The infallible internal communication plan

Are your employees motivated to innovate and would they dare to challenge the usual working procedures and propose new ones? Do you feel that you get enough quality feedback to make informed decisions?

If the answer to these questions has not been yes, you may need to consider the need to review your internal communication plan. In order to improve, you have to quantify first, so the first step is to do a self-assessment and find out which are the strengths of the current plan and which are the areas where changes should be made.

The keys to a good internal communication plan

To get the design of the internal communication plan right you need to consider the objectives to be achieved with it. These goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound).

In this process of defining the plan, you have to find answers to questions such as: What is the best way to define the plan?

• What will this plan achieve?
• How long before it will be necessary to measure the degree of target achievement?
• Where will progress be made after achieving the first goals?

In general, the internal communication plan helps to keep employees informed and allows them to be involved in solving business problems; But this can only be achieved if:

1. It has the senior management support. Without management support the project cannot be completed as expected. Lack of commitment at higher levels will result in widespread disengagement..
2. Available resources are known. It is important to assess all the tools that can be used to engage stakeholders, gauge the opinion of employees in a given area, disseminate news, share plans, ensure that people are ready to participate, and ultimately ensure meaningful and lasting two-way communication. An intranet, newsletters, company magazines, or even email and instant messaging services can be used to convey internal communications in an attractive way..
3. Limitations are understood. Company culture can be one of them, In this case, the change process will be slower and, in this transition, it will be necessary to define a training programme, for example, to support the technological maturity of the company and the development of digital skills of its employees.

Internal communication plan: the tools

There will always be more popular media and less attractive channels. As the person responsible for designing the internal communication plan, In order to achieve your goal of improving the fluidity and effectiveness of internal communications, you need to know which avenues can help you achieve your objective.

Some of the tools that most organisations use are:

• E-mail addressThe versatility makes it the preferred choice for organisations of all sizes. According to Poppulo, 98% of internal communications teams use email to obtain critical information“.”. Its weakness is that the inbox can become overloaded if too many emails are sent and ultimately affect engagement levels.
• MeetingsEven though we live in a digital age, nothing can replace direct communication. Talking to the person in front of you is essential to reach agreements, avoid misunderstandings and improve trust in the company. That's why face-to-face conversations are the method of communication used in the companies' 96%.
• Intranetin 90% of the cases, the internal communication plan will allude to the use of this document exchange platform that encourages participation and information sharing. However, if you are considering this option, you should know that, as of today, “less than 13% of employees use theirs on a daily basis, and a third never use their intranet at all”.” (PrescientDigital).
• Social media: are no longer only used in the private sphere, but, led by LinkedIn, have begun to permeate into organisations, integrating their internal communication plan.. Thus, “85% use social media in their internal communications”.” (Incite-Group).

Have you ever considered making LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook part of your internal communication plan? Have you noticed that the intranet is becoming less and less attractive to your employees?