Good internal communication is vital for a successful business. Excellent communication can promote increased productivity, encourage collaboration, reduce conflict, and make your business more effective overall. While improved internal communication can improve your business, it can also improve the health and happiness of your staff.
Despite the benefits of good communication, unfortunately many companies still don’t put internal communication improvements at the top of their list of priorities. However, if you’re ready to introduce better communication practices into your business, there are a number of simple steps you can take to start improving your internal communications today.
1. Be open to feedback
Communication is a two-way street. Traditionally, employers have told their employees what to do and how to do it. But nowadays, many modern businesses are taking a new stance, and giving all employees the chance to be heard.
Use surveys to gain an insight into how your workforce thinks and feels. People often feel they can be more open and honest when their opinions are anonymous.
Opening up channels to allow employees to voice their opinion on everything from office culture to their place in the bigger picture of your business can reap untold rewards. A study by the Health and Safety Executive found that an employee’s understanding of their job role has a direct correlation to their stress levels and number of days off sick.
2. Reveal your business strategy
Employees need to understand their place in the wider picture. This will help them approach their work in a more meaningful way. One way of achieving this is to communicate your business strategy, making sure it is clear and visible to everyone in your company.
Google is considered one of the best companies to work for on the planet - largely due to how they treat their employees. Every single employee knows the company mission: “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”, and what part they can play in working toward this business goal.
3. Use tools instead of meetings
Face to face meetings are increasingly falling out of favour with many businesses nowadays. Many companies prefer to communicate and collaborate via technology for maximum time efficiency.
Unified Communications solutions provide technology to instantly connect you to the team or individuals you need for a particular project. With instant messaging, presence indicator, voice connectivity and a plethora of other useful tools for your working environment - Unified Communications integrates your internal communications seamlessly.
4. Invest in technology
Accessing information on the go is increasingly important in the modern world. Equip your staff with mobile technology and make it simple for them to work remotely.
Cloud computing solutions can be extremely useful for sharing information and collaborating on projects that involve several different teams.
5. Make internal information clear
Every company has its own terminology, jargon and never-ending supply of acronyms. To a long term employee this insider information may seem obvious and a shared understanding with their coworkers is probably taken for granted. However, for new employees, learning the internal company dialogue can prove a significant hurdle in the way of actually getting down to the business of doing their job.
Make it easy for your new recruits by including company buzzwords and protocols as part of their introductory training. Include a glossary of terms for easy reference.
If you’re interested in how Commsworld can help with your internal communications, get in touch today.
