Tips to Improve Internal Communications

With the increase in hybrid work across the country and at the University, it’s more important than ever to stay connected to our faculty and staff. Having an internal communications strategy is key to increasing their engagement.

With that in mind, here are a few tips from business leaders in a Forbes article that can be applied when writing communication materials at the University:

• Streamline the number of communication channels
  Keep the flow of information simple. This ties back to using a cascade model of communication where messaging comes from senior leadership, which trickles down to managers and supervisors, and then to their employees. If employees are hearing from a variety of sources on a similar topic, they may get overwhelmed or stop paying close attention to communications.
• Take individual communication preferences into consideration
  Learn how your employees prefer to communicate. The easier you make it, the more likely they are to engage and produce their best work. Does an employee prefer email, texting, or a video meeting? Do they remember information better if you reach out to them in the morning vs. afternoon? The more you familiarize yourself with these preferences, the less time you can spend figuring it out every time.
• Be transparent
  Being transparent and authentic is an excellent way to build trust with your employees rather than withholding information and worrying them. Share what you know, what you don't know yet, and what the issues or obstacles you are working through.
• Meet regularly
  Meet with employees one-on-one or in small groups regularly. It’s important to have more personal conversations with people to increase engagement and build trust.

If you have further questions, reach out to University Relations at unews@umn.edu.