August 03, 2010

"I love Mondays" - the name of Effective Internal Communications

How to build Internal Communications?

Downward Communications:

1. Every employee needs to be aware of the organization's:

  • mission

  • vision

  • values

  • goals

2. Create a standard operating manual.

3. Hold regular management meetings - have meetings anyway in order to establish communication that there are no immediate problems.

4. Leaders and managers should have face-to-face contact with employees at least once a week.

5. Celebrate major accomplishments. This gives employees a sense of direction and fulfillment, and let's them know that leadership is on top of things.

6. All employees need to receive yearly performance reviews (goals for the year, updated job descriptions, accomplishments, needs for improvement, and plans to help the employee accomplish the improvements). Develop a career plan for each employee.

Upward Communications:

1. All employees need to give regular status reports to their supervisors.

2. Supervisors need to meet one-on-one once a month with their employees to discuss how it’s going. Such meetings cultivate an important relationship between supervisor and employee.

3. Solicit feedback. Ask how it's going.

4. Act on feedback from others.

5. Respect the "grapevine" - one of the most reliable forms of communication. Major "movements" in the organization first appear when employees feel it safe to venture their feelings or opinions to peers.

Basic Communications Plan

  • What are the key messages you want to convey?

  • To what key stakeholders do you want to convey the key messages?

  • Identify the best approach to reach each key stakeholder?

  • How will you know if you're reaching these stakeholders or not?

Result of Effective Internal Communications
(video below)

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