All about Internal Communication and How it can Save Your Company.

Investing in the relationship with the external public is extremely important for a company to gain visibility, trust and admiration from customers, suppliers and society. However, any good relationship with the foreign market begins with excellent internal communication .

What your company presents to the world must be aligned with what it does at home, since employees are representatives (even if not official) of the business and can contribute to enhance it or undermine its credibility. The business communication should always be worked in all its variations.

The  internal communication ensures that employees are fully aligned to the official address of the company, as well as their values and beliefs . And this, both in good times and in bad times, is a differential that will help to strengthen your business and to undo misunderstandings or rumors .

In times of crisis, this efficiency in terms of internal communication becomes even more necessary, after all, in these situations it is that you most need to have your employees on your side. Here, too, it is worth mentioning that we are not talking about manipulation or indoctrination so that people always speak well of their business, but rather a transparent transfer of information that allows employees to be always aware of the situation the company is experiencing and can to position yourself based on facts and certainties and not rumors.

Internal communication is also essential for the smooth running of projects within companies, and for other issues such as increased productivity, since, by connecting people, the transfer of information is facilitated and errors and misunderstandings between different people are avoided. areas. This is also extremely important for any business, and especially for those who are experiencing a time of crisis.

To better understand the importance of communication, how to carry it out and what this concept actually means, just continue reading. Feel free to browse the text and read the topics as you see fit.

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What is internal communication?

The internal communication is a set of actions to facilitate the transmission of strategic messages within an organization. Whether vertically, from the leadership sectors to the lower ones and vice versa, or horizontally, between employees working at the same level, it is essential to ensure alignment between the team and can save your company in moments of crisis.

Internal communication is essential to ensure that employees are aligned not only with the official discourse of the corporation, but also with the objectives it intends to achieve, such as growth, project development and others. Good communication ensures that people are aware of the reality of the business, in every way, and allows them to be charged in relation to the expectations of the company and its performance.

It is also through these actions that knowledge is transmitted within the company and you can guarantee more efficiency for your business.

The importance and objectives of internal communication.

Investing in internal communication is extremely important for any corporation and well-planned strategies can bring benefits on several levels, as we have already mentioned here. In a recent survey on corporate communication, 63% of companies said that internal communication is one of the most important communication processes in an organizational environment and that this is the sector that should receive the most investments in next years.  

Alignment of speech and objectives.

First, maintaining good communication is essential for employees to be aligned with the company’s official discourse and positions. Having people who know the values ​​your business values ​​and are aware of all the actions it takes in front of the external public, is important to ensure that there will be no inconsistencies or misunderstandings in this regard.

And more than just aligning people with the corporate discourse, good internal communication will ensure that your employees are also aware of the company’s long- and short-term goals and make them work for them, and may be charged for it. 

This type of strategy directly affects the growth of your company and the level of productivity of employees, since it makes them work in a more focused way and always focused on achieving the proposed goals and challenges.

Productivity and integration.

Speaking of productivity, internal communication is also essential so that employees are always aligned with each other and to work together to achieve what was proposed. And by working this way, you can also avoid mistakes or delays in projects due to the lack of integration between the teams and make your production much more efficient and qualified.

And investing in corporate education is also capable of increasing employee productivity. Here in this article you can find out how to create training in a simple way. 

Increased motivation and decreased turnover in the company.

Investing in communication within your company is something that your HR sector is also likely to support. After all, with all that we have already mentioned, such as transparency in the transfer of information and knowledge, increased integration between teams, alignment with goals and increased productivity, the tendency is for employees’ motivation to also gain strength and for them to become more engaged with the company. This improves the business climate, avoids conflicts and also reduces turnover rates in the organization, which represents a great benefit.  

Other benefits of internal communication – especially in times of crisis.

Every company goes through difficult times and knowing how to deal with crises is as important as celebrating successes. In times of crisis, it is important that employees are united around a single objective: helping your company. 

However, this is where a key question comes in: How do you get your team to wear the organization’s shirt and help it get around bad situations?

The answer may seem complex, but there are several ways to achieve this and one of the most effective and easiest to work with is internal communication. In addition to what we have already mentioned, in a time of crisis, good communication:

Avoid rumors and gossip.

When you keep all the information about your company stuck in the highest sectors and don’t really inform your employees of what is really happening, you end up making room for speculation, theories, gossip and false rumors to be created within your own organization – and this is what you least need in a time of crisis.

By opening an effective communication channel with your employees and informing them of the reality of the company’s situation, they will no longer have to conspire about what is going on with the organization and they will still be able to help you think of ways to get around complicated situations.

Increases the employee’s sense of belonging.

An employee who has no identification with the place where he works, or who is not proud to be part of the reality of the company, will be the last to raise his voice to defend it in a time of crisis and this represents a very big problem. If not even your employees, who work in your organization, defend the company, imagine the rest?

