Many companies focus on communicating to their external audiences; segmenting markets, researching, developing messages and tactics. This same care and focus should be turned inside to create an internal communications plan. Effective internal communication planning enables small and large organizations to create a process of information distribution as a means of addressing organizational issues. Before internal communications planning can start some basic questions need to be answered.
· What’s the state of the company? Ask questions. Do some research. One form of research is to take a survey. How’s your company doing? What do your employees think about the company? You’re bound to get more/better responses from an internal survey than an external one. Some may be surprised by how much employees care and want to make their workplaces better. You may also uncover some hard truths or perceptions. This information can help lay a foundation for what messages are communicated and how they are communicated.
· What do we want to be when we grow-up? This is where a company can define the culture they want to represent the future of the organization. Most companies have an external mission statement. Why not have an internal mission statement? The statement might focus on customer service, continuous learning, quality, or striving not only to be the largest company in the market with the most sales, but to be the best company with the highest satisfaction ratings.
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