3 Ways to Improve Internal Communications

Have you experienced a mentoring moment when you catch yourself mentoring your mentor? It was supposed to be a regular check-in at our usual place during our usual time. After exchanging greetings and commenting on our days, he began to tell me about his work, which was impacting people in other areas.

Attempting to communicate, he emailed updates, but to his frustration, people were not reading the messages and were disoriented about expectations and progress. Taking ownership for someone else’s inactions is hard, but the words rolled out of my mouth before I could catch them and tuck them away.

“It’s your fault they don’t know,” I said. Silence filled the room as I waited for him to push back. After all, he is my mentor and I have more to learn from him than vise versa. He nodded with a smile so I continued to articulate my rationale.

Email is the most ineffective way to communicate yet for many of us, it’s our default channel. If you are leading in an organization and people are telling you they don’t know what’s going on, it is your fault. Perhaps your staff works remotely and your paths don’t frequently cross. Or you feel the pressure of a lofty to-do list and it’s hard to keep projects moving forward. It’s likely this will create a disconnect and a considerable challenge for decision-making that delays your work.

Don’t be discouraged. You can achieve that alignment that effective communications bring when you address technology, define processes, and speak to people through the communication channels they prefer.

1. Use technology

Technology is evolving at a rapid pace and new tools emerge to solve our communication challenges. Some technology, such as Slack and Zoom, is free or at a minimal cost, while other technology is an investment of resources and supports a strategic direction. Take inventory of the current technology your organization uses and evaluate if it’s meeting your communication needs. Don’t be afraid to try something new and get people’s input. You may be one decision away from selecting technology to unlock effective communication practices in your organization.

2. Define processes

Do you have communication processes in place that offer predictability of your communications? Can your team expect to hear from you on a specific and consistent manner? Have you established a cadence for communicating and exchanging information? Consider the methods of receiving feedback so you stay in-tune with people in your company. A well-defined process will build an organizational habit to expect communications.

3. Speak their language

We all have a preferred communication channel, which means you need to understand your organizational culture and how people prefer to communicate. Ideally, we would all meet face-to-face and exchange information, but our fast-pace world is transitioning to work remotely and we need to adapt to the needs of our people. Identify how your team prefers to receive communication. A discussion on this topic will highlight opportunities that you may have undervalued. While email may still be a preferred method of communicating, consider a combination of push (communications you send) and pull (communications where you engage people) strategies. A blend of both approaches will ensure your team is aligned and assist you in more effective decision-making.

Bonus! While the content of your communications will vary, most people will appreciate answers to the following questions when you communicate:

• What is this about?
• What’s in it for me?
• Why should I care?
• How does it impact my work?
• What’s expected of me?
• How does it align with our vision?

Internal communication challenges are consistently on the top of the list when it comes to leading highly functional organizations. We can always improve our approach to engage people, collaborate, problem solve, and align on the strategic objectives. How you communicate is essential to your company culture, and because of its importance, it is a worthwhile endeavor to improve as you seek to grow you impact in the world.