3 Foundations for Improving Workplace Communications

Creating a detailed content plan as part of your workplace communications strategy can help maximize the impact of your corporate messages to help you achieve your business goals.

Once you’ve established your internal communications strategy, it’s time to think about the support systems necessary to deliver each message. The road to improving workplace communications begins with understanding the communications resources available, administrative details, and your unique employee audience.

The first foundation for your communications are the tools at your disposal. Take an inventory to understand the benefits and limitations of each channel before you begin writing.

• What communications channels are available?
• Do all employees have equal access to all channels?
• What are the benefits of each communication platform? Any limitations?
• What channel is best for each message type?
• Which critical messages need repetition across multiple channels?

If you haven’t already assessed your communications channels, check out our Three Tools to Make Internal Communications More Impactful Checklist.

The second support system is your administrative team. With multiple internal communications channels, including email, digital platforms, and face-to-face meetings, you’ll need a team to help you deliver all the necessary messages. Things to consider:

• Who will execute the communications for each channel?
• How can you bring a variety of voices and departments into your communications?
• Who will approve formal messages?
• How much time does the approval process take?
• How will the communications plan support leaders and managers for team meetings, one-on-ones, or other face-to-face communications?

Download: Internal Communications Content Planning Kit

The final foundation for improving workplace communications is an awareness of your audience. By considering your recipients and how they receive messages, you can meet employees where they are with the specific information they need.

• What do employees care about?
• What do employees need to know and when?
• What are the preferred channels for each employee group/department?
• How often do employees check communications channels?
• Do you have hard to reach employees? How do they get company information?

Once these foundations are set, it’s time to plan the necessary details for executing your strategy. For help in creating a detailed content plan to share with your communications team, download our Internal Communications Content Planning Kit. It includes two tools to help you plan and execute your messages for maximum impact as well as tips on how to use them. A strong foundation and a content plan are powerful tools for improving workplace communications.