7 Days to a New Internal Communications Strategy
The best product in the world will sit on the shelves
forever if the people it is made for don’t know it solves their problem.
But that’s not where it all begins. That good stuff wouldn’t
even get to the shelves without a lot of person-to-person coordination.
Certainly, automation kicks in and streamlines the
process. Trace it back, however, and the crucial stage always involves people
having the right conversations. What makes those conversations work has to be
transferable, so a business isn’t just relying on luck and inspiration to
survive.
A training system has to be set up that establishes and
maintains alignment, coordination, accountability and trust—between team
members, departments, suppliers, partners, and so on. My training services give
you the glue to hold them together.
Ideally, this system fits right in with the internal
communication strategy of your organization.
If you don’t have one of those yet, that’s why I’m here to help.
It’s the point of this website in fact.
🔸
I have laid out my guidelines for you below—in a way that could help you get something going in a week and on the road (if you
must). It's a hard fact of life that the world doesn’t stop and
politely wait for us to make our plans and decisions.
I believe that taking a holistic approach to it has the
most to offer you, which you’ll discover as you come to it. This is something
you should prioritize and invest thought into. It has the power to improve just
about everything.
But as much you may delight in constructing the foundations
of the pristine future, don’t let your pride and joy mastermind you into
thinking this product will speak for itself.
Remember,
As your internal communication strategy takes shape, it is
going to take the total cooperation and investment of your management to make
it work.
It might be necessary to review a few of the basic realities with them.
THE 7-DAY PLAN TO START RIGHT with
AN INTERNAL
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
DAY 1: Assess your current communication processes.
This is the time to take a good hard look at what
really goes on and tell the truth about such things as planning, decision-making
at meetings and how information is giving to teams or individuals.
Is your current style really developing your people into
the responsible professionals you need to grow with? What part is and what part
isn’t?
Are you dominating these processes? Are you leaving people
out? Would some decisions work better if everyone was onboard with the plan?
Now dream a little about your internal communications
strategy. What do you want from it? What do you need
from it? … Where are you in relation to those dreams now.
DAY 2: Goals and timelines – Dream time’s over. Get
real!
After assessing your current processes, set
achievable goals and realistic timelines for your internal communications
strategy.This will help you to focus your efforts and
measure your progress. Make sure to involve your management team in this
process to ensure that everyone’s goals align with the overall objectives of
the organization.
DAY 3: The metrics for success
You need a way to measure the success of your
internal communications strategy. A way to track progress and make data-driven
decisions.A few ways to measure this are employee
engagement, message open rates, and feedback from surveys. Brainstorm with your
team for others. They can even get suggestions from their teams, the folks on
the front line. This is a perspective too rarely considered among those who make
plans.
Make sure to regularly review these metrics
and adjust your strategy accordingly.
DAY
4: Who are you talking to?
You
segment and map out your audience so you can tailor your messages for each
group. Not everything is for everybody, certainly. But it’s worthwhile
considering which groups could benefit or be motivated by which messages, or
the same messages. It might surprise you to realize that some people might
share in other departments’ glory and feel proud in having even the smallest
part in it.
Consider
factors such as job role, location, and communication medium or platform preferences—but
also think about the workflow and how department relate and rely on each other.
DAY
5: The Process of Approval
You might relish the power
and freedom today, but tomorrow will be a complete mess if you don’t have a
clear process for approving communications to your teams.
Do not leave this up to the
whims of genius. You create a crisis situation of what appear to be random
announcements and changes.
Do not try to be the sole
arbiter of information. You will not be consistent and your management will
come to resent the outcome—which, due to human nature, will eventually be them
getting blamed for everything bad that happens while you bring only the good
news.
You can’t win with that
anyway, because you’re not in the trenches with the rank and file like the
supervisors and some of your managers are.
Make internal
communications consistent and aligned with the overall objectives of the
organization, by putting your head together with the management team and
building an approval process. This will help you to manage the flow of
information and ensure that all messages are reviewed and approved before being
sent out.
You can’t control informal
communications. You can be a good influence on them by establishing good
communication practices in formal communication processes and channels.
DAY 6: Choose Your Tools
There are many tools
available for internal communications. What will be invented next? Identify the
tools that will work best for the kinds of communications you need, and
integrate them into your strategy and work processes.
DAY
7 Evaluate and Optimize
Make it a regular thing
and put it in your Meetings Charter (Don’t have one? Drop me a line.).Evaluating your progress so
you can optimize your what you say and how you say it is the pathway to good
internal communications.
Make sure to review your key metrics, as well, and
gather feedback from your team so you can make those data-driven decisions that
improve how you do things …
and how you say and write things.
