Forward-thinking organisations must continuously seek to improve communication between managers and employees. This should be a frictionless, two-way interaction between these parties in order to facilitate engaging and productive information sharing.   

This article explores why internal communication between management and employees is so important and how you can adjust your processes to improve the way that these stakeholders interact.  

The importance of effective communication between managers and employees 

More than half of communication professionals in research by Social Chorus think that employee alignment with organisational and strategic changes and prevention of misinformation is leadership’s top priority. 

In order to successfully deliver these messages, you must have strong internal communications channels in place. These lines of communication should not just dictate news from the top. Rather, it should engage and listen to staff members so they feel valued and heard in the workplace.   

Management can better steer the company forward if they understand what the situation is like on the ground. Employees deal with the current processes and procedures every day and so are best placed to stop potential problems and instigate innovative solutions. Only by listening as well as talking internally can management take advantage of this.  

Stacey Burke, writing for Forbes, extolls the virtues of employee engagement but warns that it is more difficult to achieve in the current environment, where working from home is ever more prevalent. Burke says: 

This is why all organisations must consider how best to improve this key element of internal communications.  

Before you start: Assess your current internal communication strategy 

Ahead of changing your strategy for internal comms, look at where you are with your current plan: 

How to improve communication between managers and employees 

Lead by example 

Management sets the tone for an organisation, so you should lead by example in terms of internal communications. Be seen to broadcast important information widely and encourage employees to respond and give feedback. This public endorsement of two-way conversations shows employees that you are serious about instilling internal comms best practices in the organisation.  

It is also important to maintain the dialogue and be seen to do so. It is not enough to welcome feedback. You also have to respond and act upon it. Even if you don’t agree with the suggestions that an employee makes, you must explain why and give clear business reasons. This type of engagement helps employees understand that you will take their points of view seriously.  

When leaders interact, employee trust is heightened.  

Promote transparency 

Sharing news and information, no matter whether it is positive or negative, is a part of the transparency that underlines a strong internal communications policy. It is very easy to share the good news, but it can be challenging to discuss the bad ones. 

However, rumours and doubts lead to uncertainty and a drop in morale, as employees worry about the events occurring within the company. By not communicating the negatives, you allow doubts to creep into the workplace, which can stifle productivity and lead to employees seeking opportunities elsewhere.  

You should foster an environment whereby employees know that they are kept in the loop, and that means that they will take even more pride in the positives because they know you are honest and transparent with them and that there is no spin being added to the news.  

Focus on company culture 

Transparency feeds into your company culture, which in turn informs the success or otherwise of internal communications. In a company with a culture of openness, communication flows more easily between all parties.  

By promoting this type of environment where everyone has a right to speak and where you value all opinions, you make all stakeholders more open to conversing and less afraid of being punished for escalating problems. This is also known as a “speak-up culture”, and it is invaluable for keeping channels open and being able to adjust processes and strategies in an agile manner.  

Maintain regular contact  

In a remote working environment, it is important to check in regularly with your team. You don’t want engagement between the parties to stop, but this is a real possibility unless you make an effort to touch base. This isn’t exclusively a remote issue, though, as large organisations sometimes find it a challenge in their physical workplaces, too.  

Sending a message, booking a weekly face-to-face meeting or contacting the team through any other means on occasion reminds them of the communication channels they can use. It keeps the conversation going so that employees understand what is expected of them and management knows what is happening on the ground.  

You should make sure you pass all the important news. In addition to this, regular contact could just be a simple message to ask if employees need anything to help them with their work, for example. 

Foster a team mentality 

The sense of belonging and of being valued within the group is one of the drivers of good, engaging communication. This is facilitated by fostering a team mentality amongst your employees. Here is what you can do to achieve this: 

• Celebrate your employees’ successes. When they achieve something inside or outside of work, share it on your avenues of communication. 
• Always deal with internal stakeholders in a respectful manner, both in terms of language and actions. 
• Mark personal occasions, such as birthdays and work anniversaries, with celebratory internal messages. 
• Organise a work retreat or day away. Spending time together will strengthen the bonds that make internal communication more effective and productive. 

Build a digital workplace 

Using digital tools to maintain contact between colleagues and management is an effective way to foster good internal communication in the physical office, the remote office or the hybrid workspace.  

Your digital communication outlets could come in any form; it could be an internal newsletter that you send around weekly or monthly, or it could be a digital workplace platform where all the relevant news and information is stored. 

Utilising webinars as an internal communication tool is also a great way to pass on updates and important information. You can organise meetings, training sessions and online events that both office-based and remote staff can attend whilst offering all participants the same experience and the same opportunity to ask questions and interact. You can also archive the proceedings for future reference or viewing.  

Company Webcast provides a professional, secure and engaging platform for internal comms. Using our innovative peer-to-peer technology, we mitigate the issues surrounding many employees maxing out your bandwidth to watch the same broadcast, allowing you to impart your message with no interruptions or IT headaches.  

FAQ 

What are the six qualities of good communicators? 

Good communicators share many traits in common. Here are the skills and qualities they usually possess: 

• Good communicators are honest. People appreciate being told the truth, even if it is challenging to hear. 
• They are proactive about communicating. 
• They ask good questions because communication is a two-way street. 
• They listen to not just the words but the meaning as well. 
• Concise language is another skill they possess. It is essential to keep the interest of the audience and put across the message clearly. 
• They are reliable and trustworthy. 

How should managers talk to employees? 

Managers should be open, honest and respectful in the way they talk to employees. This kind of communication is liable to elicit the most favourable response from an employee and means that they feel comfortable being honest and open in return.  

