Eight considerations when managing internal comms channels

Here are eight tips to consider that will help you manage internal comms channels effectively.

1. Who's listening?

Communication is by nature a two way thing. So it's important to know where your people are listening. If you're not communicating on the same channel, your message won't get through as intended. And... if you're not listening to the channel that your people are using, you won't hear their voice and could miss vital information or warning signs.

Remember: Listening is just as important as broadcasting information.

2. Do you have the overview?

An overview of your channels enable you to see what's happening. Outliers may be wondering why they're not hearing anything, or may feel frustrated because nobody is responding when they speak.

When you have the overview and a clear understanding of how people are communicating, you can ensure that people are picked up and re-directed if they're

off-course/communicating in unexpected ways.

3. Is there a training gap?

You might have invested in all the right tools. But, unless you know how to use them in the right way, it won't work. There needs to be a balance between the tool and the

teaching.

Sometimes people don't know how to listen - they might need to be advised on where and how critical messages are distributed.

4. Are your channels working?

If a comms channel isn't working, do some diagnostics and consider whether a different channel will be more effective.

5. Is silence really golden?

You can be sitting in an office listening to the silence and think that everything is okay.

But is the silence really golden, or are there conversations happening that you're not aware of? Are you listening on the right channels?

6. News? Or, fake news?

Mis-information and half-information easily spiral out of control - know your facts, and anticipate follow-on questions before you share.

Be aware that if something isn't clear to you, it won't be clear to your people. So gain clarification before you share.

7. Is it too noisy?

Comms channels can get noisy. If you have business critical messages, they need a clear route to cut through the chatter.

While the channel may be less frequently used, when it is, content should be clearly recognised as important.

Sometimes, you need to mute a channel to cut the chatter - not all information will be relevant or useful to hear across all channels. This is particularly the case in a crisis.

8. What's the context?

Keep an ear on upwards channels so that you're armed with correct context. Information without context is like a sole piece of a puzzle - meaningless.

I hope these eight tips prove helpful for you when managing your internal communication channels.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Join the conversation - get in touch on LinkedIn.