When it comes to being the dragon-slayer of effective internal communication in the workplace, you want to reap the richest, and most satisfying experience (input) in the least amount of time (output) possible, while still obtaining engagement from the other party.
Let’s think of this as a metaphor. In this case, the metaphor is a steak: you’re sitting at a white, linen-clad table at your favorite steak house. You’ve not eaten red meat for a year because you gave that up last year along with carbohydrates. Tonight is the night. You’ve had a longing for a tender, juicy piece of meat for a long time and here you are, sitting with a glass of cabernet on your right and a fork and knife on your left.
The steak arrives and your mouth begins to water. Taking a swig of Cab, you grab the knife and fork in both hands and go at it. But unfortunately, while edible, the steak is neither tender nor juicy. Instead, it is dry and hard to cut. Your fingers are becoming sore as you hold tighter to the knife and fork, sawing away, only to find the small piece of meat dangling from the fork tines is gray and tasteless.
What if instead, the steak arrived at the table on a sizzling plate, covered in herbed butter and as you stick the fork in you discover the meat so tender you could cut it with a spoon? You put the first bite in your mouth and there it is… salty, juicy, tender, and perfect. Just what you were dreaming about.
Internal communication can often be like a dried-out, overcooked steak; unappealing, difficult to wield, and very little satisfaction. But it doesn’t have to be!
Here are the seven best ways to manage effective internal communication from juiciest (highest reward and least amount of output) to driest (which we already know means blek.)
1. Fact-to-face: This will always be the #1 method for effective communication. In a face-to-face conversation, you can draw on any soft-skill, emotion, or body gesture necessary to convey exactly what you mean. Whether your intention is to persuade, sympathize, reprimand, celebrate, or explain, if you have the choice, do it in person.
2. Video conference call: I love technology! Whenever I am not able to meet in person or if I must facilitate a conversation with several individuals who are not collocated, my choice is always video conference. You virtually receive almost the same level of connection as in a face-to-face exchange.
3. Phone call: The best alternative when it is physically impossible to meet in person. Picking up the phone and placing a call is fast and efficient. But there are some drawbacks. It is difficult to judge the energy of the other person over the phone; their mood, their physical interest in the conversation (how do you know they aren’t rolling their eyes?) I also find it difficult to know when it’s my turn to speak and so I have a habit of unintentionally stepping on the other persons words. Don’t make my mistake! I now mitigate this by at least two seconds to determine if the silence is real or simply a pause.
4. Email: I know some people who don’t answer their phone and instead almost exclusively communicate by email. This holds true even if you work in the same building. It’s not my place to judge others. Perhaps these individuals consider this a better way to manage their time. They may see it as short, fast, and effective. However, how many times have you been befuddled with an email request or response because the context isn’t clear and there is no way to gauge the facial expression or body language, let alone tonality of the other person? I know I’ve at times completely misunderstood the tone of a message delivered by email.
5. Intranet: This is a wonderful tool allowing organizations to effectively engage their internal stakeholders with up to the minute information, events, policies and changes thereto, as well as manage team communication, and even client management. A good intranet system has revolutionized the way organizations communicate internally. Yay!
6. Instant or direct message: Considering the number of platforms we utilize on a daily basis with the option to send short messages, pithy or otherwise, this makes for a great resource when just a few direct words will serve the purpose. When needing to send an alert such as ‘do not push the red button,’ a face-to-face really isn’t necessary.
7. Blog. It really isn’t fair to place blogs at number 7. Blogs are a wonderful way of communicating information. But for purposes of internal communication in the workplace, on our juicy to dry scale, blogs are the least effective communication device. When information is intended to be shared internally as well as outside the organization, and the intention is to reach a wide audience, posting a blog on the company website is a great idea. But don’t just stop at blogs. All organizations should consider cultivating a library of easily accessed information in the form of industry white-papers, opinion papers, and even scholarly articles if the organization has on staff academics among their talent. Many of the best enterprise-level organizations do just this, including large enterprise such as Deloitte, FranklinCovey, and Gallup, as well as smaller consulting firms including Prosci, The Ledden Group, and North Highland. Information, in my opinion, is gold. I applaud these companies and the service they provide by sharing their brain-trust and wealth of knowledge with the world.
What is your preferred communication method for delivering information? Which do you like the least and why?
Do you know on average, global enterprises will each lose $62.4M annually due to dysfunctional internal communication?
Have questions on how to turn around your internal communication challenges? Feel free to reach out to me for answers or training. Hello@SarahSaintLaurent.com