How can you improve poor communication skills? 

Listening to others helps you pick up on more effective communication skills, as does the process of asking questions. This way, you gain an understanding of how the other person communicates and can adjust your style accordingly to meet theirs. Fitting your communication style to your audience is key to delivering your message correctly.  

Conclusion 

Internal workplace communication is essential to team building and productivity. It helps you understand the challenges at play and their potential solutions. To improve communication between managers and employees, you should keep in constant contact with employees, encourage speaking up, lead by example, be open and explore solutions to communicate in a manner that best fits your team.  

With remote working being such an important part of life now, using video streaming to keep in touch with employees is an innovative solution to improving internal comms. Company Webcast provides professional webcasting capabilities that offer interactive features to keep your employees engaged with your messaging. You can request a free demo for your company today.  

References and further reading 

• What is a webinar? 
• The myth of webinar fatigue 
• Organising hybrid events 
• How Deutsche Telekom engaged 20,000 employees 
• Why AstraZeneca started using webcasts for internal comms 

Internal communication is all about engaging employees and developing the bond that inspires your team to help you reach your goals. Disengaged employees can prevent this from happening, and that is why we have collected together these examples of good internal communications. We hope they will help you develop your own winning strategy.

Gallup found that 85% of employees are either not engaged or are actively disengaged in the workplace. The company estimates this could cost companies around the world a total of €6.9 trillion.

Much of this disengagement comes as a result of a lack of communication — nearly three quarters of employees feel that they miss out on important company news and updates, and 79% of internal communications teams admit they don’t think employees understand why senior management makes the decisions it does.

Regular lines of communication within an organisation make employees feel like they are an essential part of the company and inspire them to want to succeed for their team.

What is good internal communication?

Good internal communication involves the following factors:

Examples of good internal communications

Here are some internal communication examples to inspire your next campaign.

AstraZeneca

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca uses webinars to effectively and efficiently communicate with its employees around the world. They use the self-service solution from Company Webcast, upgrading their previous email channel for a more immersive and engaging experience.

The power of video over text for engagement cannot be overestimated. About 90% of the total information transmitted to your brain is visual. In addition, your brain can process visuals 60,000 times faster than it can text.

One of the other benefits of a webinar for a global operation is that employees in other timezones can catch up on the recording on demand when it is convenient for them. This increases the reach of the webinar for a company like AstraZeneca.

Another example of internal communications used by AstraZeneca was the Return to Growth video that brought together mobile phone footage created by employees to highlight the company’s new strategic direction.

Starbucks

The international coffee chain Starbucks uses social media to create a community for its employees, or partners as it refers to them. The firm encourages staff to share stories and pictures to its Twitter and Instagram accounts, helping this disparate group find connections and commonalities despite their only connection being that they work for the same business.

This adds to the sense of belonging for employees and makes them feel more loyal towards the organisation. In turn, such an approach can improve performance and reduce turnover, as staff are happy in their work.

Deutsche Telekom

As a fast-growing telecommunications company in which technology is always advancing, Deutsche Telekom needed a way to stay in contact with its 20,000 employees and keep them in the loop.

After a thorough selection process, the company opted for Company Webcast to provide the platform for it to stage up to 100 webcasts, interactive webinars and live streamed internal communications events per year.

The solution also includes peer-to-peer technology which allows for smooth streaming, even when a large proportion of employees are all watching a webinar at the same time. This is crucial to deliver the message to the largest possible audience in the clearest and most effective manner.

Stagecoach

Transportation firm Stagecoach created an employee experience app for its 20,000 bus, coach and tram drivers and engineers, as well as its 2,000 office staff. The company uses the application, accessible by both mobile and desktop, to distribute updates as well as for two-way communication with employees and networking between peers. Staff can also find company policies and training resources in the digital workspace.

The app has won awards for its innovation and the engagement that it facilitates. The company reports that 91% of staff are active users and 96% of users still interact with the app four weeks after downloading it.

DSM

Health and nutrition company DSM uses webinars to inform its 16,000 employees about the latest business information and to consult them on issues related to the company.

The live and interactive nature of a webinar creates an engaging experience for workers and shows them that the company values their point of view on campaigns and matters of strategy.

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains became concerned its comms were rooted in an old fashioned top-down, dictatorial fashion. To ensure healthy two-way interactions, it introduced a system to underpin all internal communications conversations as part of its company culture. They should involve five Super-Skills, which are:

• Voicing – speaking out with courage and conviction
• Decoding – Drawing out what the other person is really saying
• Presence – Maintaining undivided attention
• Flow control – Managing the beginning, middle and end of conversations
• Hyper-awareness – Acute self-awareness of biases, beliefs and emotional triggers

By running each interaction through these filters, Virgin Trains has increased the quality and impact of its internal communications.

Heineken

As Europe’s biggest brewer and the third largest in the world, Heineken faces a challenge to be able to engage its office-based workforce and remote workers across 192 countries.

Its solution is to use webinars for presentations of the market-editing plans, global forum meetings, Heineken brand global platform communications and global company broadcasts.

The main benefits of this approach include the ability to interact with colleagues across the globe, building relationships with them and reaching the largest number of employees possible at the same time; something impossible to achieve in person.

The company ensures that it includes a Q&A session in each webinar, offering workers the opportunity to provide real-time feedback.

Heineken reports that webinars contribute to the involvement, enthusiasm for campaigns and clarity about strategy and execution. They also reduce the time window that is needed to achieve results and provide one voice and one message.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola runs an employee-made podcast as part of its internal comms efforts. The show, called Total Refresh, sees the hosts Katherine Cherry and Jamal Booker, who work for the company, interview senior leaders about relevant topics.

