22 Internal Communication Examples and Ideas to Try in 2024

Examples of Internal Business Communication

Good communication is an important consideration for long term business success. It is a key part of the company culture and has a bearing on how employees feel about their work. It feeds directly into whether your company will be able to attract and keep quality candidates on a long term basis.

1. Establish an open door policy

One of the best internal communications ideas is to create an environment where your employees feel comfortable approaching their manager to discuss any issues they may have. These issues may be directly related to something on the job or could be a personal concern that is having an impact on the employee’s work.

Good managers know that employees are not robots and that they may need a sympathetic ear and some reassurance that reasonable accommodation can be made during times when they are facing challenging circumstances.

The employee should also feel free to approach their manager to share their ideas for how to approach a task or improve the workplace as well. Reassure team members that there is no such thing as a “bad idea” and that all opinions are welcome as long as they are shared respectfully.

2. Develop digital forms to speed up the onboarding process

When your company is bringing in a new employee, there are typically a number of forms that need to be filled out. Traditionally, these forms were paper, and completing them was both necessary and time-consuming.

If these forms are available in a digital format, some of them could be potentially provided to a new hire in the pre-boarding stage. The company can still hold back on providing anything that must be seen only by employees until the official first day of hire, but some of the basics can still be looked after in advance. Once the new employee is actually made “official,” then the rest of the forms can be completed.

3. Make your company intranet fun to use

Using your company intranet should not feel like more work if your goal is to encourage your employees to use it more often. Make a point of adding your company logo and colors to it, and ensure that all employees know how to use it effectively. Give everyone some training when they join the company and offer refreshers often.

Not all team members who feel lost will speak up (even if they are invited to at team meetings). Some people prefer a self-directed approach, while others would prefer to have a designated person they can ask if they have questions. Give your employees multiple options so they know they can get help in the way that feels the most comfortable for them.

4. Use video as a regular part of your internal communication strategy

If you are looking for ways to keep your team updated about company news and developments which are essential for them to know, don’t be shy about including them in a video. Unfortunately, if you are relying on including this information in long email formats, you run the risk of losing your audience before they can interpret the message.

Some employees simply won’t bother to read to the end. Others will read to the end but won’t be sure exactly what they read, and others will misinterpret the message entirely. Put it in a video format and employees can watch it multiple times if need be.

→ Check out our complete guide for a complete Internal Communication Strategy

5. Be open with company objectives and goals regularly

In some organizations, the only people who have objectives to meet are the sales staff. Other employees only hear whether the company is doing well when the company president thanks them for their hard work at the end of the year.

When employees know what their employer expects them to achieve, they can commit their efforts to achieving the goals jointly. It is not expected that one person or one team is responsible for meeting the goals. Everyone can contribute toward the company reaching its goals; once they are met, the entire company can take credit for its success.

6. Create a company culture where employees are valued

The old idea of running a company where the incentive for someone coming to work was the paycheck at the end of a pay period has gone by the wayside. Yes, there are financial incentives for people to go to work, but there are other reasons why they choose to work for a specific company —your company! — as well.

Avoid creating an atmosphere in your company where your employees feel as though they are reaching for the proverbial carrot being dangled in front of them from a stick. If they behave in a certain way, they will be rewarded. If not, they will be “punished” by not being able to get better assignments to work on, ignored in meetings, or other petty ways to get back at the employee.

7. Conduct stay interviews as part of the company routine

The best way to retain great employees is to ask them what they like about their jobs and what the company can do to improve their work environment. If you want to improve the performance of team members who are considered “average,” do the same for them.

Schedule an interview with the employee’s direct supervisor, the HR director, or a company executive. Let the employee know that anything said during the interview is considered confidential and “off the record” so the employee feels comfortable about sharing anything they want to about improvements to the workplace. This is a place to find solutions; an employer can’t act on an issue if they aren’t aware of it.

8. Use employee profiles to raise productivity and connectivity between employees

This is one of the most innovative internal communication ideas you can introduce in your organization. According to a McKinsey Global Institute study, the average information worker spent approximately 20% of their time at work looking for information internally or tracking down colleagues who can assist with a task.

One solution is to use your intranet to add employee profiles. Encourage team members to include their title, who their supervisor is, what kinds of projects they work on, along with any special skills in their profile. The profile can also include their hobbies and personal interests. Fellow employees can find the help they need and coworkers they share interests with quickly.

9. Discourage employees from using email whenever possible

When email was first introduced, it was hailed as being a wonderful technological development that would save time and make communication more efficient. It may have worked that way in some instances, but as anyone with an email account can confirm, it also leads to a glut of messages that clog our respective inboxes.

Employees spent 28% of their average workweek reading and answering emails

The McKinsey Global Institute study mentioned above also found that employees spent 28% of their average workweek reading and answering emails. Instead of adding to the list of messages that a coworker has to sort through, employees should consider whether they can resolve a matter in a different way: sending a text, a private message through the company intranet, or calling their coworker on the phone.

→ Also read: Ideas to Improve Internal Communications for Retailers

10. Encourage casual internal knowledge sharing among employees

The idea that employees should stay put at their desks for the duration of their workday is no longer accepted by many companies. Instead, employees are encouraged to take lunch and coffee breaks during the day to stretch, get a change of scene, and to give their minds a break. This is one of the best practice for an effective team communication.

During these times, encourage workers to introduce themselves to someone they haven’t had a chance to meet yet while at the coffee machine or in the hallway. These casual conversations can bloom into something purposeful over the long term. A recent survey conducted by Farmington, Massachusetts-based market intelligence and advisory firm International Data Corp. revealed that Fortune 500 companies lost a minimum of $31.5 million annually simply due to failure to share knowledge.