We see a lot of businesses struggling to get their internal communication right, which can be frustrating for all parties involved. Outdated and inefficient forms of communication can not only prevent employee contribution but can cause knowledge gaps between teams which can significantly slow down collaboration and productivity. In fact, 28% of employees report poor communication as being the number one reason for not being able to meet deadlines according to Expert Market.
Real life examples to inspire you
So how can you achieve this increase in productivity through internal communications for your own business? We've listed below some of the best examples of internal communication done right for inspiration.
PlayStation. The internal communications of PlayStation Europe were in need of some quality and structural improvements. With so many messages circulating, they needed a well-organised, central location that all employees could easily access, as they had been utilising an intranet that was beginning to seem significantly out of date.
Employees in Europe have access to the new intranet that PlayStation has launched, named The Hub. The platform now hosts important company news and updates as well as internal messages between employees. The ability of PlayStation to quickly gauge interest with their team members and measure engagement has been noteworthy.
In-N-Out Burger. When it comes to their internal communication strategy, In-N-Out Burger is a strong advocate of an "open door policy." They are one of several organisations doing this to foster a more open and direct communication framework between leadership and their workforce.
According to this policy any employee, regardless of their rank within the company, is free to voice a question or problem and can escalate it as high as necessary if a solution cannot be reached efficiently. This implies that if a problem still hasn’t been resolved in good time, anyone can get in direct contact with the CEO. This encourages prompt feedback and constructive, actionable steps.
Hubspot. HubSpot wanted its staff to feel heard, much like In-N-Out Burger does. As a result, HubSpot’s Chief Technology Officer, Dharmesh Shah is the host of "Ask Me Anything" sessions. This initiative was designed for Dharmesh to take the time to answer any questions his staff members may have, so they are free to ask him anything and he will respond accordingly.
Initiatives like this show that HubSpot wanted to be as open as possible with their workers. HubSpot is renowned for providing exceptional customer service, but they also recognise the value of internal communications, transparency and being interpersonal.
Just Eat. Since many of us used the meal delivery service during the pandemic, Just Eat's growth has been spectacular over the past few years. Due to rapid growth, several aspects of the company needed to be improved and upgraded significantly, including their internal communications. Prior to this upgrade, anyone was free to email the entire business at any moment, with any particular request which made processing these messages incredibly arduous.
Now, messages are transmitted and read by the appropriate parties in the appropriate locations thanks to the streamlined communication structure that has been put in place. Just Eat's intranet receives 46,000 monthly hits and has a 79% positive satisfaction rating for its communication channels.
Deutsche Telekom. It should come as no surprise that Deutsche Telekom takes internal communications seriously given that it is one of the top telecoms firms in the world. Initially, they were having trouble coordinating and connecting their on-site and remote workers simultaneously.
By leveraging their staff app for regular messages and updates, they overcame this difficulty. Team leaders can create videos that their members can watch at their convenience. Important information still reaches its target without requiring everyone to be present at the same exact moment.
Lessons you can use from these examples
What can we learn from these shining internal communication examples? Crucially, these businesses place the same value on internal communication as they do on customer service. And that’s an important thing to note if you want to make your own internal comms a success.
Businesses can be guilty of overlooking internal bottlenecks because they are so focused on their consumers and sales goals. However, it’s clear from the examples above that investing time and effort into improving your internal communications will benefit your business across the board.
Think about the current state of internal communication in your company. Are there any existing silos that negatively affect productivity? Are channels of communication clogged with pointless communications that occasionally cause critical signals to get lost in the noise? Can staff rapidly direct inquiries to the appropriate parties, both within their teams and externally?
A good practice to implement is to simply ask your teams what is working and what could be improved. It's possible that calls aren't getting through to the proper individuals because your system isn't up to par, or that outdated technologies are reducing the transmission of messages. These are all easily fixable once the problem has been identified.
In short, don’t undervalue the importance of effective internal communication. You'll find that you have everything you need to successfully drive expansion when staff can cooperate together seamlessly in-house.
Damian Hanson is cofounder and Director of CircleLoop.