The company found that the leaders interviewed would be candid and honest about the topics up for discussion in the podcast, showing a more human side of management to employees and making them more relatable.

KLM

Dutch national airline KLM has always sought to create a family feeling for its 30,000-strong workforce. Webinars are the solution of choice for the company, allowing for an interactive relationship between the company, its CEO and its staff.

Since introducing webinars, which it streams from its headquarters, the company has found that employees reacted positively to having more access to board members. They also feel they can participate in the running of the organisation more effectively and they have more trust in the CEO of the business.

Internal Communication via Webinars

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Tips for better internal communications

Establish an open-door policy

An open-door policy can also refer to virtual doors. If management makes it clear that it values all communication and feedback from employees, your internal communication strategy will be richer for it. You will receive honest, but invaluable feedback, from your workforce that you can use to finetune the way your business operates.

Make your company digital workspace fun to use

If you have a digital workspace to gather all of your important documents, policies and internal chat functions, it doesn’t have to be dull and corporate. As it is not an externally facing facility, you can have a bit of fun with it and make sure it is somewhere that employees enjoy visiting.

Use video

We ignore up to 65% of the emails in our inbox, meaning that we need to look for something more engaging for internal communications. When it comes to video, 72% of people say they prefer it as a medium for learning new information. This is why video should be a key element of your internal comms.

Encourage knowledge sharing

Knowledge sharing brings your employees out of their silos and adds to the wider conversation within the organisation that you want to encourage as part of your internal comms.

Encourage your workforce to bring their experiences, issues and solutions to the table and get departments talking between themselves.

FAQs

How important is internal communication for employee motivation?

Internal communications done well can boost motivation, as it makes employees feel involved in the organisation’s decision making and that their voice is valued. When employees feel that they have a say in the workings of the business then they are more connected to it and motivated to make it a success.

Do you need an internal communication plan?

You should have an internal communication strategy to ensure that you are using the correct channels and disseminating all of the information you need in the most effective manner. Internal communications plans also help you monitor your progress and adjust your approach to make it more effective.

What is the role of leadership in internal communication?

Leaders should engage in your internal communication efforts as their presence represents the importance that the company affords to engaging employees. If leaders do not take part, it can seem pointless for staff to join in because they won’t be heard by the people who can drive change.

Conclusion

These examples of good internal communications show you how organisations are embracing engagement with their employees in order to help them meet their business goals. Using channels that encourage employees to interact and take part is key to effective communication and making them feel part of the company.

Company Webcast’s webinar and webcasting solution allows you to create live events that anyone can attend, whether they are office-based or remote workers. Participants can ask questions, take part in polls and chat with other attendees. Anyone who misses the event can catch up on demand. To find out how you can use Company Webcast’s platform for your internal comms, request a free demo today.

References and further reading

• What is a webinar?
• Internal brand engagement
• Essential types of internal engagement
• Why webinar fatigue is a myth
• Effective internal communication channels

Increased awareness of the climate crisis has led to a boost in the levels of responsible investing since the 2016 Paris Agreement. With a combination of evermore desperate news about the rise in world temperatures and the increase in shareholder funds flowing towards environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related assets – expected to hit US$53 trillion (€48.8 trillion) by 2025 – it is no surprise that companies are interested in promoting sustainability in the workplace.

However, both internal and external stakeholders demand authenticity when it comes to the environmental programmes of businesses. Accusations of greenwashing – erroneously branding something environmentally friendly when it isn’t – can be damaging for a company, so you have to commit to sustainability in everything you do.

This means getting your own house in order, so to speak, and creating an environmentally conscious workplace. This article explains why and how to go about creating a sustainable workplace.

Why engage employees in sustainability?

When you try to build a company culture, you need buy-in from all parties, starting with senior leadership and moving on to all other employees in the organisation. This does not happen by dictating how internal stakeholders will behave but rather by engaging with them and winning over their hearts and minds.

If you want people to adopt environmentally friendly practices in the workplace, they need to understand what they need to do and why they need to do it. They must believe in the vision that the organisation has and want to work to fashion it into reality.

Staff engagement on sustainability involves a two-way conversation about the best ways your company can cut out damaging practices and integrate sustainability into the working day seamlessly. If employees help shape the policies, they will be more willing to implement them and work at them until they become successful.

Instil a green(er) culture

Company culture is key to driving positive changes, so the first step to promoting sustainability is to promote a green culture within the organisation. Here are some ways to achieve this goal:

Update your mission statement

Your mission statement holds your business responsible for delivering on its promises, so creating a sustainability statement is essential to show you are serious about green issues.

Be clear and concise in your statement, explaining why sustainability matters to your business, what you want to accomplish and what your success criteria will be. It should appeal to all staff and provide them with a rallying call to help the business meet its aims.

Update your company newsletter

Your company newsletter is one of your biggest internal communications channels and should be utilised to update employees on your sustainability push. Showing staff what you want to achieve and documenting your efforts to make a real change helps them to understand your policies more clearly and see that you are serious about your targets.

Sharing your goals and results can inspire employees to set up their own green working practices and provide recognition for those who are already doing their part.

Run employee awareness campaigns

It must be clear to employees how they can improve their sustainable working practices before your strategy can bear fruit. This means running campaigns to raise awareness of what practical steps they can take. For example:

Source ideas from employees

Your employees are a great pool of ideas. With so many experiences combined, asking them to share ideas for green activities to increase your sustainability should generate a large number of suggestions.

