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How to write an internal communications plan and strategy

Internal communications Plan Increasingly Human Resources (HR) or Organizational Development (OD) teams are being asked to drive and deliver internal communications, but what is an internal communications plan and how do you go about writing and applying one? Why have internal communications plans? According to research from Gallup, 69% of employees are either not-engaged or actively disengaged on the job. Further research from the organization estimates that over 185,000 million (0.19 Billion) is lost annually due to lower productivity from actively disengaged workers alone. It has been shown that the most effective way to increase employee engagement is through clear and effective internal or employee communications. Therefore internal communications is a critical HR strategy for both retention and increased performance. Where are you now? Before starting to develop any form of strategy for improvement it is important to know where you are now or your starting point. The use of organizational diagnostics in the form of an audit is a useful place to start. This audit should be company wide and differentiate divisions and levels as identifying blockages is important. The audit should help answer a number of important questions including:

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How to write an internal communications plan and strategy | RapidBI

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Are employees receiving accurate information? How are employees receiving regular information? Are messages consistent across the company? Do employees understand both the goals and the results of communications? Approach An effective approach to developing an internal communication plan starts not with what we need to do, but why we need to do it. A common mistake that is made is that many communications strategies tell what is happening, but not why. This is a fundamental flaw. One of the key principles of effective internal communication is not just to tell people the what, it is critical to tell them why something is happening in the way it is. If your people dont understand the problem that you are attempting to solve, they wont feel any ownership of the solution you are proposing, and as a result not be proactive in the solution, undermining your attempts at progress. An effective approach in the development of the communications strategy is to identify: What are the goals, ambitions and it strategic aspirations for the future? What do the people in the organization need to think, feel and do in order to make those goals a reality? Where are employees now, and what needs to change in their current perceptions, attitudes, or access to basic information? Whats the role of the internal communication function in helping close the gap of what we want for the future, and what weve got today? What are the roles and responsibilities of leaders, managers, employees and communication professionals? What are the communication activities were going to need and who will be responsible for what? Whats the resource levels we need? Remember Effective internal communication is a means to an end, not an end in itself. For your people to be fully engaged in their work and the organization you need to clearly demonstrate show the link between business problems and internal communication as a possible solution. Internal communication is not an end in itself. top Overview of Internal Communications So what is Internal communications? Communication within any organization is like the human circulation system, it serves as a channel or network that links parts of the organization together Much of the communication that occurs in an organization is informal and uncontrollable (so dont try!), other communications are structured and intentional and carefully planned. You cannot not communicate so be careful what you do. Even not actively communicating on a topic says a lot! If you are not actively communicating on a regular basis, your people will even if they have to make it up. top Who needs what? The employees need to know the direction of the organization, how they can engage and participate (belonging) and need feedback the progress being made.

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Examples of employee communications include: Intranet, website, newsletters, memos, notice boards, press, company magazine, blogs, employee forums top Internal Communications Plan contingency preparedness Most effective organizations that operate structured approaches to internal communications appoint a dedicated communications manager. Because this person has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the company, its people and systems, in times when rapid and clear communication is required they provide the management team with a strategic advantage. Having a dedicated roles means that preparations can be made for disaster or contingency management and the appropriate communications required. During your crisis communication planning stage, the internal communications manager can collect contact information from all employees and other key resources. This contact information should be exhaustive and can include home, mobile, email, instant messaging and other contact methods and maintain the accuracy of this over time. Creating your communications plan to include crisis and contingency plans can help reduce and avoid unnecessary crisis. Part of your plan may include the creation of an emergency notification cascade system. There are commercial systems which can in an emergency send SMS messages to 100s of mobile phone numbers informing staff of critical factors top It is said that there are 12 steps required for an effective internal communications strategy and plan: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. top Example plan matrix The following table, shows how a company may plan and manage its internal communications. Strategy Intranet Purpose Intended result Communications team role Frequency Employee focused communications must be led from the top Consistency in message is vital Charismatic yet natural and planned communications are more effective. Communication via the line manager is preferred and more effective Employee communications are not optional extras, they are part of business as usual and should be planned and budgeted for as such There must be integration between internal and external communications Timing is critical The tone of any communication is important if we want people to engage effectively Keep all communication focused on the WIIFM the whats in it for me? factor Communication is a two-way process A single key theme or a couple of key themes is a means of giving coherence to a range of diverse employee communications initiatives Set your standards and stick to them

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How to write an internal communications plan and strategy | RapidBI

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Home page

Business metrics/ dashboard Departmental dashboard. Contracts/ budgets

To keep employees up to date on progress To keep employees up to date on local progress

Update data that is not automated None

Daily

Departmental page

Daily

Project page

Project KPI dashboard. Contracts/ budgets

To keep team members up to date on project

None

Daily

E-mail Information bulletins Director messages Other organizational information Activity reports Inform Inform, engage Employees understand our purpose, progress, and how they connect Consult, develop, publish Weekly and as necessary

Employees understand what the rest of the organization is doing

Collect and publish

monthly

Meetings Coffee with director Brown Bag lunches/ info sessions Leadership team employee meeting (open to all) All-manager meetings All-employee meetings Staff meetings Inform, clarify, exchange Inform, clarify, exchange Model open organization, inform Inform, clarify Inform, clarify Inform, clarify Attend, notes if required Plan, announce Take notes Twice a month Varies Weekly

Note taking Planning, logistics

Monthly Twice a year

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Team meetings Corridor conversations Cafe based conversations Website pages Monthly news e-zine

Daily work Various Understanding

Connect people to colleagues, to organization and to to job Connect people to organization and to document organizational history Provide visibility over organization activities Provide organizational accountability Document organizational decisions Connections to organization

Employees connected and informed Employees connected and informed

Develop, publish

Monthly

Director staff meeting notes

Develop, publish

Weekly

Organization calendar

Maintain

As required

Meeting actions

Employees connected and informed Organization has record of decisions Employees understand how organization fits together

Develop, publish

Weekly

Decision log

Develop, publish

As required

Field-guide to organization

Develop, publish

As required

Organization support, infrastructure development Develop communications plans for other parts of the organization Consulting Single organizational message; communications activities are coordinated Lists are current Develop, coordinate, publish As required

Organizational distribution lists

Infrastructure development

Maintain all staff lists

As required

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Organizational performance reporting Information management Branding and organizational identity

Employees connected to work Single source

Performance is visible Information under configuration control Consistent use of name and logo on signage, websites, etc.

To be determined

Monthly.

To be determined

As required

Common look & feel

Coordinate and support

As required

top Action Plan template Activity Responsibility Timeline Resources Needed Indicators of Success Date Completed

top

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One Trackback to how to write an internal communications plan and strategy 11 Responses to how to write an internal communications plan and strategy

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