Article

November 6, 2024

10 Steps to Get the Best Internal Communication Software

Blair Williamson

11 minute read

Modern companies understand that putting internal communication software in place is crucial for running the business effectively. Employees need to be able to interact effectively using electronic means, no matter where they are located. This guide sets out what internal communication software is, what companies use for internal communication, and the steps involved to get the best internal communication platform for a company.

What is Internal Communication Software?

Internal communication software gives company employees instant messaging capabilities for group and direct messaging inside the organization. These tools strive to achieve the following goals:

Convenient
Easy to hold quick conversations with fellow team members
Intuitive

Internal communication tools make talking to fellow team members as simple as talking with friends and family members via text or on social media websites. Most employee communication software options are equipped with GIFs and emojis, so users can communicate naturally.

Internal comms also include company news and updates. This top-down information from the executive suite generally has a formal tone and is distributed to all employees.

Why Use Internal Communications Software?

Company internal communication software is considered one of the standard employee communication tools used by today’s businesses. It would be unusual to find a business that doesn’t use some type of company internal communication software. This collaboration tool provides companies with several benefits, including the following:

Speed: Instant messaging is a fast way for team members to stay in touch with each other. Employees can tell whether their message has been read by the respondent. This feature isn’t available when communicating by phone. Employees can leave voice mail messages but have no idea whether their message has been received by the other person.
Mobile: Modern business moves so quickly now that everyone is expected to be online and available to support their fellow team members. Employee communications apps are easy for team members to access and use no matter where they are physically located.
Informal: Email communication doesn’t have the same nuances as having a face-to-face conversation. It can be challenging for some people to find the right tone when sending an e-mail. Their tone can easily be interpreted as too casual or too formal. Instant messaging allows employees to communicate in the same way they speak in real-time, allowing them to get to the point quickly.
User-friendly: As an internal communication strategy, instant messaging is simple for all employees to use. It doesn’t take a long time for workers to learn. If they can use e-mail, they can use the internal communication platform to send and receive messages within their work group and to other users in the company.

Types of Internal Communication Software

There is more than one kind of internal communication software for business. Depending on the size and type of business, a company may choose one of the following:

Standalone Product

A company may purchase its internal communication software as a standalone product available with multiple integrations. A dedicated internal communication tool may be available with extra features employees will find useful, such as some VoIP capability, video calls, and employee directories. The product creates an internal communications hub for the company.

Embedded Product

Instant messaging is also available as a feature in other software for internal communication in the office. This type of functionality is often available in employee engagement software and employee intranet software. It is also available in virtual workspaces. Video conferencing software also has an instant messaging feature.

Industry-specific Product

Some internal communications tools are developed to meet the needs of specific industries. Manufacturers and field service companies will often have push-to-talk (PTT) software so that remote workers have more than one option for instant communication available. Health care companies will have HIPAA-compliant messaging software that ensures compliance guidelines are met.

A healthcare company may also use a clinical communication and collaboration platform, depending on the type of work the company is engaged in. Some general internal communications software companies are beginning to offer industry-specific solutions to cater to certain industries out of the box.

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How to Get the Best Internal Communication Software

When introducing internal communications software to a company, it makes sense to proceed in a logical manner. Here are ten steps to follow to get the best internal communications software for your company.

1. Assess and analyze any existing internal communications strategy

Someone in your company has probably already looked at investing in internal company communications software. Before starting a plan from the very beginning, take a look at any work that has been done on this type of project previously.

Even if the previous work was abandoned due to a lack of interest on the part of company executives, the expense involved at the time, or because company officials couldn’t agree on how to move forward, there may still be something that can be salvaged. Carefully review the previous work to determine whether any of it can be salvaged.

At the very least, the company’s previous internal communications strategy should be available. This information can be a good starting point for moving forward with the current internal communication project. It’s easier to update an existing document than to start writing a new strategy from scratch. It will take less time as well.

2. Define the goals and objectives for the internal communication software

Internal communication can easily get overlooked by a company. Outbound communication is often given much more attention, since it is used to engage with customers and bring in business. The way employees communicate with each other gets pushed onto the back burner.