In addition, having been engaged in the process, they will feel valued and have one more reason to get behind the green strategy that you intend to implement.

Host sustainability workshops

Sending emails and other written communications about your sustainability plans is a good start, but some people are kinaesthetic learners and need to engage in practical activities to really take them on board.

A workshop environment can really bring to life the strategies that you want to put in place and help your employees understand how they benefit them and the world in general.

7 key strategies for promoting sustainability in the workplace

1. Encourage remote and hybrid work

Researchers in Spain have found that implementing remote working for two, three or four days a week can cut the amount of Nitrogen Dioxide polluting the air by 4%, 8% and 10% respectively. Nitrogen Dioxide can irritate the eyes, nose, throat and lungs and worse — areas with particularly high levels of NO2 report increases in cases of asthma and more people requiring hospital stays for respiratory complaints.

By encouraging employees to work from home full time or on a hybrid basis, you can help to improve the air quality in your local area. And it is not only beneficial to have employees dialling in to complete their regular work; there are many areas of the business which you can take online in order to cut your environmental impact. Here are some examples:

2. Go paperless

Paperless technologies are becoming ever more effective for organisations, allowing them to cut their carbon footprint. Taking advantage of programs like Google Workspace, on which you can collaborate in the cloud, means that it is entirely feasible for organisations to cut down on their use of paper, and even eradicate it completely.

And, for the environment, that is great news. It takes a lot of energy and water to produce paper, not to mention the problems that deforestation brings. The World Counts states that “from 2001 to 2019, a total of 386 million hectares of forest were lost globally (in all forest types combined). This loss represents an almost 10% decrease in tree cover since 2000”. In addition, paper accounts for around 26% of total waste at landfills. Still, offices across the world are using trillions of sheets every year.

This is not necessary. With all of the digital tools at our disposal, it is easy to at least reduce the amount of paper that your organisation uses.

3. Conserve energy

In large companies, it is common to waste energy. Employees might leave their computers on overnight, for example. Simply shutting them down at the end of the day, rather than leaving them on standby, could save a significant amount of energy when you consider implementing this policy across a large business.

Other ways to save energy in the office include turning down the thermostat or reducing the power of the air conditioning, depending on the season. As long as the room temperature is still comfortable, even slight adjustments can conserve energy and lessen your impact on the environment.

4. Conserve water

Water is a precious resource and we should ensure we do not waste it unnecessarily. With the effects of climate change becoming ever more pronounced, we must guard against droughts and ensure we use the resources that we have wisely.

In an office, you could install waterless urinals and encourage employees to fill a sink when washing up in the kitchen, rather than keeping the taps running as they wash. You can also check for leaks in the plumbing of the building and collect rainwater to water any green areas you have and more.

5. Encourage sustainable transportation

The European Environment Agency states that “transport…leads to releases of pollutants, which can spread beyond the reach of transport networks. They can contribute to background concentrations of particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide, affecting people, plants and animals. Some areas, including mountainous regions, coastal zones and seas, can be particularly vulnerable to pollution from transport.”

Cutting down on the amount of travelling your employees do for work, particularly by car or aeroplane, is important for your sustainability. You could encourage car sharing for employees commuting to the office or incentivise cycling or walking to work.

Another way to cut down on the impact of transportation relating to your business is to encourage remote or hybrid practices. Taking meetings online, rather than travelling to attend them, is a much more sustainable way of working. For example, using Company Webcast’s professional webinar platform to host events, such as all-hands meetings and training sessions, is a way to eradicate unnecessary travel.

6. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

An environmental mindset is key to becoming more sustainable, and advocating Reduce, Reuse, Recycle as a mantra is part of this.

You should have intuitive recycling processes on-site so that recyclable materials go to recycling plants, not to landfills. Encouraging employees to use only what they need, whether that is water for hot drinks or electricity when charging devices is also important, as is reusing materials and resources when there is still life in them, rather than throwing them away.

7. Become involved in the community

Your quest for sustainability does not need to end at the lobby of your building. You can show your commitment to the environment by getting out into the local community and becoming involved with environmental projects on your doorstep.

You could plant trees, clean up the local river or parkland, go litter picking or do any other activity that makes your community a better place and helps protect the environment for other people.

8. Light it up with humour

Using humour can be effective in maintaining the thrall of the audience. Laughter is one of the universals in life, as it is a release and a communal experience. It improves the mood and keeps you engaged with the person delivering the humour. These are all great qualities if you want to combat webinar fatigue and increase audience engagement.
A well-placed and pitched joke here and there certainly adds to the experience for the audience, but you do need to be careful. The jokes you use must be appropriate for the audience in terms of their age, background and beliefs. If you are trying to sell products or promote your business, you don’t want to risk alienating those in attendance.
Similarly, you should remember that your brand can come across as jovial, but must never be the butt of the joke. British businessman Gerald Ratner discovered this to his peril in 1991 when he jokingly told a conference of the Institute of Directors that his jewellery company’s products were “total crap”. Ratners Group lost £500 million from its value following the fallout of the speech.

Why sustainability in the office is the future

Your external and internal stakeholders are more invested in sustainability than ever before, and that will only increase with the next generation. This is not a fleeting trend that will go away; it is here to stay, and the only way to future-proof your business is to embrace it.

Not only is it the right thing to do when the data shows that the environment needs our help like never before, but it is essential for your business reputation, too. Consumers and investors have shown they are more inclined to think fondly of sustainable organisations than those that do not have environmental policies in place.

In addition, the cost savings from cutting down on transport and reducing your energy consumption can add up to a significant amount. With these powerful arguments in favour of sustainability, now is the time to engage your employees and empower them to do the right thing.

