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Snap – Internal Communications Solutions.
8
Hot Tips for Internal Communicators
Get employee engagement
I’ll just keep my head down and get on with my job?
Management should not to ignore the people side of change management. According to a Harvard
Business Review study, 70 percent of change initiatives are not successful because organizations fail to
manage the human reaction to change.
Engagement begins at the top and applies to all levels of management. Research shows that employees
tend to trust, and would rather communicate with, their immediate manager or supervisor. The
implication is that this level of management plays a vital role in communicating and implementing
change. Getting all levels of your management team involved in the planning and shaping of
communications will make them better project champions.
Engagement is not just for the management team, it is for the staff too. Engagement takes time and
patience. And you need to start at the beginning of the change process.
change. Key strategies, at this stage, include being open, honest and giving people time to express their
feelings and to come to grips with the implications of the change.
The second part involves being patient and ensuring staff are ready for the Exploration stage. This is
when you involve staff by asking them to explore the ‘what, why, when and how’ things need to be done.
This inclusive approach maximizes buy in and validates your staff skills. It encourages engagement.
Involving people and letting them take ownership drives acceptance and commitment. In addition, staff
often find innovative ways to make things work that managers would never have thought of.
Getting staff engagement often requires sensitivity, especially if there is bad news for some. Make the
best of difficult situations, even if this means acknowledging what has not gone well. Where there is
loss, (staff leaving or projects being abandoned) give staff time to grieve. Acknowledging loss gives
closure and allows people to move on.
If you are working on a project that has experienced communications problems you may want to signal a
radical change and commit to improving employee communications from this point forward. Once you
are certain of support for really effective and open internal communication, why not formally bid farewell
to the old way and welcome a new beginning with a celebration.
Tackle issues honestly and positively. Try to view circumstances dispassionately as emotions can cloud
issues. As staff become actively engaged in improving their circumstances, they will feel empowered and
positive.
Try these Snap Internal Communications Channels
Empower managers by targeting information updates to them ahead of their teams. This allows them to
think about how the message is relevant to their teams and provide appropriate context when the team
receive the message.
Snap Staff Discussion Forum and Snap Helpdesk can be a great way for managers to share ideas
and help each other in a secure interactive way.
Snap Staff E-Mag: Snap Staff E-Mag is a unique electronic magazine format that makes it easy for
anyone to contribute their own items. Use Snap Staff E-Mag to signal a radical change or celebrate
new beginnings. Since anyone can contribute, you can involve staff and encourage them to tell their
own stories about wins or how they have successfully embraced the change initiatives.
Snap Staff Discussion Forum: This is a powerful way of holding virtual meetings. Staff don’t need to
be in the same location and they don’t even have to say who they are. So you can involve people
and receive timely and honest feedback. Snap Staff Discussion Forum is also exceptionally useful as
a brainstorming canvas for focus groups. Get staff involved and keep them engaged.
Snap Employee Blog: Get with it and get key managers to blog about the change initiative.
Encourage staff to ask questions and seek clarification. Snap Employee Blog will help staff realize