Trying to predict the future of the workplace is tricky, especially considering what the last two years have brought us. But common sense and research both suggest remote is here to stay.
In fact, recent surveys gathered by McKinsey report that employers now offer 58 percent of Americans the opportunity to work from home at least one day per week.
Another 35 percent of respondents report that they no longer have to commute to the office at all.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. But distance also means organizations must be more vigilant than ever in communicating openly and effectively with employees.
With that in mind, streamlined internal communication has never been more important. Here are some 2023 trends to help keep your internal communications effective and efficient.
Be More Personal
The key to effective communication doesn’t lie only in what you say but how you say it—and in which format.
Long, tedious messages are overwhelming. So keep things simple: be informal when appropriate, or shorten your messages and make them simpler.
Text can be laborious. It’s often faster and easier to verbally explain something than it is to write it out. So try video messaging. A short, simple video can explain your point much better than a mile-long batch of text.
Illustrations, images, and video snippets also make communication more personal, engaging, and help with clarity.
And don’t just limit yourself to emails. Try expanding to other platforms that might be more appealing to your younger workers, like Slack, for example.
Email Usage
Hot new communication platforms seem to pop up every week, yet none of them ever completely replace email.
The reason? It’s flexible and easy to use. And it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
Email is flexible because you can easily customize the way you send messages, which allows you to tailor them to your audience and their needs. You can also personalize their experience by adding images, links, or videos that make the message more impactful.
And because email is easy to use and conveniently available to almost all devices, it’s a great place for employees to get up-to-date information without having to navigate multiple websites or apps.
The bottom line: Email is here to stay. Use it wisely.
Automation
The workplace is becoming more automated and digital by the day.
And why not? New features like email automation and workflows save time while increasing efficiency and productivity. No wonder so many organizations integrate it into their day-to-day operations.
Onboarding, for example, generally requires new employees to fill out stacks of forms and manually submit them for review.
But with the help of email automation and workflows, manual tasks and follow-ups are done for you, thus ensuring a smooth onboarding process.
Employee Health
More organizations are beginning to invest in mental health support for their employees. Some do so by offering free mental health check-ups, reducing workload to prevent burnout, and even giving unlimited PTOs (Personal Time Off).
Others elicit ongoing employee feedback to keep a pulse on employee wellness and satisfaction.
So as an organization, what can you do to keep up?
→ Conduct regular surveys
What makes your employees’ jobs unnecessarily challenging? What could eliminate those challenges? Ask those questions, consider the feedback, and designate resources to eliminate roadblocks.
→ Solicit anonymous feedback
We’re used to giving employees feedback, but what if the roles were reversed? Allow employees to submit anonymous feedback on your performance.
Typeform questionnaires are a simple way to gather honest (and anonymous) feedback without employees feeling embarrassed.
→ Communication
Use empathetic communication and ask questions like, “Are there any roadblocks standing between you and your personal and professional success?” “Can I improve some processes to make your work easier?” “How can we prevent burnout?”
Communication Analysis Done Professionally
When people are overwhelmed with messaging, they start ignoring it.
How do you know if people are reading or ignoring you? You integrate the PoliteMail tool into Microsoft 365.
This tool allows you to measure, manage, and improve your communications strategy.
Communications teams using PoliteMail for at least two years report improved email metrics and better, more streamlined communication.
Summary
With nearly 58 percent of Americans going remote, clear, steady, and streamlined internal communication has never been more important. To achieve better results, personalize communication, improve automation, offer mental health resources, and start using the PoliteMail tool.