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FAQs

Do employees prefer sustainable companies?

77% of workers would like their company to be more sustainable, according to the 2021 Corporate Climate Crisis report from PLAY. Companies must take sustainability seriously in order to placate not only investors and customers but also employees.

Should you set sustainability targets for employees?

Implementing sustainability targets can add some clarity to the role that employees play in helping a business be more environmentally friendly. However, good internal communications for spreading the word of the organisation’s green policies also helps to this end, meaning that targets are only part of the answer.

Conclusion

Encouraging sustainability in the workplace requires engagement with employees and good internal communication. It is a two-way street that involves canvassing opinions and then working with employees to develop systems and strategies that will have an impact on the way you look after the environment.

Taking meetings and training sessions online or in a hybrid format is a key element of this. You can achieve this with Company Webcast’s secure, professional webcasting platform. You can try a free demo of Company Webcast now.

References and Further Reading

• How to find the most efficient internal communications channels
• How to upgrade your internal communications strategy
• How to deal with investors’ increased interest in ESG
• Why your organisation’s ESG rating is increasingly important
• How sustainability is linked to strategic management

McKinsey found that teams who are better connected can be up to 25% more productive. In addition, 80% of workers in a survey by Lexicon admitted that employee communications are a key factor in them developing trust in their employers. These and many other studies show why knowing how to choose appropriate channels for workplace communication is essential for teams.

Considering that 60% of companies do not have a long-term strategy for internal communications, creating one can help you gain a competitive edge from the increase in productivity and employee retention rates that come with it. Keep reading to find out about the best communication channels for businesses.

What are communication channels in the workplace?

Communication channels in the workplace are used to pass on important news and information from business leaders to team members. This keeps everyone in the loop with the latest developments, issues, opportunities and more.

These channels form part of your internal communications strategy. Effective internal connectivity has never been more important than now. When you consider the sheer numbers of employees that began remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic and may never return to the office, you can see that there is a risk of silos forming where some departments have no idea what other departments are up to. Internal comms help to prevent that from happening.

The most common internal communication channels

Intranets

An intranet is like a website that is based on an internal network so that only employees of an organisation can access it. It is used to distribute secure communications within the business and as learning resources.

Emails and company newsletters

Companies can distribute information internally using regular company emails. This might include a round-up of important information, sent in a monthly newsletter, for example.

Project management tools

Apps such as Monday, Asana, Height and Trello are collaborative tools for managing projects but you can also use them for internal communication. You can employ these platforms to distribute tasks to team members, provide essential information and track the progress at the different settings.

Private messaging software

Using software like WhatsApp or Slack enables you to send private messages to individuals or groups of colleagues. Each project or department can have its own channel or group for more specific information, with larger groups for the company as a whole.

Document sharing software

Document sharing is also part of internal communications because it enables you to share important documents such as a company handbook or compliance policy. While it’s easy to share large files and documents between co-workers using apps such as Dropbox or WeTransfer, a cloud-based solution will ensure that everyone has the latest version. For example, if you want to enable directors to share important documents during virtual or hybrid board meetings, you can utilise a board portal such as iBabs.

Video conferencing software

Broadcasting internal video conferences is an effective way to impart information and company updates to staff. You can take traditional company town hall meetings online, for example, allowing remote workers to attend.

Employees can watch video conferencing live, wherever they are. This helps include those who work remotely, those who are travelling for work and those who are uncomfortable with attending large gatherings. In addition, anyone who misses the meeting when it happens can catch up later on-demand. This is also a useful archived resource for reference in the future.

Internal podcasts

Some companies share internal communication podcasts with team members, using them as a way of updating information and sharing other relevant content.

Internal company blogs

Having employees share their thoughts on various important topics related to the company’s business on an internal blog keeps everyone informed and provides opportunities for collaboration.

Employee feedback software

When employers want to gather information on the thoughts and opinions of their employees, using feedback forms and surveys is a great way of performing the task in a digital manner.

Internal social media

Enterprise social media platforms such as Meta Workplace and Yammer bring the convenience of public social interaction to businesses.

Workplace communication channels: Comparison table

How to choose the right communication channel

1. Understand your team

The right communication channel is the one that suits your team, how they work and what you want to communicate with them, so you should first consider your prevailing company culture. Implementing a channel that is far removed from what your employees are used to could lead to friction from those who are change-averse.

2. Consider your message

If you merely want to improve your workflow, a project management tool is right for you, but for instant collaboration, you will need to pair it with a document sharing app. You may want to pick different channels for different purposes. For example, there may be one channel for company updates and another for collaborative purposes.

3. Consider the type of communication

Different types of communication are suitable for different situations. Studies show that we remember 10% of what we hear, 20% of what we read and 80% of what we see. This makes video communication particularly effective. However, audio is preferable for employees who spend their time on the road, so it is worth considering how your team works and lives when deciding how best to communicate with them.

4. Take a look at your budget

Money is always an important factor in any business decision. This will play a part in your decision-making over your internal comms strategy. Using a WhatsApp group, for example, is free for instant messages, whereas putting together your own professional-sounding podcast can come with a bill that you might not be willing to pay.

Tips for effective workplace or team communication

Have more than one channel for communication

It is unlikely that any single workplace communication channel will serve all of your needs, so be prepared to implement two or more into your strategy. You might choose to use video conferencing for major company meetings and a company newsletter for weekly updates.

Assign someone to be in charge of each communication channel

Your communication channels require management to make sure they continue to serve a purpose. You may need a moderator for internal social media or to make sure your business WhatsApp doesn’t descend into a non-business related chat thread, for instance.

