Setting up an effective internal communication plan

 Setting up internal communication is important for a company and its employees, but it's tricky. It's not something you can improvise; it needs a good structure. Here are some questions to ask (and their answers) to create an effective communication plan.


1-When to communicate?
Effective communication works over time. A company should create a yearly plan to share its strategy, get employee buy-in, build relationships, and develop a shared culture. This should be part of everyday communication.
This shouldn't stop more immediate actions based on external events, changes, or project launches. These important moments include: company reorganization, changes in leadership, launching a new product or key service, mergers or acquisitions, and economic layoffs.

2-How to segment employees for better communication? Should you tell everyone everything?
You shouldn't tell everyone the same way. One of the first steps in making a communication plan is segmenting your audience (by hierarchical level, for example). There are other, more precise segmentations to adapt communication for better effectiveness: differentiating employees involved in a project from those who aren't, or communicating by homogeneous work groups.

3-What to say?
Once the objective and target are set, you need to decide what message you want to convey. After an economic layoff, for example, you might choose communication focused on economic rationality, with an official statement like: "Competition has been fierce and results poor in recent months, so we need to match our resources to our activity." The message's form can be adapted to the audience. You won't communicate the same way about corporate social responsibility to office employees and senior managers. The former, often not very sensitive to the issue, mainly need information. The latter need to be convinced that the company's policy on the matter is the right one.

4-How to get your message across?
There are three main communication techniques. Direct communication allows for the greatest individualization of the message. This can be face-to-face meetings, personalized emails, or group meetings. Other methods easily reach more people, such as media communication (intranet, company newsletters, etc.) and "event" communication. The latter can take the form of seminars and conventions, but can also come from reusing internal actions specific to institutional communication (sponsorship, patronage, etc.).

5-Which media to choose?
In recent years, communication methods have greatly evolved. While "paper" media (leaflets, posters, company newsletters) are still widely used, electronic media now open up new possibilities for internal communication.
The intranet, in particular, has given internal newsletter writers more flexibility and responsiveness, and has facilitated interactivity. Video, now financially affordable and technically feasible, has also become more important. Integrated into an email or intranet, it allows for more vibrant communication. In all cases, the choice of media must take into account the target audience and the message to be conveyed.

6-For what effectiveness?
Measuring the impact of an action, especially when it has required a budget, is essential. This can involve asking the target employees, first, to see if they understood the campaign's objective and if they appreciated it and, second, to evaluate its impact on their behavior. For the most strategic campaigns, a quantitative survey (questionnaire) and qualitative research (small group meetings) will also help gather information. Internal communication in a company is essential for its good health. However, too much communication kills communication.

Indeed, an overload of information is harmful because employees will no longer be able to distinguish between useful and obsolete information. It is therefore necessary to find a balance in your communication strategy. In a time of crisis, it will be very important to put in place a strong communication policy, while in a period of prosperity, limited communication will be sufficient for the smooth running of the company.


Philippe Montant CEO ExeKutive.biz