you can give less thought to how you make proper acquaintances or how you close down. Group discussions can also take place in the channels for instant messaging. For instance, you might have one “room” for sales and another for marketing. Without overflowing your inbox with emails, this lets everyone share pertinent information.
Video Center
Any business can use video content as a powerful tool for communication. It ensures effective and lasting knowledge sharing and creates a virtual library in your company intranet or collaboration space. Keep a recording of product demonstrations, general meetings, training, and other internal initiatives and stream them for all employees to access freely.
Additionally, this medium can aid in the development of a more robust corporate culture. It will show the rest of the company about policies and goals, and C-level management and other executives can make short video announcements. You can make a special place in your intranet platform where these streams can be shared, and employees and management can talk to each other directly, allowing for more open collaboration and communication.
Collaboration Tools
Working from home or while traveling is more prevalent than ever before. All employees, including those who work from home or in the field, need to stay connected. Using an intranet mobile application, which allows employees to participate regardless of where they are using a mobile phone, tablet, or desktop computer, is a great way to ensure that your employees have constant access to corporate information.
Your frontline employees especially need to know about this option. Your representatives will always have access to information like contact information, locations, and purchase history, among other things. They will also get updates in real-time at the same time, which helps them make better decisions and serve customers.
Employee Social Network (ESN)
Social networking sites for employees are a relatively new method of internal communication. A public social network’s features can be used by businesses to encourage employees to connect and talk about work-related topics. These may be offshoots of conventional social media networks, such as Facebook by Work, or an independent platform, such as Yammer. Employee social networks like many other communication tools overlap with instant messaging and company intranets. Therefore, why would you decide to begin using one?
This is how we see it: Channels like Slack are for collaboration, while intranets are for communication. What about information from the water cooler, then? Particularly in remote groups, group fabricating and “getting to know one another” is fundamental. Yet the data frequently appears to be too paltry to even think about presenting into Slack or on share on email.
Here employee networks make their mark and give space to team building that in other scenarios wouldn’t occur.
Additionally, many businesses consider their employee social network to be more than just a “nice to have.” They utilize them to share company blogs, events, and all information that an employee needs to access. A social network can develop into a hub that encourages employees to be more creative and expressive.
Team Bonding Tools
Many businesses view internal communication as a top-down approach, leading from the directors and ending with the employees. But what about lateral communication? How representatives speak with one another is helpful for efficient work practices. Because of this, tools that actively encourage workers to communicate more effectively are crucial.
Many companies have been experimenting with Donut, in which two employees are selected at random to participate in a Slack call to “get to know each other.” Companies with a team that works mostly or entirely remotely can benefit from employee team bonding tools. They are also useful for personnel where communication may not come naturally, such as development teams where the majority of time is spent coding alone rather than communicating with one another.
Tools like Donut aren’t “magic cures” for businesses with a bad culture or low employee engagement; however, they can help employees feel more invested in their coworkers and engaged.
Digital Signage
Digital signage requires strategically positioned screens. It’s one of the lesser-known tools for communicating in the workplace. Why? Perhaps because it’s one of the few passive methods for internal communication.
If you feel that a large part of the organization’s information floating around is not being consumed by colleagues, then, at that point, digital screens can help. The flow of company updates can be increased by using a passive method of sharing information without adding another channel that the employee must actively check.
Depending on the information that employees require, screens can focus on a single piece of data or information or add a lot of ever-changing content. They can be managed by a single individual, a group, or the entire organization, and they are simple and inexpensive to update.
Project Management Tools
Tools for project management aid teams in project planning, monitoring, and execution. Employees can manage deadlines and keep track of their progress using these tools, which can be used for both small and large projects.
Job Boards
There used to be physical bulletin boards where open positions within companies were advertised. Through the Human Resources department, interested candidates would browse the postings and apply for an opening that interests them.
However, this process has now been simplified. Current employees can quickly and easily browse virtually through global job listings using modern internal communication software. They can also post job openings on social media and share them with qualified people in their network to fill them more quickly.
Social Employee Advocacy Tools
Adding a social employee advocacy tool will allow your employees to become online ambassadors and brand advocates. It demonstrates to your employees that you have faith in them to convey corporate messages and that they will project a positive image to the general public via social media.
Keep in mind that participation in the role of employee advocate for the business is entirely voluntary and that management does not have any influence over the content that employees post about the company. However, you will be able to provide your employees with instructions and guidelines if you make use of an internal advocacy tool.
File Sharing Tools
It is essential to be able to share files quickly and easily in a digital workplace. File-sharing platforms colleagues to share archives, photographs, videos, and different sorts of documents with one another. These tools can be used for information sharing or collaboration.
Knowledge Management
Nowadays, we are living in an age of information, where it’s critical to have the option to oversee and share company data while keeping a solitary wellspring of truth inside the organization. Tools for knowledge management help teams save time by organizing, storing, and sharing information.
Importance of Internal Communication Tools
Communication is essential in today’s workplace. Having the right tools set up can have a major effect on how well your team cooperates and how productively they can finish tasks.
You’ll probably have trouble coordinating work, keeping everyone on the same page, and simply getting your point across if you don’t use a tool for communication. At the point when correspondence is inadequate, it can prompt disappointment, time-wasting, and information overload.
Featured Image: Hubspot
