How To Keep Employees in The Loop: 5 Helpful Solutions to Increase Communication

How can an organisation perform well when employees don't even know what's going on? Well-informed staff members are the norm. Employees tend to fill in the blanks with their assumptions if they don't get the details they need, including answers to their questions. You have a problem if that's the case, as a lack of information can lead to a spiral of silence. To guide business in the best approach, you must ensure that people within the organisation are in the loop about any changes. At present, there are countless options to choose from as far as employee communication is concerned. Here are the top five choices: 

1. Have Weekly Virtual Meetings with Staff

Weekly check-ins offer the chance to meet with your employees and learn more about their progress. Everyone should be present, even those who work remotely. Discuss anything worth discussing, such as corporate goals/objectives/structure, policies and procedures, expectations in the staff's roles, feedback on performance, and organisational change. Since regular meetings can descend into boredom, it's recommended to shake things up by working in shorter time frames, called sprints or scrums. Conduct your meetings first thing in the morning, as people are more alert. If one person is absent, don't worry; they'll catch up with what happened next time. 

2. Install Digital Signage to Grab Employees' Attention

With the rise in popularity of dynamic digital content, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the corporate world is passionately embracing digital signage. Digital signage is an electronic device to display images, video or multimedia content for informational purposes. The content can be personalised in real-time via integration with back-office systems. Digital signage can be used in several ways, including:

• Announce a promotion. Share the news with your team to congratulate a newly promoted employee. It's an excellent way to get people excited and boost their morale. A message on interactive display signage is the best option.

• Share inspirational quotes. Encouraging quotes from the world's brightest minds remind staff members to boost their determination. Just find the right words. 

• Use memos to share ideas. Through memos, you can issue instructions, provide suggestions/recommendations, inform decisions, request help, etc. Instead of sending emails, you can share an update via the digital screen. 

• Deliver emergency messages. Emergency notifications range from fire alarms to major power failures. With digital signage, you have a reliable communication strategy, as updated information is displayed on various screens throughout the organisation. 

In case you didn't already know, you can create a corporate TV channel for digital signage to share targeted announcements. The computer receives the content from a CMS or a communication platform, sending the data to the screen. 

3. Take Advantage of Instant Messaging

All your employees, regardless of location, can communicate quickly and effectively. Using a corporate/personal tablet for instant messaging is a popular solution, although phones work well. Some platforms enable one-on-one chats between parties, so the conversations can be put on record, meaning you have a line of defence in case of dispute resolution. Instant messaging works best when you need immediate answers or want to start a conversation with a group; soon enough, you'll have reduced your inbox overload. Employees don't need to ask the same question again because they can search their chats. Moreover, they can get answers from high-level employees whom they wouldn't typically email or approach in person. 

4. Implement An Employee App for Deskless Workers  

Using an employee app, particularly a mobile version, you can grab team members' attention faster than any email. It's designed to make work easier. There are numerous apps for communication to choose from, and although this sounds exciting, deciding on one or the other can be daunting. Ensure the platform increases your messages' reach, enables social interaction, and collects feedback. At the end of the day, you want to be sure your employees are tuned in. Deskless workers want more options to carry out their tasks, and you can hardly blame them because they don't have access to a firewall intranet. But they have mobile devices. 

Create courses, training materials, and essential knowledge to spark employee engagement, which ultimately leads to job success. In the workplace, people want to express matters that are important to them, so carry out polls and surveys to help individuals voice their feedback - you'll know exactly how everyone is feeling, so there won't be any unpleasant surprises. An app for communication improves relations and reminds everyone they're part of the same team. Examples of nice-to-have features are: 

• Personalised content

• Intelligent communication assistant

• Automated attention boosters

• Statistics

• Push notifications 

Keep in mind that no one likes to be micromanaged, so don't breathe down employees' necks. Equally, when you open up a communication channel, you invite people to become present, available, and accessible, so make sure to do the same. 

5. Use Email Effectively 

Indeed, there's been a shift to chat tools, but not for all communications. Contrary to popular opinion, email isn't likely to be replaced any time soon because it enables internal communications to design, segment, and measure messages in a way that can't be replicated. You can rely on email communications knowing that everyone is familiar with the platform, but make sure to have the right security in place, namely encryption technology. Emails should be addressed with a certain degree of professionalism, so be clear, concise, and pay attention to grammar and spelling errors. Emojis are fine as long as you don't overdo it. 

Wrapping It Up 

With everything that's going on right now, it's normal to feel overwhelmed. However, daily workplace routines go on as usual. If communication is done right, you'll see that people are more receptive to change, more willing to participate, and more likely to give their absolute best. Modernise your company - in other words, get it to be more open and collaborative. Technology now makes it possible to send quick messages, so you can reach staff members, individual departments, and even managers. Spend time, effort, and expense reaching out to your greatest assets; when everyone across the organisation is working in a cohesive manner, greater success can be achieved.