By maintaining constant and true communication with your employees, you make them feel more important and recognized as key players within the organization and prevent them from spreading strategic information, or increasing rumors and complaints against it. With the right approach and incentives, they will soon be more willing to defend your company and, in a time of crisis, this can be a great differentiator before the external public and even your competition.

It opens space for doubts and suggestions.

One of the consequences of the effect we have just mentioned is that the employee, feeling more belonging to the company, also has more freedom to answer his questions and propose improvements in the organization as a whole. 

In a moment of crisis, every suggestion is valid and can be the difference between stagnating and falling, or rising towards success. In addition, this also works to clarify any doubts that employees may have, avoiding rumors and speculation, and also makes it possible for the company to grow and improve based on everyone’s suggestions and criticisms.

Sometimes, having a different view of who lives the day to day of the organization, may be all you need to get out of a difficult situation or solve a strategic problem.

Engages employees.

When you invest in internal communication and open space for your employees to get closer to the reality of the company, you also allow them to engage more with the reality of the business and actively participate in it. It is important to identify people who have this type of behavior more evident and make them help your business even more. 

Having this knowledge is very important when choosing spokespersons for your organization or to disseminate strategic information about your business, which can be an incredible differential in times of crisis.

Engaged employees are great influencers for other employees, customers and suppliers, and can help spread your company’s culture, highlighting the organization’s strengths and preventing rumors from circulating and destroying your reputation.

Improves your company’s image.

When you open channels of communication in your company, it affects not only your internal audience, but also the external audience.

Showing that you care about your employees and their opinion and instruction, is a great differential in relation to the competition and is viewed with good eyes by the community in general. After all, who would not like to work, or who does not admire, a place where employees are valued, know the reality of the company and are heard, regardless of their position or position?

A company that cares about the opinion, training and information of all employees, certainly stands out before the community and the competition, and, being recognized for that in a time of crisis, can be a great advantage.

How to maintain good internal communication.

Many companies still do not invest in internal communication as they should because they think it requires a lot of effort, investments and is complex. However, this is not true. By applying some very simple actions in your company, you are able to facilitate communication and increase the effectiveness of all your actions. Check out some:

Bureaucratization of processes.

Keeping your company full of bureaucratic processes is something that will distance employees from each other and make them not feel inclined to engage with the company’s daily life . Just imagine how you would feel if, in order to make a suggestion or send a criticism to a certain sector, you had to fill out forms, talk to different people and send several emails. Wouldn’t you lose a good part of the initial motivation?

So simplify processes and make things faster and more accessible for everyone. And here we are not only talking about intellectual barriers, but also physical ones. Do not lock your teams behind many doors and people and do not hinder interaction within the company as a whole. Thus, you facilitate the circulation of information and knowledge and internal communication becomes much simpler and more fluid.

Speak as equals.

In your company, you value accessible communication that can be understood by all employees at different levels. Do not let messages be marked by factors such as hierarchy or differences in instruction, as this can compromise the effectiveness of your communication.

Always use simple language, which can be understood by all employees and which conveys your message quickly, without the need for second explanations. This will ensure more dynamism in your communication and prevent employees from making mistakes or being late in tasks due to misunderstandings and poorly explained things.

Don’t be in doubt.

If your employees, superiors or even customers said something that you did not understand, do not keep your doubt and let it become a bigger problem later, ask and ask for the message to be transmitted again, until it is done in a way that you understand. After all, many times, because people do not understand what is being asked, they end up making mistakes that hinder the progress of their tasks and compromise the company’s success.

And if someone doesn’t understand what you mean, don’t repeat the message again in the same way. Try to adapt the language, give examples or explain more clearly and make sure the person understands you.  

Don’t give in to impulses.

Do not communicate internally with impulses and fleeting feelings. Remember that internal communication is strategic and must be carried out as such. Think about the message you want to convey, make sure it is clear and following the company’s guidelines, think about whether this is really the best way to convey it, if it is really necessary, and then send it!

This will prevent you from creating friction with other people, that your message is misunderstood and ensures that it will really be strategic for the company. Communicating with a “hot head” or impulse drive is never a good idea.

Bet on different channels.

Another way to facilitate your communication and ensure the effectiveness of your messages, is not to keep them restricted to a single channel. If your company works, for example, with videos, email and news wall, use these three channels in a well planned way. Define which message is most appropriate for each of them and, whenever possible, disseminate it to all of them.

Just remember that each channel calls for a different communication in terms of language and approach and then you need to adapt your messages for each location where it is broadcast.   

Use body language.

