Internal communications (IC) is a vital function that connects, engages, and informs employees across an organization. But how can you build an effective IC team that delivers strategic value and supports business goals? In this article, we'll share some tips and best practices for creating and managing a successful IC team.
Before you start hiring or assigning roles, you need to assess your current and future IC needs. What are the objectives, challenges, and opportunities of your organization? How does IC align with them? What are the skills, competencies, and resources required to achieve them? Conduct a gap analysis to identify where you need to improve or invest in your IC team.
Communicators often start with tactics and solutions. But the starting point is to understand the business. What is the business trying to achieve? What are the priority goals for the next 3 - 5 years? How can effective communication help to support the delivery of those goals? Get curious about the fundamentals of your organisation before you dive into tactics or channels.
Start with Why versus Whom I've seen so many organizations work backwards. The conversation usually looks like this: - We're struggling, employees don't know what's going on, change is being resisted. What is the problem? - COMMUNICATIONS - Let's hire someone junior or without expertise to create a newsletter and write messages and have them report to HR. The problem is that a junior or nonprofessionals focus on tactics and do not yet have the business acumen needed to impact or influencing skills. If we start with the research (asking leaders what the business problems are and employees about their frustration points) and link these to values and strategy and hire professionals, we can use comms solutions to solve the problems faster!
Es muy importante leer el estado de la organización, negocio y el estilo/cultura interna. Además, conectar esto con el estado situación del país o región para hacer un plan asertivo para la gente y que le haga sentido. Luego conectar la estrategia con el plan de comunicaciones internas y cómo este potencia la estrategia. Por otro lado, buscar aliados internos es relevante para que que el plan de comunicaciones funcione y generen resultados que sean medibles en el tiempo. Al identificar las brechas vamos a tener claras las metas hacia donde avanzar y los recursos necesarios para hacerlo. Los medios deben ser funcionales a los desafíos. El tener claridad de los indicadores, es fundamental para generar un mapa de ruta adecuado.
LinkedIn Top Voice. CEO @ The Grossman Group | Internal and leadership communications
To build an effective IC team, you first need to start with crafting the IC strategy that's going to create value for your organization. This outlines how internal communications is going to support the organization's business outcomes. From there, you need to determine the organizational structure needed to deliver on your strategy. Once you know the structure that best fits the needs, you can determine the skill and competencies needed of staff to deliver. Resist the urge to develop a structure based on the people you have; rather, ensure you align skills with current needs. This may or may not include all the current staff you have and/or might require some staff with additional skill sets.
Además de evaluar necesidades de la CI en la organización, es importante diagnosticar cómo está el equipo ahora...si las personas que tenemos tienen skills necesarios para sus funciones, si la estructura actual está ayudando a obtener los resultados deseados, si la persona que lidera tiene esa visión de equipo y a dónde se quiere llegar en 3 a 5 a?os con el equipo de CI.
Once you have a clear picture of your needs, you can define your IC team structure. While there is no universal model for IC teams, as they vary depending on the size, culture, and complexity of the organization, some common elements include having a leader or manager to oversee the IC strategy, budget, and governance; a content or editorial team to produce and distribute IC messages and materials; a channel or platform team to manage and optimize the IC tools and channels; a measurement or analytics team to evaluate and report on the IC impact and outcomes; and a project or campaign team to support specific IC initiatives or events. Additionally, it's important to consider how your IC team collaborates with other functions, such as HR, IT, marketing, or senior leadership.
Para montar uma equipe de IC eficaz, é crucial selecionar membros com habilidades complementares em comunica??o, tecnologia da informa??o e gest?o de recursos humanos. Cada membro deve compreender profundamente a vis?o e os valores da empresa, além de ter a capacidade de transmiti-los de forma efetiva. A equipe deve trabalhar de forma colaborativa, planejando e executando estratégias de comunica??o que alcancem todos os níveis da organiza??o. A Intranet serve como uma ferramenta essencial nesse processo, facilitando a colabora??o e a partilha de informa??es em tempo real.
If the internal relations between members of the internal communication team are good, the tasks are clear, and the roles are distributed according to specialization and competencies, this will lead to integrated cooperation among team members, and rapid development in performance. Therefore, attention must be paid to selecting the team in a professional manner, providing it with permanent training, distributing tasks, establishing a policy of respect and relations between members, a charter of dealing, and avoiding conflicts of powers. Everyone participates in evaluating the impact, accepting its results, and cooperating in developing the necessary solutions to improve performance.