Document your communication plan

Whichever types of communications channels you choose, you should create a plan for how they should (and shouldn’t) be used, how they will be maintained and what their purpose is. Otherwise, they will not be as effective and team members could be confused about where they should go to find vital information.

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FAQs

What’s the most effective communication channel?

The most effective communication channel is that which fits your team and style the best. This will be different for every company and depends on what you want to communicate and what you want to achieve with that information. For your business, it could be conference calls or it could be some other form of digital communication.

How do you manage internal communication channels?

The first step in managing your communication channels is to choose those channels that best fit your organisation. If you try to use all channels, you can end up not being able to keep on top of all communications and some will be updated more regularly than others, causing confusion. This can also lead to information overload for employees who don’t know which channels they should monitor most closely.

Once you have selected your channels, you must remain in control over them and not let them become full of unnecessary information that makes it more difficult for users to receive the most important updates. Nearly 35% of employees say the reason their company’s internal comms are ineffective is that important information gets buried.

Remember to check in with colleagues as part of monitoring your policy to understand how effective your channels are and how you can improve your processes.

What are the preferred channels for remote workers?

Remote teams thrive on tools such as Slack and Google Docs. These allow for collaboration and discussion even when teams are based in disparate locations. For boards that work remotely, iBabs is a board portal that allows for a consistent experience when conducting remote or hybrid board meetings. Video conferencing solutions such as Company Webcast help keep your remote team together through online events such as virtual town hall meetings, enabling them to watch a catch-up version of the meeting if they cannot attend live.

Conclusion

Your choice of communication channel will be dictated by the type, size, budget and culture of your organisation. By reading this article, and comparing the pros and cons of each type, we hope it will be easier for you to choose appropriate channels for workplace communication in your business.

Successful businesses formulate communication strategies that take into account what they want from their internal comms. They then choose the best-fit channels for their aspirations. If you decide to employ professional video conferencing, Company Webcast can help. We deliver thousands of high quality, secure and informative webinars every year for some of the biggest companies in the world. Request a demo for your business today.

References and Further Reading

• Organise hybrid events
• About Company Webcast
• Institute of Internal Communications
• How to use social media for business
• Internal podcasts

The workforce has never been more disparate. Flexible schedules and remote working were already becoming important to employees before spring 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic supercharged the move towards them becoming the norm.  

Many workers will never return to the office full-time and, whilst that might make them happier in their employment, it leaves companies with the tricky task of keeping them engaged, informed and focused. If you are looking for effective ways to reach your remote workers, the types of internal communication and examples in this article will help you cultivate a winning strategy.   

There are many perils of poor internal communication. For example:   

• 74% of employees feel they miss out on company news and information, according to Gallup. 
• 72% of employees say they do not fully understand their company’s strategy, claims an IBM report.

Simply by communicating more effectively, you can ensure all employees are focused on the right targets, that they feel part of the business and that they understand why management makes the decisions that it does. This cuts suspicion and rumour and adds a level of transparency that breeds mutual respect between employee and employer.   

The 6 essential types of internal communication (with examples)  

Employers must implement a number of different types of internal communication in order to create a rounded strategy that cultivates the maximum benefit for the business. Here are the essential types of communication you need:  

1. Leadership-down communication 

This is the very basis of much of your internal communication efforts. As seen in the statistics above, if there is no communication from leadership down the chain, employees will simply not know what is happening in the organisation or what the strategy is for meeting company goals.   

Information should flow from leaders to employees to keep everyone in the loop. Writing about a time when he was developing a new product with a small team, Jason Fried, CEO of project management platform Basecamp, explains that many workers not involved in the project were confused about the snippets of information that they had gleaned. He said,  

“It’s easy to forget, as a leader, that when employees don’t get the wide view, not only does the point of their work escape them, but it can also lead to real frustration. It’s hard to feel pride and ownership when you don’t understand where things are going.” 

Examples of leadership-down communication: 

2. Employee-up communication 

Just as it is important that employees receive the latest information from top-level managers, leaders also need to hear feedback from employees. Whether it is listening to challenges with the current systems or the results of collaborative efforts of departments, bottom-up communication, or upward communication, can help find solutions and develop new processes that benefit the business.  

The experiences of those who work “on the ground” are valuable to the company, because they are best placed to understand what is working and what needs improving. They deal with these systems on a day-to-day basis in a way that leadership might not. This is why management should encourage a culture of employee-up communication.  

Examples of employee-up communication: 

3. Peer-to-peer communication 

Encouraging discussion between colleagues is an excellent way to enable collaboration. If there are open lines of dialogue across the company, often called lateral communication, then issues can be discussed and solved more quickly. This type of communication pools the resources and accumulated experience of your workforce for the good of the organisation.   

This fosters a camaraderie and team mentality that is beneficial for morale. In turn, it can lead to an increase in productivity and improved job satisfaction. Moreover, when departments talk freely, it is easier to keep projects on track, as everyone understands where the others are in the process; there are fewer stumbling blocks and unwelcome surprises along the road.  

Examples of peer-to-peer communication: 

4. Information communication 

Information communication is the distribution of documents that an employee might need to access during their working life. There should be a repository for these important company policies and practices that employees can utilise whether they work from the office or dial in remotely.  

Examples of information communication: 

5. Culture communication 

Peter Ashworth, chief marketing officer of Humanity One, says “a strong organisational culture can clearly differentiate a business from its competitors in the mind of its stakeholders”. The way to instil this culture is to ensure that it is communicated freely throughout the business.   