This would be a mistake. Internal communication is vitally important for creating brand advocates for the company. It is also crucial for employee engagement and increasing productivity. No one wants to feel as though they are an island unto themselves at work, especially team members who are working remotely.

Employees need to feel as though what they do for the company matters and that they are helping the company to reach its goals. Regular contact with other employees and managers is important. Workers need to know they have others who support them in getting projects finished and who can answer any questions they have quickly.

The internal communications goals will get the best results for the company if they are clear and measurable. The more detailed the goals are, the easier it is to go back to determine whether the plan is on track or if it needs to be tweaked along the way.

Internal Communications – Measurement to Mastery

Enhance your internal communication strategy and learn the impact of communication done right.

3. Open up planning to multiple stakeholders in the company

There are times when one person in the company should be at the helm making decisions. Planning an internal communications software strategy is something that should involve multiple players, since a one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t be effective. It won’t address the needs of everyone in the workplace or achieve the employee experience results the corporation seeks.

Different teams will have their own ideas about what they want and need from the company communication platform. To discover what is on each team’s wish list, ask the team leaders and team members. Each of them may have different ideas about what is essential, what would be nice to have, and what they could live without. By comparing the different lists, a pattern should start to emerge of which features employees really want included their internal community communication software.

Sharing this information works well in larger companies. In a large corporation, internal communication demands are also larger and much more varied than for a small business. They are much too onerous for one person to manage by themselves. There is no reason why several people within the company can’t lend a hand to monitor multiple internal campaigns that are running concurrently.

4. Ask employees what is currently working and what is not performing well

Since workers are the ones who use employee communication platforms, it makes sense to ask them directly about how to improve them. There are several methods that can be used to discover the employees’ pain points about the company’s current system. Many employees may have never complained about it because they have never been asked about issues they have, or they may have incorrectly assumed they were the only ones experiencing that difficulty.

Round Table Discussions
The company can hold several round table discussions with different work groups. During the discussions, team members can be encouraged to share the aspects of the peer to peer communication software.

Employee Survey
The company could also conduct a digital employee survey asking questions about internal communications. Employees who take the time to answer all the questions could be rewarded by being entered into a draw for a gift card from a local shop or restaurant. This type of strategy encourages workers to take part and can improve employee engagement.

The survey questions should cover the following topics:

What methods do you currently used to communicate with your fellow team members?
How do you communicate with employees on other teams?
What aspects of your current internal communications are working? What would you say isn’t working?
What internal content do you like the most?
What internal content do you find the least interesting?

5. Choose a list of features for the internal company communication software

The homework is done. Now it’s time to make a list of the desired features for the internal communication software.

Accessible Across Multiple Devices

A company has employees who perform several different roles. There are some who work behind a desk, while others who spend their time on the road. Other employees deal with customer needs, and there are employees who work in warehouses or factories. The company’s internal communication software must be accessible to all of these employees wherever they work. Workers need to be able to use it on their cellphones, tablets, or desktop computers.

Two-way Communication

Along with company leaders broadcasting messages to workers, internal communications software should also allow employees to communicate easily with each other. Employees should be able to ask questions, give feedback, and share their thoughts with company leaders. This two-way communication builds trust between employees and executives.

Universal Search

The internal communication software must be equipped with a universal search feature. Employees don’t have time to get bogged down looking for the information and documents they need by having to remember where they originally saw them or where they are stored.

Universal search features allow employees to find the required information quickly. Some internal communication platforms also offer federated search. This feature gives workers the ability to search third-party platforms as well. Employees can look for information they require across OneDrive, Google Drive, SharePoint and other apps.

Personalized Feeds

The best internal communications software can be personalized to display content that each user will find interesting. With this feature in place, users will only see content that is relevant. They won’t spend time scrolling past content they don’t like to get to things they really want to see. This strategy saves time and improves employee engagement.

