Internal Communications Deep Dive – Part 1 of 6

Overview of Blog Series

For my MBA program, I chose to take an elective course called “Directed Readings,” where the student picks a topic of their choosing and independently writes a thesis-like research report to examine that topic. The purpose of the course was to utilize a combination of academic and business research articles combined with my own interpretation and analysis to formulate a strong understanding of the topic. All quoted sources are appropriately cited, and I claim no ownership of any of the images used, which are also cited.

Completed during the Spring 2021 semester, my report focuses on best practices and strategies for internal communications. For the purposes of this blog series, I will break down the report into six sections. The topics for each paper are outlined below.

Part 1:

• Overview of blog series

• Introduction

Part 2:

• How internal communications drives bottom-line results

• Aligning internal and external communications

Part 3:

• Supporting Human Resources

• Leadership communications

Part 4:

• Crisis communications

• Multi-platform strategies

Part 5:

• Annual strategies and tactical communications calendars

• Creating compelling content

Part 6:

• Measurement

• Best practices

Introduction

Communications have always been a key element of any corporate strategy. But in today’s complex business environment, an organization’s success hinges more than ever on their employees’ ability to communicate effectively with their peers, partners and clients. And with the recent proliferation of remote working, it has never been more important for an organization to enable high-performance internal communications that keep their staff connected and aligned with organizational goals.

By internal communications (IC), we refer to any communication written on behalf of the organization (or a member of the organization) where the audience is the employees of that organization. As defined by SocialChorus, a leading communications consulting company, “internal communications is keeping employees connected and informed, and creating a shared understanding of company goals, values, and guidelines. Internal communications is critical for keeping employees up-to-date on a company’s latest initiatives, establishing a voice of authority and trust to combat rumors, and facilitating streamlined, clear communications among different departments.”[i] So for instance, a communication from the CEO, a newsletter, a communication plan for an HR process, or a company update about a key project/client/award. All of these are examples of IC.

The focus of this paper is to uncover the most effective strategies for internal communications in 2021 and the near future. The paper is divided into ten sections, outlined above. Taken together, these topics would provide a guide for any organization on how to set up an effective IC process, the best practices to follow, pitfalls to avoid, platforms to utilize, and much more. Each section will begin by posing a few key questions that will be addressed.

References

[i] SocialChorus, Charong Chow, “What is internal communications in 2021”, https://socialchorus.com/blog/better-internal-communications-for-your-workforce-now-is-the-time/