Acredito que devemos se atentar para selecionar a equipe de forma profissional, proporcionando-lhe treinamento permanente, distribuindo tarefas, estabelecendo uma política de respeito e rela??es entre os membros, uma carta de relacionamento e evitando conflitos de poderes.
Estabelecer um plano de trabalho estruturado, verificando recursos necessários e metas a serem atingidas. A partir daí montar uma equipe com expertise em cada área do projeto, com o objetivo de otimizar os tempo e maximizar resultados. Também contar com o auxílio de membros chaves de outros departamentos da empresa.
In my experience the team needs to be clear on the structure, reporting to top management, serving the businesses within the organisation and communication from the bottom up. I have even added structures at an employee level such as communication groups to listen to and report on the voice of employees.
The next step is to hire or develop the talent you need for your IC team. Depending on your budget and availability, you may choose to recruit externally, internally, or outsource some tasks. Look for candidates who have the relevant IC skills and experience, as well as the soft skills and cultural fit that match your organization. Alternatively, you may also want to invest in training and development programs for your existing IC staff, to help them grow and advance their careers.
Yeah adding to that mix of everything will give you the best results , different skills like creative content creator , creative video and photo , graphic designer Also having them in different age will give you the best result in the way of sending your message and the best digital channel I love my team
Uma Intranet eficaz é uma ferramenta indispensável para uma equipe de IC, agindo como o cora??o da comunica??o interna dentro de uma organiza??o. Ela permite uma distribui??o de informa??es rápida e eficiente, armazenamento de documentos acessível e facilita a intera??o entre os funcionários, independentemente de sua localiza??o. Com funcionalidades como fóruns de discuss?o, blogs internos e canais de feedback, a Intranet pode melhorar significativamente o engajamento dos funcionários e a colabora??o entre equipes.
La comunicación interna (CI) en una organización es la infraestructura que permite permear la cultura organizacional. Y quienes dedican su tiempo a desarrollar estrategias de CI pueden impactar mucho en la cultura de una organización. Trata de identificar a un equipo de trabajo que comprenda y viva los valores de la organización, que se comunique como la mayor parte de la audiencia, que comprenda el lenguaje formal e informal, y que sea flexible para entender que no siempre se tiene a todos satisfechos pero que su guía serán los KPIs y la celebración de una cultura propia en momentos clave. Algo muy importante es que el equipo tenga una relación cercana y de confianza con la alta dirección, para ser soporte mutuo en momentos de crisis.
To ensure the IC team is in the best position possible to foster effective learning and transparent internal communication, start by understanding the needs of the wider company/team. How do they best learn new information? What are their preferred modes of communication? Are the answers to these questions in alignment with how your IC team currently works? If not, create a new process to ensure your IC efforts are reaching everyone within the organization.
Assemble a team with different but complementary skills such as writing, design, digital media, and interpersonal communication. Ensure they understand the company culture and values.
Once you have your IC team in place, you need to set clear and realistic expectations for them. This includes defining their roles and responsibilities, setting their goals and objectives, and providing them with feedback and recognition. You also need to establish the processes and guidelines that govern your IC team's work, such as editorial calendars, approval workflows, quality standards, and ethical principles.
Desenvolver estratégias de comunica??o através da Intranet envolve mais do que apenas postar notícias ou documentos; requer a cria??o de conteúdo que ressoe com os funcionários e incentive a participa??o ativa. Isso inclui realizar pesquisas internas para coletar feedback, compartilhar histórias de sucesso de funcionários e criar espa?os para discuss?es abertas. A equipe de IC deve constantemente avaliar a eficácia dessas estratégias através de análises e feedback, ajustando-as conforme necessário para melhor atender às necessidades da organiza??o.
Em primeiro lugar, é fundamental avaliar a empresa, sua miss?o, vis?o e valores, para ent?o, criar um planejamento estratégico do que é necessário desempenhar. Neste primeiro momento, é importante que o profissional de Endomarketing atue em parceria com o time de Pessoas e a Diretoria, a fim de alinhar expectativas para a constru??o de uma equipe forte e engajada, que consiga promover e incentivar a cultura do negócio nos demais colaboradores. A equipe deve ser multidisciplinar, com profissionais de P&C, Diretores, Marketing e, quando necessário, também TI, para aplicar e facilitar o acesso às ferramentas necessárias para a condu??o do trabalho.