Body language is extremely important to help strengthen your messages and ensure that they are more easily understood by people. Therefore, investing in it while communicating is essential to ensure more effectiveness for your strategy. Always maintain good posture, speak with confidence, look people in the eye and gesture in order to facilitate understanding of what you are saying.

Body language can be the differential of a successful internal communication strategy and is unfortunately lost when the company invests in certain channels such as a mural, newsletter and internal newspaper, for example. In this sense, investing in a video channel within the corporation is a great strategy, as this format keeps the human factor close to communication, without the need for constant face-to-face meetings.  

Channels that can be used for communication within companies.

And talking about communication channels, it’s time to get to know some of the most used in companies and understand the advantages of each one.

Notice board.

One of the most traditional ways that companies use to communicate with the internal public is the bulletin boards and news. These murals are usually updated with pamphlets and posters fixed periodically. Despite being relatively inexpensive, the murals have been losing space to other channels as they are not very attractive and require a great deal of updating. But if you still want to invest in a mural, the tip is to place them in places of great circulation, such as a cafeteria or common space and designate a collaborator in each area to be responsible for their periodic updating.

Email.

E-mails are also widely used in companies for internal communication. Through groups, which can encompass the entire company or just specific sectors, the messages sent are accessed by employees and will be effective if transmitted in the right way. It is worth remembering that e-mails are already quite common in companies and that using this channel, you run the risk of having your messages ignored, especially if your employees have difficulty engaging with the organization’s content. If you are going to invest in e-mails as a form of communication, remember to take care in the titles to ensure their openness and to elaborate the content of each one in an attractive and clear way, so that your message is understood in the best way.

Corporate TV.

A corporate TV is a great way to make your communication more dynamic and effective. Through news and information displayed on devices strategically positioned in the company, employees can stay abreast of everything that happens in the company and even receive training and distance training. If you choose this channel, the ideal is that each sector has a space to post its news and that the video format is used whenever possible.  

Internal video channel.

Today, the concept of Corporate TV has expanded beyond the TV sets themselves and it is possible to have something very similar to this, but using the employees’ computers, smartphones and tablets. Through an internal video channel, you have practically the same functions that you could achieve with corporate TV, but in a much simpler and more accessible way. 

Each sector would have its space to disseminate news and news and everyone could follow by their own devices. An internal video channel can still serve as a means for the company to offer training and qualification in a simpler way. It is worth remembering that in this case it is important to ensure the safety of the materials posted on this channel, as they may contain confidential and strategic information about the company.  

And for both TV and the internal channel, you will need a stable and secure platform to manage your content and keep it private. Our tip, in this case, is that you get to know Vídeos . This solution can be ideal for your company, regardless of its size and needs.

Intranet.

The intranet is also widely used when it comes to internal communication. Through these private networks, people can share files and confidential information and stay connected throughout the company. The intranet, however, is still somewhat limited in terms of communication and, like e-mails, can lose its effectiveness in certain contexts.

Internal newspaper.

The internal newspaper or magazine is yet another channel through which internal communication is possible. They can be organized to highlight the most important news and also have a space for each sector. However, as this is one of the most difficult and expensive materials to produce, due to issues such as editing and printing, it has lost space within companies, which increasingly want to save time and money.

Videos in internal communication.

Now that you know some popular communication channels and their advantages and limitations, you may be wondering which one is better for your business and which is really more effective. Well, this is a question with several answers, since it is the reality of your business that will define which medium is most appropriate.However, an increasingly strong trend within corporations, which has been shown to be increasingly efficient, is the use of videos in internal communication.

This is due in large part to the power of this tool, which goes beyond images and writing. Through the videos, it is possible to make your communication closer and more human, without the need for so many face-to-face meetings. Furthermore, videos make your message more understandable and quick to be assimilated, thus avoiding problems in relation to projects, misunderstandings about the company’s guidelines and ensuring that people can always be up to date on the reality of the corporation.

Through the videos on an internal channel and relying on a professional platform, you can also understand how the consumption of these videos is being, the engagement of employees and thus making your strategy increasingly effective.

Videos are fast, dynamic, can be watched at any time and on any device in a more comfortable and flexible way and certainly investing in this type of material is one of the best strategies when it comes to making internal communication effective.

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Did you understand everything about internal communication and the benefits it brings to a company? With small changes and investments, it is possible to greatly improve the way in which employees relate to the company and strengthen points such as credibility, trust and quality of the products and services offered.

And do you already invest in internal communication in your company? If not, it’s time to start. Using videos can be the best way to engage your employees and distribute your content effectively.

Remember that a good video platform will be essential to keep your content safe and ensure that it is distributed in the best way among employees!

If you already have an internal communication project and want to start investing in videos, talk to Oxford! We have a team of people ready to help you with your demand and establish an efficient internal communication culture in your business using videos.

And if you want to understand everything that videos can really do for your company first, check out the material below!