Research shows there is a clear connection between company culture and financial performance, so make sure that all employees have access to all relevant information.  

Examples of culture communication:  

6. Crisis communication 

The other types of internal communication revolve around collating information to provide an update or providing a space to find existing resources. Crisis communication relies on informing as many colleagues as possible as soon as possible, and it is a crucial part of your internal communications strategy. You must have processes, strategies and systems in place to allow you to communicate effectively during a crisis and make sure everyone knows how to react and what to do next.   

Agility in responding to critical events can be the difference between being able to navigate the situation with minimal damage and struggling to compete.   

Examples of crisis communication: 

Building an internal communication strategy 

• Review your old strategy and understand what works and what needs improvement. 
• Keep the working elements and consider how to make them even more effective. For example, you might hold company town hall meetings in person, but you could also increase attendance and engagement by webcasting them. 
• Identify which key metrics you want to measure and monitor them to understand whether your strategy is a success. You might want to increase employee engagement or employee satisfaction, for example. These are measurable and will tell you whether your strategy is moving in the right direction. 
• Provide your team with the tools they need to succeed. This might be a project management tool, such as Monday, or it could be access to a professional platform for internal webinars, such as Company Webcast. 
• Evaluate and improve. This will lead to increasingly effective communication.

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FAQs  

What makes great internal communication? 

Great internal communication features initiatives and platforms that enable the company to reach and engage as many employees as possible. It makes them feel involved in and valued by the company, knowing that they are in the loop with all the information they need. 

Who should own internal communications?

You may have an internal communications team to organise the logistics of your strategy, but managers hold a key role, too. Managers have the most direct impact on your workforce of any figure in the company, and that means that filtering your internal comms strategy through to your employees should be their responsibility.  

However, everyone in the organisation has a role to play, as both downward communication and upward communication are important to making the whole system work. Employee engagement works in both directions.  

What are the best internal communication channels? 

It’s difficult to pick just a few, but video has a lot of unrealised potential, as it is hugely effective for internal communications. Studies show that 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed much more quickly than the written word in an email, for example. It is also more engaging, with viewers retaining 95% of the information relayed by a video.   

Conclusion 

With no likelihood of ever having 100% of your staff on site at any one time, we have to embrace remote and hybrid working. Although this provides challenges in communicating the same message to all employees at the same time, it is possible to achieve. We hope the above types of internal communication and the examples help you get a better idea of what you can implement in your organisation.  

Technology allows us to send messages instantly, dial into servers remotely and communicate via video, too. This requires an upgrade to previous methods of internal communication, but the companies that embrace this remote and hybrid approach to business communication will reap the benefits.   

One way to increase the impact of your internal communication in a world of remote and hybrid work is to employ webcasts and webinars.  

As a market leader with more than 10,000 webinars and webcasts organised every year, Company Webcast can help you provide next-level experiences for your employees. Get a free demo of Company Webcast.  

References and Further Reading 

• Reasons to improve internal communications 
• Benefits of hybrid events 
• Video conference presenting tips 
• AstraZeneca’s internal comms 
• Heineken’s internal comms  

A company town hall meeting is the perfect opportunity for organisations to engage with their employees. Also called all-staff meetings or all-hands meetings, these events have historically focused on one-way communication — from management to staff. However, things have changed. The best and most effective town halls consist of a collaborative dialogue to help create a shared set of goals for all employees. 

According to a Forbes study, 74% of employees say they are more effective at their job when they feel heard. The company town hall is one important place to make that happen.  

Engaging employees in more and better ways is increasingly important. This is especially true in Europe where polling company Gallup reported that employee engagement rates have stagnated. At the same time, they are continuing to rise in the US.  

Another factor is the remote office. The percentage of workers in Europe working from home has increased from 5% to 12% since the COVID pandemic hit, presenting additional challenges to organisations that are looking to engage with workers. This is where the virtual company town hall meeting comes in.  

What exactly is a virtual company town hall meeting? 

A virtual company town hall meeting is an online variant of the traditional in-person event. This could be a fully virtual meeting where all participants join on their various devices. Alternatively, it may be a hybrid event where some people attend live and others take part remotely.  

The meeting usually involves the entire company. It is an opportunity to update staff on the most recent developments as well as to ensure everyone is aligned with the overall mission and goals of the business. The company town hall is also a chance for employees to connect with management and clarify any areas of concern.  

A virtual town hall takes place using video conferencing or webcasting technology, such as Company Webcast.  

Why should I host my town hall meeting online? 

There are a number of reasons to hold your town hall online. 

• Remote working is an ever more common practice and a virtual event makes it easier for those working from home to attend the meeting. Even before the pandemic, working from home was becoming more of a regular occurrence. A virtual town hall simply reflects this change in the way we work.  
• Similarly, flexible working arrangements mean that not everyone is on-site at the same time or able to be physically present at the meeting venue when the event is scheduled. For example, if you hold your town hall at 9am, this makes it difficult for parents who begin their working day later to make the physical meeting after the school run. However, it is likely that they will be able to drop their kids off and then return home in time to join the virtual version.  
• You might also have employees that work in various locations. Rather than take up their time by asking them to attend the event in person and spend money on travel and accommodation, you enable them to dial in from their home or office to take part. This is a more efficient use of their time, saves the company funds and is better for the environment, too.  

Virtual vs hybrid town hall meeting 

Here is a comparison between fully virtual and hybrid town hall meetings: 

Both types of online company meetings offer the benefit that the meeting can still continue even if there are adverse weather conditions. They would also be minimally affected by incidents such as roadworks and accidents that could significantly delay an in-person town hall.  

