10 Ways to Improve Internal Communication

1. to improve internal communication ? ways Practical tips to: Increase employee engagement Improve company competitiveness Build stronger teams ? ? ? weekdone.com

2. ? Which one mistake do companies make the most in managing their employees? 41% 28% 11% 8% 6% 6% 100% Lack of communication between staff and management Lack of recognition and praise Lack of training and/or educational opportunities Lack of flexibility in work schedules Lack of authority given to employees Don't know/no answer Total

3. #1 Encourage sharing, input and dialogue Good internal communication flows in two ways. Teach people to give feedback on information they get. Create and reward open dialogue. Effect of employees understanding their overall role in business: Don’t understand 23% will work for success Understand 91% will work for success

4. #2 Have managers lead by example If you want your employees to communicate, make sure the leaders do it first. Tell your managers to share, comment, give feedback and answer. Effects of highly effective communication practices 47% 19% 4.5x 20% higher total returns to shareholders higher market premium times more likely to have highly engaged employees more likely to have less employee turnover

5. #3 Get employee buy-in Show and provide value to employees. Excite them about the cause of sharing information. Each year, in 100,000 employee companies surveyed: $37 billion total cost of employee misunderstandings $62 million average cost per company ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? x 1,000,000 x 1,000,000,000,000

6. #4 Make objectives and goals public Publish company, team and personal goals online and make them visible. Research OKR - Objectives and Key Results - a successful process used by Google. Time spent on poor communications and barriers: $5,320 Waiting for information $26, 041 $5,328 Inefficient coordination $5,328 Unwanted communications cumulative cost per worker per year due to productivity losses resulting from communications barriers. $5,008 Customer complaints $5,003 Barriers to collaboration $33,426 Time for productive work

7. #5 Use online tools instead of meetings Meetings are often the biggest waste of time. Reduce that time by using online team update and reporting tools. % of average workweek 28 19 14 39 E-mail Gathering information Communicating Role-specific tasks 100 Total Improved communication and collaboration through social technologies could raise the productivity of interaction workers by 20 to 25 percent. 48% of companies: "management had not effectively communicated business strategies to employees in a way in which they could "live it in their daily jobs"."

8. #6 Establish regular processes Gone are the times of big information blasts. People want granular real-time updates. Make communication a weekly process with defined rules. Effective at building shared employee experiences 4 in 10 - Office workers 2 in 10 - Remote workers ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂

9. #7 Train people in the language of sharing Writing well is a learned skill. Explain what it entails. Most people have to be trained to write for others, not themselves. ROI on improved organizational communications, % of companies and expected return 0-10% ROI in 20% companies 11-25% ROI in 30% companies 26-40% ROI in 20% companies 41-100% ROI in 30% companies

10. #8 Use mobile tools Most people get their information nowadays on the go. Provide tools for internal work-related sharing on phones and tablets. Search app stores for Weekdone app. Companies with highly effective communications are: 2x 2x 7x likely to use technology for internal communication likely to have documented communication strategies likely to use leading-edge communication tools

11. #9 Survey your employees To get answers and know current state, run regular employee surveys. Try out http://leadmarter.co to assess how your team feels and thinks. Weekdone.com - be a better manager Weekdone is a simple tool for leaders and managers to know and understand their teams better. It's a weekly employee progress report for managers and internal communication platform for teams. Use Weekdone to always know what your co-workers' think and do. Learn more at weekdone.com #10 Listen Listening is often more important than publishing information. Encourage input from all ranks.

12. THANKS FOR READING! If you found this interesting, feel free to share it! Sources: http://www.successfactors.com/en_us/company/press-releases/2011/global-survey-reveals-companies-still-fail- to-communicate-strate.html http://www.hrcommunication.com/Main/Articles/Internal_communications_is_a_powerful_generator_of_980.aspx http://www.towerswatson.com/en/Press/2013/05/just-over-half-of-employers-using-social-media-tools-for-inte rnal-communication http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/the_social_economy http://www.yourthoughtpartner.com/Portals/83405/pdf/fact_sheet_v.3.pdf http://www.holmesreport.com/opinion-info/10645/The-Cost-Of-Poor-Communications.aspx http://iprs.org.sg/sites/default/files/Internal%20communication%20effectiveness%20enhances%20bottom-line% 20results.%20Yates%202006.pdf http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertsher/2014/07/17/never-leave-internal-communications-to-chance-in-midsiz ed-companies/ http://accountemps.rhi.mediaroom.com/management-mistake