Internal communication: advantages and tools

Within an organization, internal communication is essential to create a sense of belonging, develop cohesion, mobilize and motivate employees.

Internal communication goes well beyond the simple dissemination of information between hierarchy and employees, or between team members. It is about transmitting the values and culture of the company, and of engaging employees so that they all work together to achieve the company's goals and succeed in completing its global project.

Do you want to improve internal communication in your company? Discover the benefits of internal communication as well as the tools to implement it.

Understand what internal communication is

Internal communication is the process of sharing information and ideas within an organization. It can take many forms, ranging from formal communications, such as meetings and memos, to informal communications, such as conversations between colleagues.

The types of internal communication in business

• La downlink communication comes from management or management and is aimed at employees. The objective is to transmit strategic information, guidelines, goals, or results.
• La bottom-up communication As for it, it refers to information transmitted from employees to management. This is particularly the case for feedback, suggestions or an expression of a need.
• Horizontal communication or transversal concerns exchanges between employees at the same hierarchical level or from different departments.
• La informal communication brings together spontaneous exchanges between colleagues and makes it possible to strengthen ties, create a friendly climate and a flow of unofficial information.

Effective internal communication is based on a good balance between these different types of communication.

Communication channels

In the context of internal communication, you can use three types of communication channels.

• The Verbal channel is the one for meetings, presentations, and telephone conversations. It allows fast, rich and direct exchanges.
• The Electronic channel includes emails, instant messaging, the intranet, collaborative platforms such as Wimi or videoconferencing. It facilitates teamwork, allows you to keep track of exchanges and is relevant for quickly reaching a large number of employees.
• The Paper channel concerns memos, reports or the various displays within the company. Ideal for official announcements and the presentation of detailed and structured information, it is recommended for communicating within a common space such as company premises.

What are the benefits of internal communication?

Here are 5 benefits that show why internal communication is so important.

1. It brings corporate culture to life

Internal communication is necessary to transmit to employees the values of the company, its history, its vision and its objectives. It makes it possible to give meaning to the company's strategy, it brings the corporate culture to life and it encourages employees to adhere to it. It aims to ensure that everyone takes ownership of the company's objectives and allows the development of a group dynamic.

Internal communication also contributes to the development of the feeling of belonging that pushes employees to surpass themselves and to provide quality work and/or service.

2. It helps to avoid tensions and conflicts

Within a company or a team, good communication is the key to avoiding tensions and defusing conflicts. Indeed, by cultivating transparency and honesty about what is happening in the company, you avoid rumors, misunderstandings and confusion that can generate a climate of concern, and harm the good atmosphere and the productivity of your employees.

3. It is essential to do your job properly.

Formulating clear and precise instructions is also a form of internal communication. Managers and project managers must be able to effectively transmit their instructions and communicate customer requirements clearly and accurately in order to be understood by all employees. This is an essential condition to ensure that the work will be done well and to avoid mistakes.

4. It helps to motivate and involve employees

Internal communication is also about a manager who congratulates his team for the work done. Valuing the efforts and skills of your employees is an essential way of communicating in business. By recognizing everyone's efforts and involvement, and by thanking them regularly, you motivate them to continue their efforts, to be more involved and you thus contribute to promoting employee engagement and the well-being of your employees in the workplace. And happy, fulfilled, and engaged employees will be more productive and more successful.

5. It keeps the workforce loyal

Another advantage of internal communication: employee loyalty. An employee stays in a company because he is satisfied with his salary, because he appreciates his colleagues and because he likes his missions, but also and above all because he likes the company for which he works. He recognizes himself in the values she promotes, he feels good there and that is why he wants to stay there.

Thus, by using all aspects of internal communication (informing, valuing, transmitting, motivating), you manage to retain your employees, to federate them and to reduce staff turnover.

Internal communication tools

Do you want to communicate internally, but you don't know how to do it? Here are 6 internal communication tools that you can implement in your organization.

1. The newsletter

Simple to set up and inexpensive, the newsletter is the ideal tool for communicating regularly with your employees. Every week or every month, you can send company news by email to all staff. In addition to messages from management, do not forget to give a voice to employees, to highlight the projects carried out, etc. The content is as important as the form: in addition to the text, do not hesitate to add photos and videos to make it pleasant to read and entertaining.

2. The welcome booklet

Here is an essential document to welcome a newcomer. The welcome booklet should briefly present the company, its vision and values, and should provide practical information (site map, organization chart, rules of procedure, etc.) to the new recruit. It is an essential tool for successful integration.

3. The Intranet

More expensive to set up, the Intranet makes it possible to gather information, official documents (job descriptions, leave requests, etc.) as well as tools useful to employees. It is managed either by the communication department or by human resources.

4. The display

Timeless, signage is an effective internal communication medium. Placed in a busy place such as near the coffee machine, in the canteen or in a meeting room, a poster makes it possible to easily and simply disseminate various information to all employees.

5. The corporate social network

Here is a fairly recent internal communication tool. The corporate social network is a collaborative tool complementary to the intranet. After creating their profile, employees can exchange instantly, propose their ideas, share information, easily contact a colleague or manager, etc. It is very popular in teams that are geographically dispersed and allows them to communicate in a friendly and less formal way.

6. The meeting

While it is important to organize it well and not abuse it, meetings remain an effective internal communication tool. It makes it possible to bring together the members of a team or a department in order to send them important information in person and thus to collect their opinion directly. These are important moments to discuss news and the functioning of the company, but also to congratulate the teams or talk about the problems encountered.

There you go, you now know the advantages of internal communication and the tools you can put in place to communicate effectively with your employees. It's up to you to play!

Best practices for building an effective communication strategy

To boost your business through effective communication, follow these few best practices.

Start by identifying your business needs and setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Defined) goals to monitor your progress and measure the impact of your actions.

Next, identify your target audience by segmenting your collaborators according to their roles and departments, and then adapting your messages and communication channels to the needs and preferences of each group.

Diversify channels to reach all of your employees and favor interactive channels, such as the Wimi platform, which promote exchanges and participation.

Create relevant and engaging content, without forgetting to vary the formats (articles, videos, infographics, podcasts, testimonies, etc.).

Finally, measure the effectiveness of your strategy by monitoring key performance indicators (email opening rate, number of visits to the intranet, engagement on company social networks, etc.) and analyze the results to refine your strategy.