As a partner or director, how effective do you rate your internal communications?
Ask yourself, “How well do we keep our staff informed of what’s happening in the practice?” Give yourself a score out of 10, 1 being poor and 10 being excellent.
Now the acid test. Ask your staff the same question!
Based on my 25+ years of being an employee, a director and now a consultant, the overall answer was partners/directors gave themselves a much higher score for communicating than what the staff did!
How to make your communications more effective
Firstly, ask the above question to EVERYONE in your firm. You could do this anonymously or ask them to give their scores and possibly suggest some improvements, if improvements are required.
Secondly, don’t assume that just because you send out a weekly or monthly staff newsletter, that everyone reads and fully digests it. Perhaps do some ad-hoc research and ask some individuals, “Can you name/describe one article which featured in the last staff newsletter?”
As far as internal communication goes you have to get people engaged in the communication so they listen, learn and act (when you need them to).
Choose different communication channels
Relying on just one form of communication is also not going to be sufficient, as we all absorb information in different ways. Some people like to hear things, others like to read, whereas others will want to question and discuss. You need to have several communication forms happening on a regular basis, to improve your internal dialogue. This can be achieved by using a mix of the following activities:
- Staff newsletters – emailed to everyone, but as and when we start migrating back to the office from home working, have some printed copies on notice boards, in kitchen areas, by the photocopier etc. Give people a chance to browse through whilst they’re doing something else.
- Monthly/bi-monthly meetings – whether face to face or via video calls. By bringing everyone together on a regular basis you make sure everyone receives the same information at the same time (thereby cutting down on Chinese whispers), but you also give everyone a chance to ask questions, which others may also find useful.
- When social distancing allows, implement six-monthly or annual staff away days – these can be used to communicate the firm’s strategy, progress being made towards business objectives, new products/services that are being launched, sharing success, and so on. Including a social element, be it just lunch or dinner, or perhaps an afternoon or evening event can also help staff and partners/directors to get to know more people in the firm.
- Office intranet or packages such as Microsoft Teams – not only can these be used for storing and sharing key information about the firm, they are another tool which can be used to help improve communication to all staff.
- Encourage charitable activities – such activities help raise money for local causes and you can achieve some great PR as a result. However, they are also a great way of bringing people together for a common purpose and add the element of having fun, which is important for any organisation. Happy staff usually creates a more productive culture.
- Social media – encourage staff to get involved with the firm’s social media. Get them to like and share relevant posts which the company has made, but also to like and share interesting (work-related) articles which other members of staff have posted.
Improving internal communications takes time. The trick is to be consistent, if you say you’re going to do something, then do it, but also ask for feedback from staff.
The most effective forms of communication are where you allow staff to engage, ask questions, and come up with solutions that are fed back to management and the rest of the team. The information which is communicated shouldn’t just be intended to be one-way.
