Ask most organisations what internal communications tools they use and you'll get a familiar list. A company intranet, some form of email bulletin, maybe a townhall or a monthly business update on Teams, and perhaps a new social collaboration platform that’s recently been rolled out. Sound familiar?
The truth is that many businesses have accumulated their internal communications toolkit over time. They’ve added new channels as the business has grown, new trends have emerged, technology has evolved, or someone has seen something in another business that’s worked well, and they want to replicate it. And with AI now transforming what these platforms can do, the temptation to jump to the next big thing has never been greater.
But, before you spend your budget on a new platform, it’s important to take a step back. Because the real question isn't what tools are out there. It's what does your business need?
What internal comms tools are available?
Internal communications tools typically fall into the following categories:
One-way broadcast channels: e-bulletins, newsletters, intranets, digital screens, and notice boards. These are great for delivering consistent operational messages, often at scale.
Two-way dialogue tools: townhalls, team huddles, Q&A sessions, surveys, focus groups, and online forums. These create the opportunity for conversations between leaders, teams and colleagues.
Social collaboration platforms: these enable peer-to-peer connection, knowledge sharing, and real-time collaboration. Many now offer an omnichannel solution, providing social collaboration tools, AI integration (often with some form of chat bot), and incorporating other more traditional channels such as intranets, e-bulletins and digital screen content.
In-person and hybrid events: annual conferences, team away days, or leadership roadshows. Often underestimated, these remain some of the most powerful ways to build culture and connection.
And then there’s the question of how to use AI. Almost every major platform is now integrating AI in some form; from automated content creation and smart search to translation services and even sentiment analysis that helps you to quickly understand how people are feeling. Used well, these features can save time and improve the relevance of what you’re communicating. But they’re only as good as the strategy behind them and the teams that are maximising their value.
An outcome first approach
Before you consider any tool, it’s important to consider:
What outcome do I want?
What problem am I trying to solve?
What does success look like?
Here’s a handful of the common challenges I frequently come across:
People don’t feel connected to the business or its direction
Employees don’t understand what the business priorities are or their role in helping to deliver them
Key operational messages aren’t getting through consistently
Leaders need to have greater visibility
Current channels don’t provide people with a voice
Teams are fragmented; they need better collaboration, both online and in person
Each of these challenges may require a different solution. Critically, what works for one business may not help another. So what should you do?
1) Be audience focused
Think carefully about who your people are and how they work:
Are they office-based, remote, hybrid, or frontline workers with limited or no access to a computer?
What’s the age demographic of your workforce and how do they typically consume information?
How tech-savvy are your people and what platforms do they use day-to-day?
What does your culture look, feel and sound like and what channels will help to reflect and reinforce it?
Ask and answer these questions first before you start exploring solutions, so you chose what’s right for your people and works for your business.
2) Size and culture matter
There is no one size fits all answer when it comes to internal communications tools. A 50-person business has different needs, and a different budget, to a 5,000-person organisation operating across multiple sites or countries.
Equally, your culture will shape what works. A highly collaborative organisation might thrive with a social platform that encourages employee generated content and peer to peer conversations. A more hierarchical business might need something that provides greater control over messaging and a lengthier sign-off process.
Be honest about what your organisation is ready for. The most sophisticated tool in the world won’t deliver results if your culture isn’t in the right place to support it.
3) Audit before you act
Before investing in anything new, take a proper look at what’s currently in place. A communications channel audit will help you to:
Understand what is and isn’t working
Identify gaps in your current toolkit
Avoid duplicating channels that are already serving a similar purpose
Build a case internally for change, backed by evidence
Make sure that you involve your people in the process. Surveys and focus groups will provide valuable insight into how your workforce feels about current channels, what they’d like to see more of, and where the pain points are. The results of these outputs will also enable you to set a clear benchmark that you can measure success against.
4) Take your people with you
Once you’ve chosen your tools, how you introduce them is just as important as the tools themselves. I’ve seen great platforms fail because they were launched without context, training, or buy-in. To avoid this, consider the following:
Run a pilot first. Involve a representative cross-section of your workforce before you go business wide. Use their feedback to refine the experience.
Build a network of champions. Identify enthusiastic advocates across your business who can help embed new channels within their teams and act as a first point of contact for questions.
Invest in the launch campaign. Treat the introduction of a new internal communications channel the same way you’d treat an external product launch. Create excitement, provide clear messaging on the WHY behind the change, and make it easy for people to get involved from day one.
5) Monitor, adapt and refine
Your work doesn’t stop once the channel is live. The most effective internal communicators treat their toolkit as something that evolves over time.
Set clear metrics from the outset. Think about: open rates, engagement levels, participation in events, employee feedback. Review these metrics regularly and if something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to change it.
Choosing the right internal communications tools is a strategic not a tactical decision. Get it right and you’ll have the ingredients you need to drive engagement, connection, and culture. Get it wrong and you’ll have an unused platform that confuses and frustrates employees.
Thinking about auditing your current communications channels or introducing new ones? Need someone to cut through the noise and make smart, evidence-based decisions about their internal communications channels?
Get in touch! Email liz@oakleycommunications.co.uk or send me a message on LinkedIn.