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Let’s get ‘To the Point’ of internal communications

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When you think of internal communications in a large- or medium-sized company, what comes to mind?

Perhaps an Internal Communications department that delivers corporate-level news, announcements and features to employees, helps with executive communications, publishes content on the intranet, etc.? While that’s often true, it’s only part of the story. Internal communications goes way beyond the activities of a corporate Internal Comms group, and includes:

  • Interaction between managers and their employees.
  • Internal social media interaction among employees.
  • Departmental team-building events.
  • Water-cooler conversations.
  • A greeting or “thank you” uttered in the hallways.

Open communication among employees is vital to any organization’s success, and a crucial communication channel is the one between managers and their employees. Such communication helps employees understand and align with divisional/departmental goals, feel engaged and connected to the company leadership, and understand their own place within the organization.

Watching the recent Sochi Olympics reminded me of another communication-related role of a manager: that of a coach. I figure-skated as a teenager (before going off to college and starting down the career path that led me to this blog) and my coach was a teacher, mentor and source of inspiration. And when my enthusiasm or confidence waned, my coach helped build it back up. That’s what good managers do for their employees.

Unfortunately, managers aren’t always professional communicators. So, just as managers need to be coaches for their employees, we in internal comms need to be communications coaches for managers.

That’s why I recently launched a monthly newsletter to all SAS managers called “To the Point.”

Remember: Keep it relevant, keep it fun and keep it "to the point."

I use “To the Point” to champion the role of communication within the organization, while offering tips, best practices and information on the various communication tools available to managers and their employees.

February’s issue was the third I’ve sent. So far, they have been well-received, prompting responses such as:

  • “Thanks for sharing … much useful information.”
  • “Great email! Thanks for sending it out.”
  • “Good message, Karen.”
  • “Lest you think your message isn’t heard, I am reading this again for ideas in communicating.”
  • “I just wanted to say that I think the ‘To the Point’ updates are really great.  Very informative. I’m an advocate for communication, so I will be tuned in to these updates to gather information to pass onto my team.”

Let’s face it: Nothing we produce in Internal Comms is guaranteed to reach employees as effectively as the daily interaction they have with their managers; therefore, I believe that by helping managers become better communicators, we strengthen communication throughout the company.

I’d love to hear your views on this topic. Please use the comments section below to share how you encourage communication throughout your organization.

Tags employee communications internal communications manager communications
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About Author

Karen Lee

Senior Director Internal Communications, SAS

Karen Lee joined SAS in 1984 as a technical marketing representative. In the past 28 years, Karen has successfully merged her technical savvy with her communications know-how to foster a sense of trust and engagement among SAS’ 13,000 global employees. In her current role as Senior Director of Internal Communications, Karen has embraced social media to find new ways to connect employees with one another and with company leadership. She has done this by challenging SAS executives to communicate with employees via individual blogs and live, virtual “chats.” In 2011, her team spearheaded the effort to create an internal social media network known as the Hub, which has created virtual communities for best practice sharing, idea generation and work/life balance. Within two weeks of its launch, the site had more than 3,000 registrants and continues to grow. Karen modeled her team’s structure around a 24/7 news cycle, covering company events with real-time updates on the global intranet site. Gone are the days of “holding the news” until the next day’s publication. SAS employees hear news as it happens. Even with a wired employee base, however, traditional communication channels are not overlooked. Karen established regular “coffee with the CEO” sessions several years ago in which front-line employees are able to interact with and hear about the direction of the company from its CEO in an informal setting. Before being named Senior Director of Internal Communications, Karen was Director of Communications Support for SAS' Research & Development Division. In this role, she found innovative ways to communicate with a traditionally introverted employee population. Using a variety of communications vehicles, such as podcasts and employee expos, she improved information sharing among customers, management and developers. Before becoming a SAS employee, Karen was a SAS customer, using the software for capacity planning in her job at Official Airline Guides. Karen has a bachelor's degree in computer science from Eastern Illinois University. Originally from Westchester, Ill., Karen currently lives in Holly Springs, N.C. Outside of SAS, she enjoys spending time with her family, enjoying the outdoors biking, running and traveling to find new adventures.

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