Internal communication plays a prominent role in the success of companies. In addition to maintaining team cohesion and alignment, it fosters employee satisfaction and motivation. Therefore, to achieve such positive results, you need to apply the best practices and also the best internal communication tools.
We have already discussed practices a few times in other posts. Therefore, today our focus will be to present you with the 6 main internal communication tools, how they work, and what their advantages are.
1. Email
Email is still one of the most widely used internal communication tools within a company. So consolidated that it has become, it is seen as commonplace in companies: many employees already deal with it on a daily basis:
According to research, about 92.5% of companies use email among their internal communication tools.
Advantages
Practicality: it does not require much effort and allows you to communicate with practically any employee.
Accessibility: it is possible to check it from home or on the go via smartphone. For this reason, email is especially useful for remote workers.
Disadvantages
Promotes unproductivity: how many times have you spent hours clearing your inbox? On the other hand, if you don’t do this, it will soon become impossible to locate a specific message.
It is not completely secure: many people have the habit of keeping important information recorded only in email. In addition, it can get lost amid other demands and priorities.
2. Intranet among internal communication tools
This system allows the dissemination of company-related information with restricted access, via the web, to registered users. When well applied, the intranet allows you to centralize information that would otherwise be disseminated through other internal communication tools, such as bulletin boards or company newspapers.
Advantages
Centralization: it becomes much easier to locate and retrieve information at any time. It is also possible to integrate various departments from different locations.
Disadvantages
Technical complexity: there may be some difficulty in integrating the intranet with other systems used by the company.
Engagement: especially at the beginning, a lot of encouragement is needed for employees to develop the habit of accessing the intranet daily.
Bonus: How to boost internal communication with Corporate TV?
3. Bulletin Board
The bulletin board is probably one of the oldest internal communication tools on this list. And even with all the technologies that came after it, it is still widely used. There is no secret here: important announcements and news are printed and posted in high-traffic areas, such as corridors or the company cafeteria.
Advantages
Cost: depending on the volume of information, the maintenance cost of the bulletin board is low, providing inexpensive communication with the entire company. Furthermore, the bulletin board is versatile and can therefore be placed in practically all environments of the organization.
Disadvantages
Visual simplicity: the bulletin board is very simple, not very dynamic, and not very attractive. Generally, it is not efficient for internal communication because it is often ignored by employees or quickly becomes outdated.
Maintenance: the process of maintaining the bulletin board can become costly in medium and large-scale scenarios. Due to its lack of dynamism, it requires announcements to be posted one by one, which in some cases makes its use unfeasible when there are multiple locations.
4. Corporate Social Network
Social networks have had such a huge impact on the way people communicate that they have even been incorporated into the corporate environment. Thus, the CSN (Corporate Social Network) emerged among internal communication tools.
It favors more horizontal communication, bringing different areas of the company closer together. Access to these networks is exclusively internal, so do not confuse it with the use of social networks for external communication and marketing.
Advantages
Engagement: due to people’s familiarity with traditional social networks and also thanks to the visual appeal of this tool, less effort is required to achieve full team adoption.
Versatility: it allows posting project updates, incorporating different types of media (photos, videos, files), besides offering the possibility to hold chats and allow interactions among company members.
Scalability: there are not many limitations on the number of users on a CSN. Therefore, a company can easily implement this solution without worrying about what to do when the team grows.
Disadvantages
Greater need for control: since the CSN lies right on the threshold between formal and informal communication, it may be necessary to monitor and control its use, mainly to ensure that no employee is using this resource inappropriately.
5. Printed or Digital Newspaper
The newspaper, whether printed or digital, is an interesting avenue among internal communication tools to disseminate important company information to the entire team. An interesting aspect of the newspaper is that you can create different sections with varied themes.
There might be a section to discuss company results, another to talk about an event or training, another publishing texts by the employees themselves…
Advantages
Ease of production: once the newspaper template is ready, basically anyone can use the editable file to create the upcoming editions.
Distribution is also very easy: the printed file can be delivered individually to employees (don’t forget to print a copy for everyone!), while the digital one can be sent via email.
Disadvantages
Cost: in the case of the printed newspaper, over time, the cost of its production can reach a considerable amount. That is not even the biggest problem, however, as we know that after some time, this material ends up being discarded. This represents a major waste of company resources.
Slowness: considering communication as a “two-way street,” where it is also necessary to listen to the internal audience, the newspaper ends up being a very slow option. If an employee sends a question or request through the newspaper, it may take a month or more to be addressed. News can arrive outdated.
Space limitation: the newspaper is probably the most limited tool on this list. It generally has between four and eight pages at most. Within these pages, there is a maximum amount of information that can be disclosed. The next edition, for feasibility reasons, may take weeks to come out. In other words, you need to carefully select what will be disseminated through the newspaper.
6. Corporate TV
Corporate TV is the youngest and most innovative communication tool on this list of internal communication tools. Despite this, this tool has great potential to eliminate common internal communication difficulties, such as engagement, scalability, versatility, agility, among others.
Advantages
It is a form of active communication: Corporate TV brings information to the employee instead of waiting for them to seek it out.
It is attractive: especially when compared to printed media, Corporate TV is much more visually appealing. You can use it to disseminate content in the form of images, videos, and audio anywhere, even across multiple branches. Internal communication can be centralized, ensuring up-to-date information.
No limits: you can reach all your employees with a single Corporate TV. Or, if you prefer, you can create a system with multiple devices. Regardless of the quantity, the real secret is the placement of the equipment.
Low technical complexity: compared to intranets and corporate social networks, the implementation and maintenance of Corporate TV is much simpler. Therefore, it does not require an internal IT team.
Disadvantages
Requires infrastructure: you need to be able to connect the devices in the positions where you intend to place them. To implement corporate TV, you need electrical infrastructure, TV mounts, and, depending on the case, some type of protection for the device.
Among the 6 internal communication tools we listed, which one does your company use the most currently? And which one do you think brings the best results? Leave your opinion in the comments of this post!
