Best Practices for Internal Communications for Businesses

Is your office desk flooded with memos? Is your work email bursting with messages? Maybe it’s to the point where you don’t even look at them anymore — they just go right to the bottom of the pile with a mental note to check on it tomorrow.

Or maybe you’re on the other end of the scale, and it seems like you’re always missing out on those important work messages. Either way, it sounds like you’ve got a problem with internal communication.

Unfortunately, poor internal communication is more than just a minor inconvenience — it’s really bad for your business. Strong internal business communication, on the other hand, helps connect your employees so that they can work together effectively to achieve organizational goals and make customers and clients happy.

But what exactly is internal communication, and how can you make sure that your strategy works? We’ll dive into the whys and hows below.

Internal communication is any communication that occurs within an organization to connect people, teams, and departments throughout the company. Internal business communication used to be all about top-down (manager-to-employee) communication, but now we understand that effective companies use all sorts of communication styles. That includes:

• Bottom-up (employee to management)
• Peer-to-peer (employee-to-employee)
• Culture communication
• Crisis communication
• Information delivery
• And more

Plus, this communication is happening over a variety of platforms. From in-office memos and sticky notes to virtual reality, online message boards, phone calls, and other virtual meeting platforms — the possibilities are vast.

Not only does effective internal communication help your company run smoothly and productively so that you can meet your goals, but it also:

• Increases employee engagement
• Builds trust
• Facilitates collaboration
• Decreases miscommunication, mistakes, and misunderstandings
• Helps employees bond to create stronger teams
• Boosts team morale and retention
• Makes your clients and customers happier

Strong internal communication strategies are a must for every company, especially remote and hybrid organizations that don’t often benefit from regular in-office time with colleagues. And communicating effectively requires more than just talking. Here are five internal communication best practices you should start implementing today.

Have a mindset of transparency to promote trust. With trust comes open and honest communication, a willingness to listen and learn, and a greater sense of safety in the workplace. When the organization makes important decisions, talk with your employees about it and encourage questions and feedback.

Communication is a two-way street, so make sure you’re providing opportunities for discussions, dialogues, and two-way feedback to occur. Open conversations are more likely to generate ideas and change. Ask for feedback about your communication (and everything else in your company!) regularly, and make sure you’re actively listening to the answers you get.

Praise your staff for a job well done, and you’ll make them feel like a valuable part of the company. When you recognize an employee’s hard work in front of your team, you can also boost everyone’s morale and inspire further productivity, creativity, and success.

Utilize multiple communication channels throughout your organization, but make sure that employees know when and how to access them. Asynchronous and synchronous communication both have their places during the workday, but some methods are more appropriate in certain situations.

New ideas and new people can facilitate creativity and collaboration, so encourage employees to communicate across the organization. Try hosting company-wide virtual events or department-vs.-department game nights. Not only will you have fun and build morale, but you’ll also learn from one another and strengthen your communication.

Ready to enhance your internal communication practices? Here’s a quick guide to how you can create a successful strategy for your organization:

What do you want your communication strategy to achieve? Set SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) for the best results. Your goals will help guide your strategy, so ensure that they are meaningful.

You probably already have some internal communication practices in place — whether or not they’re effective…well, that’s the question. To assess your current situation, ask yourself:

• What are the organization’s communication strengths and weaknesses?
• Who is communicating, and how?
• What changes will you need to make to achieve your goals?
• What does your timeline look like?
• Who needs to be on board to make your strategy work?

Different messages and processes may call for different communication channels. While quick meeting reminders lend themselves well to emails, things like whiteboarding and collaboration may require something different. Choose a communication channel that will allow you to integrate tools and utilize synchronous and asynchronous communication styles (hint: a place like Kumospace!).

How will you track your goals? Perhaps you’ll use employee feedback, social media metrics, employee retention and engagement information, or insights from your HR team…whatever you choose, be sure to keep an eye on it after you begin implementing your strategy. Consistent and constant monitoring will help you know whether your current tactics are working or if you need to try something new.

Track your performance and progress, then revisit your goals. Does your current strategy get you closer to your internal communication objectives? What do you need to do differently? What are you doing well?

