Three Ways Communication Should be Flowing in Your Organization & Touchpoints to Make it Happen
In our work at C1C, we often hear from leaders that their organizations struggle with effective communication. They say employees often report feeling out of the loop about what is happening in the organization, don’t always get the support and guidance they need to do their work, and that they lack safe and inclusive avenues to share their ideas and concerns.
We recommend that organizations develop a comprehensive communication plan that outlines the vital touchpoints needed in the organization and the who, when, what and how of each one.
Organizational communication can be a difficult problem to understand and solve. To be effective, communication needs to flow proactively across different channels and reporting lines to ensure people feel in-the-know about decisions that affect them and that they have the information they need to do their jobs each day. Because of this, it is important for organizations to build a foundation that sets expectations and allows employees to communicate regularly and in a way that ensures important information is consistently transferred.
To help with this, we recommend that organizations develop a comprehensive communication plan that outlines the vital touchpoints needed in the organization and the who, when, what and how of each one to make them successful. These communication touchpoints can include everything from all staff meetings to smaller team meetings to employee surveys to individual one on one conversations. Below I’ve outlined three ways communication should be flowing in your organization and touchpoints to make it happen.
Communication from leadership to staff. The first way communication flows in an effective organization is from leadership to staff. Leadership should communicate with staff both broadly about the organization to announce and explain decisions as well as with their direct reports to provide them with direction and feedback for their work. It’s common for information about organizational changes to get stuck at middle management and not reach frontline staff causing them to feel out of the loop with company happenings. Holding All Staff meetings, Team Meetings between all managers and their employees, as well as one on ones between managers and each of their employees are some touchpoints that are part of an effective communication strategy from leadership to staff.
Communication from staff to leadership. In addition to leadership communicating effectively with staff, it is imperative staff have safe avenues to communicate their needs, concerns, and ideas to leadership. Companies that foster upward communication are better able to make decisions that positively impact their employees. Having these upward avenues also helps to improve trust, improve workplace processes through innovative staff ideas, and shows employees they are included and valued in the organization. Including regular one on ones and deploying employee experience surveys can both be part of an effective communication strategy to ensure employees are heard.
Communication between teams and individuals. One important communication avenue that is often forgotten in organizational communication plans is from team to team in different areas or departments in the organization. Depending on the structure and function of the organization, teams from different areas of the organization likely need to coordinate with each other to perform their jobs effectively. By intentionally identifying codependencies between interdepartmental teams, organizations can better facilitate coordination and solve problems in the organization. This proactive communication can also build a sense of camaraderie and decrease any competition that might otherwise occur between the groups.
Here I’ve outlined some of the critical ways communication needs to flow in an effective organization. If you have questions or would like assistance with your organization’s communication plan please feel free to reach out!