Another benefit of both fully virtual and hybrid events is that you have a recording of the meeting to keep and make available on your employee intranet for anyone who couldn’t attend or for staff to rewatch if they wish to.  

How do I plan a virtual town hall meeting? 

• Choose your platform

The platform you use is important to the success of your virtual town hall. It should be stable and secure as well as able to take a large amount of traffic, particularly if you work for a multinational business. You should look for a tool that is specifically created for these sorts of events, rather than a simple video conferencing solution. You need access to the specialist technology that enables you to stream large-scale events.  

It should also be as simple as possible for users to join. 

If you are currently considering solutions for your online town hall meeting, we invite you to try Company Webcast. The platform has created smooth, professional webcasts for more than 15 years and is ISO certified (27001), meaning that it can keep your sensitive information secure. You can take polls and ask questions. Your attendees will enjoy a simple user experience with easy sign-up, invite and log-in procedures.  

• Define the objective of the meeting

Every town hall meeting has to have an objective — a reason for taking place and an area of the organisation’s work to concentrate on. This could be a major business development such as discussing sales figures or the details employees need to know about a new product launch. It could also be to foster trust within the business or to provide motivation.  

The objective helps you plan the right agenda, decide on the speakers and work out whether you need any breakout sessions or exercises, for example.  

• Set a fixed date

You should fix a date for the town hall as soon as you can to give people as much notice as possible. When plotting the time and day, you should take into consideration the availability of your staff. This could involve thinking about different time zones as well as employees who might work in countries where the workweek is different from where you are based. But it might also include not holding the meeting too early or late in the working day so that you don’t exclude flexible workers.  

• Build a clearly structured agenda

Once you know the date of the event, you can build the meeting agenda whilst bearing in mind the objective. This helps you choose the speakers and plan the presentations in a way that keeps the interest of the attendees and also delivers the information you need to impart.  

Ensure that you don’t devote too much time to one particular area as you need to keep people engaged. There is also the danger of trying to fit too much in. Instead, choose two or three crucial areas that relate to the objective and concentrate on them. The topics you cover must add value to the employees. Otherwise, they could become distracted and stop listening.  

• Send out meeting invites

With the date and agenda settled, it is time to invite your staff. Include the agenda so they know what to expect and lay out the details of how the event will run on the day. This should explain how the live stream will work, what will be expected of the participants during the meeting and when they will have a chance to contribute. Also, note down the technical requirements for joining the meeting as well as details on who to contact in case of issues.  

• Prepare your presentation

Presentations should be as engaging as possible, so it’s best to think beyond slides. Try to include visuals such as images and video, audio and other elements to capture the audience’s attention. Keep it simple and provide new information that staff need to hear. Returning to old topics that employees already understand can prove a turn-off in situations like this.  

You could even ask employees in advance about what they would like to hear regarding the topics on which you will be talking. This will enable you to prepare the content that is likely to be of most value on the day.  

Once you have your presentation complete, you should make sure you practise it as much as possible to ensure it runs smoothly on the day.  

Tips for holding your company’s town hall meeting online 

Keep the opening short and use icebreakers 

To give the meeting some momentum, the opening should be short and interactive. There is no point in spending a lot of time telling people what is going to happen. First, they know because they have already seen the agenda and, second, they are about to hear the speakers anyway. If people are watching from home, there are many distractions that can seem more attractive when the stream is not offering them any value. 

It is more useful to settle people in with some interactive icebreakers. This could be a poll, a fun question or a story related to the point you want to make. Such an opening immediately grabs attention and engages people. 

Celebrate the company 

You want to foster an atmosphere of togetherness and community with your assembled staff, so celebrate their achievements and wins. Mention the successes of individuals or teams. Highlight milestones that staff members have hit. Talk about the business results and show that you appreciate everyone’s hard work for the cause.  

Team spirit is key and this is your opportunity to help develop that. Forbes found that  employees who acted collaboratively stuck at their tasks 64% longer than their solitary peers. These employees also reported higher engagement levels, lower fatigue levels and higher success rates. 

Give employees a voice 

Your virtual company town hall should offer the chance for a discussion on topics that matter to employees. That’s why we recommend dedicating time to a live Q&A session. It is certainly handy to invite questions in advance because it gives management an idea of what might come up and helps them prepare, but you should also allow staff to ask questions live as a marker of the company’s dedication to transparency, openness and honesty.  

Give department leaders a chance to speak 

Leaving the entire event to be hosted by the CEO can be seen as only offering a narrow view of the company. Team members want to see their departments’ leaders talking on their behalf. Allowing your top-level managers to take part in planning the agenda and announcing their news makes for a more inclusive experience.  

Choose the right frequency of virtual town hall meetings 

The frequency of your virtual town halls depends on the nature of your business. Some companies hold them once a quarter, others once a month. If you do them too often, people will be less likely to attend as they can become run-of-the-mill. However, have them too infrequently and you lose momentum with the sense of community that a virtual town hall can foster.

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Conclusion 

As more of modern life goes online, elements of working life like the company town hall meeting begin to change. Going online makes sense to fit in with the way we work and play today, offering the chance to staff members who live further afield and don’t visit the workplace to take part and feel like a valued member of the team. It also brings teams together across different territories and fits in with flexible workers. However, it is essential that you choose the correct platform for your needs.  

Company Webcast is experienced in delivering seamless online events, with innovative peer-to-peer technology ensuring everyone attending receives a quality experience. Contact us here to learn more. 

References and further reading 

• Hybrid events 
• What is a webcast? 
• Internal communication webinar solutions 
• Forbes on employee engagement  
• Employee engagement in Europe