Maintaining good internal communication between the company and its employees is essential to creating a healthy and productive corporate environment.
It is through internal communication that company managers and partners are able to interact and exchange information with their teams, conveying the company's vision and business objectives. Likewise, it is important to extract from professionals their vision of the work environment, progress of tasks and suggestions of what can be improved in the company.
When communication is not carried out effectively within the company, numerous problems can arise, which over time tend to worsen, damaging the work environment, the execution of tasks, team productivity and business results.
It is known that in most companies there is no standardized internal communication policy. However, in companies that do, although there is generally no dedicated sector for this activity, in most cases the responsibility is divided between the Human Resources and Marketing .
However, even though it is a fundamental activity, many companies do not value the importance of maintaining internal communication processes and possibly end up achieving results below what they could achieve if there were efficient internal communication.
Research on internal communication in companies
In a survey carried out by the Brazilian Association of Business Communication (ABERJE) , to map the practices adopted by organizations in relation to their internal communication process, interviews were carried out in 179 companies from different segments and sectors of the economy, all classified in the list of 1,000 largest companies in Brazil.
The survey data showed the growing increase in the strategic role played by internal communication. In 50% of the participating companies, organizational communication reported directly to the organization's presidency.
For 76% of participating companies, the corporate communications area occupies the highest levels in the organizational structure of these companies, with 34% at the board level and 34% at the management level.
This shows the importance of managers’ engagement in the development of the company’s internal communication. When developing activities related to internal communication, 64% of participating companies rely on joint activities between professionals from the internal team and external teams (suppliers).
Analyzing the research carried out by ABERJE, we can see that there is a growing need for continuous monitoring and exchange of information with employees and teams to assist and guarantee the best results in the application of internal communication. What was already necessary, nowadays with the competitiveness in the market, has become fundamental.
How to establish good internal communication?
Well, you can start in several ways, the most important thing is to continuously evaluate the progress of the communication processes and whether the exchange of information is occurring as planned.
Nowadays, it is essential to explore the services that technology offers, streamlining and enhancing the exchange of information between managers, teams and different sectors. We list some of these tools:
- intranet system
- Internal corporate blog
- Corporate social network
- Institutional email, email lists and newsletter
- Online meetings and video conferencing
- Instant communication services like Slack, Skype or WhatsApp
We also have traditional and very efficient means of communication:
- Message boards
- Collective meetings
- Events and conventions
- Employee manual or booklet
- Suggestion box
As you can see, there are many ways in which information can be exchanged internally within your company. Therefore, before starting to use any form of communication, it is important that managers clearly understand the objectives and limits in each communication process.
Of course, the ways in which information is exchanged change, mainly due to the number of employees and their physical distribution within the company. For example, if your company only has one headquarters with no units or branches, it is easier to centralize notices on a message board, in a place where the team coexists, which would be a lot more work in a company with dozens of units.
We have listed some steps to be followed when choosing and implementing the best internal corporate communication practices in your company:
1 – Analysis of the current situation
Before starting any type of restructuring or implementation, it is important to know how information is exchanged between the company and its employees, between sectors and their teams.
The first step should be to understand what the biggest problem is in communication between the company and its employees. For example, what business information is shared among managers, sectors and employees. It is also necessary to evaluate the efficiency of the forms of communication used, for example when a statement is issued via an information channel, verifying whether all employees actually access and are aware of that information.
The problem with internal communication may be in the communication channel used, in the way information is shared or in employees' access to information.
2 – Define the objectives and those responsible for communication
Ideal communication for your company must be clear, agile and simple, as this favors the alignment of all employees in relation to the company's procedures, avoiding misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
To achieve this ideal model, it is first necessary to be clear about what information should be shared within the company, who should have access to each type of information and who will be responsible for sharing and monitoring the results generated. For example, the director of each department must be responsible for sharing the strategic business objectives with his team and he must ensure that the sector's activities are aligned with these objectives.
3 – Define communication channels and standards
As we have already listed above, there are countless ways to transmit company information between employees. The choice of channels to be used must take into account the type of information to be transmitted, the urgency with which the information must be accessed and the level of formality and access guarantee that each information requires.
Furthermore, it is necessary to consider the team's profile and work context, for example in an accounting office information must be shared differently than for operators in an industry.
We list some of the most used channels and their main characteristics:
- Message wall: used to disseminate general company communications, with information that must be accessible to all employees. It is recommended that the murals be located in common areas within the company, such as the point registration area, cafeterias or changing rooms. It may also be interesting to create message boards in each sector/department of the company, to disseminate all information related only to the sector.
- E-mail: it is the ideal channel for communication without urgency (as up to 24 hours is an acceptable response period) and high formality (as all messages are registered for the sender, the receiver and the company itself). However, it is not ideal for email to be used to deal with negative matters, such as dismissals, as it takes away some of the personality necessary for such a situation. To segment the sending of messages, email lists can be used, grouping emails into lists by sectors or hierarchy within the company.
- Meetings: meetings are important for sharing and discussing strategic information about the company or specific sectors. In these cases, as the information in the message is usually highly relevant, it is interesting that there is a written means accompanying it to record the main points discussed in the meeting, for example, a minutes or document that everyone has access to.
- Events: Promoting events is an excellent way to publicize institutional campaigns and integrate the team. For example, holding a convention bringing together all teams for training and publicizing campaigns is an excellent way to motivate employees to achieve the company's goals. It is also interesting to promote integration events on festive dates, to encourage relationships between professionals.
- Instant communicators: in many teams, Whatsapp is being used as a communication channel, which can be very successful for exchanging general information that needs to reach the recipient quickly. On the other hand, it is not suitable for complex messages, which require a longer and more explanatory format. Another good option for a team communication service is Slack .
4 – Create documents with guidelines/rules of behavior at work
Every company has (or should have) a set of rules and guidelines on how employees should behave in the workplace. These guidelines may include what type of clothing can be worn, how to relate to colleagues, how customer service should be carried out, guidelines for using systems and carrying out tasks, working hours and breaks and everything else that encompasses performance. of activities within the company.
It is recommended that the company groups all these guidelines in a document, which must be accessible to employees in digital and printed format. In larger companies, it may be necessary to create specific documents for each sector/department, with guidelines that cover the department's activities, for example a sales sector, with information about the company's services, service standards and requirements in relation to the use of the sales and order entry system.
As here at Lumiun our goal is to make the use of the internet safer and more productive in companies, we cannot fail to address the use of technology in the workplace. To prevent security problems such as data loss and also avoid wasting employees' time, we suggest creating a document with guidelines regarding the use of cell phones for personal activities and also what types of content and websites can be accessed during work. . even provide a document template that can be used in your company .
In conclusion, as we have already said, maintaining good internal communication in companies is essential to creating a healthy and productive work environment.
For this to happen, no major investment or effort is required, simply define the objectives clearly, what type of information should be shared, who can/should have access to each information and who is responsible for sharing and monitoring the results of the communication.
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