The leader must provide guidance, support, and direction to the team. This leader should be able to foster collaboration, creativity, and innovation within the team.
Una estrategia clara y recursos compartidos que permitan a todo el equipo obtener información y recursos de manera oportuna serán una buena base. Las reuniones grupales de alineación y los feedbacks individuales fomentarán la sinergia y la armonia del trabajo en equipo para el logro de los objetivos y cumplimiento de las expectativas que hayan sido previamente comunicadas.
One thing I have found helpful is to develop a communications grid that looks at all aspects of the business and plots key events. In this way IC can be planned more strategically.
Finally, you need to foster a positive and collaborative culture within your IC team. This means creating a sense of trust, respect, and belonging among your team members, and encouraging them to communicate openly and effectively. You also need to promote a culture of learning and innovation, where your team can experiment, learn, and improve their IC practices. And don't forget to celebrate your achievements and successes, and reward your team for their hard work and contributions.
I like to think of the Internal Communications team, as the guardians for company news and announcements. They are responsible for delivering critical information in a digestible and timely manner, and they are also responsible for rallying readers to get involved and celebrate when the situation calls for it. With all of this in mind, its important that the IC team has a culture of connection, trust and creativity because all of this will translate across through their messaging and work to the broader company. Taking time to support one another, reward hard work and celebrate eachother is equally important as doing so for the company - aka you need to practice what you preach!
This is very important and the IC team needs a strong leader who can motivate everyone, celebrate success and provide support and learning for everyone in the team.
Embora a Intranet possa ser uma ferramenta poderosa, a equipe de IC enfrenta desafios como manter o conteúdo relevante e envolvente, garantir a seguran?a da informa??o e superar a resistência à mudan?a por parte dos funcionários. é essencial que a equipe trabalhe de forma proativa para identificar e abordar esses desafios, promovendo uma cultura de comunica??o aberta e inclusiva. Isso pode incluir treinamentos regulares, campanhas de conscientiza??o e incentivos para a participa??o ativa na Intranet.
Detrás de todo este proceso, hay un gran trabajo de comunicación del líder, y el equipo mismo; esto implica interacción, construcción de vínculos y un constante flujo de datos e información. El impacto es notorio a corto plazo en la experiencia de los colaboradores y en los logros del equipo.
Las ideas de todos los miembros del equipo contribuyen al logro de los objetivos y a la innovación, por eso es importante apreciar e incorporar todos los aportes válidos y dar el reconocimiento oportuno a quienes se involucran. Toda estrategia comunicacional debería tener un espacio de flexibilidad para incorporar las ideas del equipo y no limitar a sus miembros a solo ejecutar instrucciones, lo que podría limitar su potencial. La comunicación abierta y honesta, así como el feedback oportuno serán la clave para el éxito.
Focus on relationships! In my experience this is one of the most important factors of a successful internal comms team. The team members must have the trust of key stakeholders from around the business in order to operate at the highest level, and quickly get all the info they need in a crisis.
Construir uma equipe de IC eficaz e implementar uma Intranet robusta s?o passos cruciais para melhorar a comunica??o interna de uma organiza??o. A Intranet n?o só facilita a dissemina??o de informa??es e a colabora??o, mas também desempenha um papel fundamental na constru??o de uma cultura organizacional forte e engajada. à medida que as organiza??es continuam a evoluir, a capacidade de adaptar e melhorar continuamente as estratégias de comunica??o interna será essencial para o sucesso a longo prazo.
Listen to the team. One of the most important lessons I had was during an M&A situation where my icomms team told me the plan I had put together with their input was great but too ambitious. They were right. We could have cut a quarter of the activities and been just as effective. I was so fortunate to work with a team who was deeply engaged and well networked- and I learned that I needed to trust their guidance and view. Joanna, Johanna, Mari, Nina- if you read this, yes I am talking about you. Thank you all.
Hay mucho que trabajar aún en las mal llamadas "habilidades blandas" de los equipos directivos, ya que se suelen crear escuelas, espacios de aprendizaje, etc. pero no se evalúa la efectividad de ello. ?Importante recordar que lo que no se mide, no se puede mejorar!
L'Afrique de l'Ouest conna?t également des changements sociaux significatifs, notamment en ce qui concerne les questions de genre, d'éducation et de droits de l'homme. Des réflexions sur ces changements et sur les défis restants pourraient être partagées.