The feeds can provide content targeted to team members with specific roles within the company. They can be used for company announcements that only apply to specific work groups, or for push notifications that only apply to employees holding certain positions.

Social Collaboration

Employees should be able to share their ideas with each other, no matter where they are located. The internal communication software should make it easy for team members to share their ideas, work on documents, and hold conversations.

Employee Directories

Employee directories are an important feature of internal communications software. This feature allows employees to search for their colleagues by name or position. The search results will reveal their coworkers’ name, title, and a photo.

The directory creates a sense of community among everyone working for a company, especially if it is a large corporation. It can be especially helpful for employees who work remotely who may not have the opportunity to meet all their coworkers personally.

6. Research to find the right internal communications software

Once there is a clear picture of what the internal communications strategy is going to look like, the next step is to decide on a medium and channel for the company.

There can be more than one medium and channel for the company’s internal communications. Team bonding exercises and morale boosting is likely suited to private, customizable communication channels like closed social platforms and video conferencing events for specific groups of employees.

An intranet can often be the right solution for your company’s needs. Consider whether this type of online platform is a good fit for your internal communication needs. The vendor can advise whether their product has the features that are on your list of “must-haves” for your company.

Internal Communications – Measurement to Mastery

Enhance your internal communication strategy and learn the impact of communication done right.

7. Adapt the communications software to your brand

Once the decision has been made to deploy a certain software for your internal communication needs, it must be adapted to reflect the company brand. When employees log into the system, the software should show the company logo and the company colors. It could even show employees the company motto.

The software should be set up so that workers find it easy to navigate. If they have to spend too much time trying to find what they want, they will become frustrated and they won’t use it. This rule applies to the mobile app as well as the desktop version.

Take a page from your external marketing efforts and apply them to your internal marketing to get employees excited about using the new software. Let them know how the communication software will benefit them and how easy it is to use.

8. Load the content and avoid duplicates

Introducing new internal communication software is the perfect time for a company to review its content and discard any documents, videos, contracts, files, etc., that are duplicates or out of date. The content that is uploaded to the new communication system should be up to date so that employees can be assured that they are only accessing the latest version of what they enter into the software’s search function.

Taking the time at the beginning of the process to weed out old content will pay off later on. It would be embarrassing and could end up being costly for the company if it is using contracts or regulatory materials that don’t reflect current legal or government requirements. Sample letters and other documents could fall into the same category.

9. Collect feedback and make adjustments

Internal communications in a company move very quickly. There is a lot of data moving back and forth. To determine whether the company’s internal communication campaigns are successful, they need to be measured.

The first step is to make educated guesses about the effectiveness of these internal campaigns. Then collect feedback and compare it to the educated guesses to determine whether the campaigns are successful.

The internal communication software will provide reports for managers, so they can see whether employees are using the communication software, when they are using it, and how often. This is part of collecting data. The company should also conduct employee surveys regularly to ask them how they feel about the communication software they are using.

For best results, the employee surveys should be anonymous. Employees should be encouraged to be honest in their answers without any concerns about reprisals from their manager or a company executive. Along with being asked standard questions, leave some space for employees to share their thoughts in their own words. This is the best way to find out what they really think about the software they are being asked to use daily, what works well for them, and what could be improved.

LeaderShip Corner - LumApps Intranet Use Case

10. Make internal communication easy to read

Make sure the company’s important messages don’t get lost in the midst of something that looks like a long blog post. Many employees won’t take the time to read it if they are in the middle of a busy day.

The communication coming from the top down that needs to be read by employees on an urgent basis needs to be marked in some way so that it stands out from other content. On the other hand, executives don’t want to start using push notifications too often either, since these are generally reserved for emergencies.

The best way to solve this issue is to divide content into appropriate categories. Company announcements need to be labeled as such so that everyone knows they are important and need to be read immediately. Executives can help their employees by ensuring the company announcements are brief and to the point and don’t take up a lot of their workers’ time.

The CEO and other executives could start their own internal blogs that employees can read less urgently for business and industry news. This strategy makes it less likely that employees will miss learning about important company updates that affect them.

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