Although we perceive control as something threatening, a bit of it in internal communication processes does not necessarily mean a bad thing. You can let information flow freely, but the coordination of its circulation in the company brings significant advantages.
Coordination
The basic task of internal communicators should be the coordination of “all staff information” – messages provided to all employees and their separate, important groups, e.g. managerial staff, sales staff, customer facing staff, etc., depending on staff segmentation.
Mass communication sent to all employees should relate to the company’s strategy, major changes and the most important projects. Strict control over such information – their form and content, results from its large scale of impact on all employees. Additionally, in case of all staff information, we always have to assume that the message will go out of the company. It is necessary to follow a several-step verification and acceptance process before its publication to make sure all potential risks are mitigated and points of view taken into account.
The communication preparation process includes ensuring the message consistency and its compliance with the company’s communication policy, if there is one, or simply with the general tone of voice used by the company in communication with its stakeholders. Coordination of these actions belongs to the internal communicator. It is also good practice to restrict sending messages to all staff only to designated employees – most often to the management of the company and the communication team members. This prevents sending emails to such a wide group by mistake, but also blocks correspondence not previously agreed.
As a rule, internal communication tasks include supporting open communication in the organization, not blocking it. IC’s role is to encourage employees to express their opinions and create space for organizational dialogue. Sometimes, when informal communication hinders the work, for example, rumors interfere with everyday activities, the task of the internal communication is to provide employees with reliable information and to create space for clarifying doubts, e.g. during a town hall meeting.
Internal communication’s control functions
- Selection of information
Thanks to the information selection, e.g. announcements sent through company e-mail to the entire crew, the information overload is reduced by unnecessary messages. On the other hand, in the case of strategic information, it is communicated to employees through multiple internal communication channels, which helps attract recipients’ attention. Message overrepresentation among other company news makes it send out and be perceived as significant.
- Tools and channels
Facilitating the information flow in the company includes choosing the right communication channels for specific information and usage of the suitable communication tools. The major goal of internal communication teams coordinating the process is to make employees know where to look for the information they need. Corporate newsletters, intranet portals, mobile apps and dedicated publications organize the information world in the company.
- Message consistency
Company information provided to employees creates a specific image of the organization, helping employees interpret its actions in a broader context. Internal communication is responsible for the consistency of messages conveyed to employees with the company’s strategy. It explains and describes how the company’s goals are reached and plans are implemented.
- Communication support
Also employees from other company departments use internal communication support if they need to communicate their actions to the entire crew. They have channels and communication tools at their disposal as well as help in preparing the message itself. Any doubts and gaps are identified most often at the stage of preparing the content of information.
Coordination of communication in the organization has many advantages. Conducted by internal communication team helps in organizing information and delivering key messages to the right recipients, facilitating everyday work.
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