When is the last time you assessed your internal communications plan? Do you have an internal communications plan? The importance of creating an evolving strategy for communicating appropriately through all levels of your organization can’t be overlooked.

According to the Talkfreely blog, “When a strong employee engagement communication plan is in place, it guarantees staff loyalty, motivation and productivity.” That tells us just how important a well-planned and executed internal strategy is for keeping the wheels moving within your company. So how do you create an internal communications plan? Here are a few tips for getting started:

  1. Bring a variety of perspectives to the table. Involve key stakeholders from different areas and levels of management to get a well-rounded view of how your employees feel and what they will expect and respond well to.
  2. Consider your employee base. Who is your target audience? What do they care about and find important from a day-to-day perspective and also the grander scheme? What are the best ways for communicating with employees?
  3. Be clear about your motives and your expectations regarding your newly thought-out internal communications strategy. Make sure you’re creating calm and not chaos by being direct and answering the “why” that is likely going to circulate upon implementation of your internal strategy. Make your business objectives and goals clear and explain how you expect to achieve those goals.
  4. Once you have your plan in place, be willing to evolve. Times change, people change — and your employees and company are not immune to social growth. Make sure you revisit your communications plan once or twice a year to ensure relevancy and success.

Once you’ve come up with your who, what and why for your internal communications plan — whether you’re adding pizzazz to an already existing plan or starting from scratch — you will want to create deliverables you can send out to implement your strategy and create a buzz about it. You will again want to consider your employees and whether a targeted approach is necessary or if one large campaign makes more sense. The Grossman Group notes, “A well-coordinated use of multiple voices and channels will be needed to ensure maximum impact.” So, make sure you’re involving your stakeholders from start to finish — planning to implementation of your strategy — so they can weigh in on the varying ways you might want to get the word out.

Just remember, an internal communications plan is the best way to create streamlined vessels of communicating from leadership down. It’s a good, or rather GREAT, idea to focus on your organization’s internal mission and how best to communicate with every person you hire, not only from their first day on the job but through their time with your company. And, having an internal strategy has proven to create more happiness all around — so why not give creating an internal communications plan a go?