Continually evaluate your process, survey how employees are feeling about your strategy, and adjust your strategy as needed. This will allow you to meet your employees’ needs and build stronger internal communication.

Here are a few dos and don’ts to follow to make your internal communication stronger:

• Do promote a culture of openness. Create a culture that welcomes employee feedback. Be open and honest with your team to promote trust.
• Do empower your employees to share their ideas. Set up a suggestion box, send out open-end employee surveys, or set aside time at the company meeting for questions and comments — however you do it, just let your employees be heard.
• Do make communication a two-way process. Meaningful conversations require two parties actively listening to each other.
• Do create spaces for employees to connect. Whether that’s a physical break room for employees to visit or a virtual space for your team to chat, these non-work workspaces facilitate invaluable watercooler moments. You can also use outside events to create opportunities for connection. Holiday parties, virtual happy hours, and game nights are all great options!
• Don’t forget to train management. Make sure that the people powering your communication initiatives have the right tools and training to do a good job. This will also help prepare management to lead the initiative and address any questions or concerns employees may have.
• Don’t assume your efforts will trickle down. Actively implement communication solutions throughout the whole organization. Maybe your key players will get around to making changes and sharing information — but maybe they won’t.
• Don’t forget to use technology. There are so many tools, apps, and platforms you can use to reach your team. From virtual reality to chat boxes to virtual workspaces, there’s no end to the technology options. Don’t be afraid to try new solutions — you never know which one will work out!

Nationwide, a UK-based building society put a lot of effort into meeting its internal communication objectives. They made great use of various platforms and tools like gamified learning, video distribution, and social media engagement to create conversation and gather feedback that would make their business better.

By using various communication channels and actively listening to their employees, Nationwide met with success.

In 2015, Adidas asked its employees if they felt that the company listened to them. The response? Not really.

To address the problem, Adidas ramped up its communication efforts, sending out videos, conference addresses, letters, and more…many of which weren’t all that helpful. That’s because Adidas failed to use the right communication channels (which they might have known if they’d had more feedback from their employees). So, we give Adidas an A for effort; they just needed to keep evaluating and adjusting until they got it right!

Remote and hybrid teams often have extra barriers to communication — as the founder of PhoneSales.com discovered when he launched his 100% remote business. When he noticed that their current communication platform wasn’t cutting it, PhoneSales.com CEO Sasha Stanojlovic searched for a new solution. It turned out to be Kumospace.

Sasha and his team utilized their new virtual space to the fullest. Adding some synchronous communication channels to the business allowed them to brainstorm together, solve problems, build their team, forge stronger relationships, and grow a better business.

Effective communication is the lifeblood of every organization. It helps connect people, makes it easier to manage the ever-changing world of business, and makes your team happier, more effective, and more efficient.

Remember that it will take time, effort, and a bit of trial and error to achieve great internal communication. Be transparent with your goals, efforts, and mistakes. Offer regular updates and ask for regular feedback from your employees. Don’t be afraid to try new technologies or look at the problem from a different angle. Trust us — the time that you put into this project will be worth it for your business.

Companies use internal communication to facilitate the flow of information between various coworkers, teams, and departments.

First and foremost, approach it mindfully. You must be willing to commit to your strategy, be flexible, and be willing to use feedback. You can also:

• Make information more accessible
• Be clear in communication
• Create a safe space where all can communicate without fear
• Use communication tools
• Build connections with each other

• Top-down (management-to-employee)
• Bottom-up (employee-to-management)
• Peer-to-peer (employee-to-employee)
• Culture communication
• Crisis communication
• Information delivery

Effective internal communication strategies can:

• Help your employees work better
• Make it easier to reach your goals
• Allow you to respond faster to problems
• Facilitate innovation and creativity
• Lead to a more pleasant and inclusive company culture

Modern communication tools can make it easier for team members to get in touch with one another. This, in turn, can positively impact productivity, efficiency, employee satisfaction, innovation, and more.

• Neglecting to ask for (or actively ignoring) employee feedback
• Using only one type of internal communication
• Ignoring useful tools that could make your communication more efficient and effective
• Not considering your employees’ chosen methods of communication