What are the Most Important Internal Communication Channels?

If your company is small, you probably don't need to have internal communication channels beyond the usual ones: 

• CRM
• Email
• Meetings
• And others.

However, if your company has more than 50 employees, things will not be so easy and you will have to define the foundations of any internal communication strategy you define.

What are internal communication channels?

Internal communication channels are the foundation of internal communication. 

They are the channels, formal (such as a regular meeting) and informal (such as the coffee machine) through which communication in a company flows. 

In fact, one of the main ways in which management is committed to improving the organisation's internal communication is by adopting new channels (and improving existing ones). 

In this article we will review which are the main channels you should be using.

The most important internal communication channels

The internal communication channels are changing as new technologies or new circumstances such as teleworking appear, but right now the most common are:

• Email
• Meetings
• CRM
• Social events
• Internal chats
• Suggestion boxes

E-mail

This is the most common means of communication and is used for upward, downward and horizontal communication. 

Generally, it is used to notify issues, and even manage tasks, although many of the latter should be carried out in a task manager or CRM. 

We at efficy use it, among other things, to inform the department how the day's objectives have gone. 

Meetings

This medium is another classic. 

Perhaps too much so. 

Not by chance, according to one study, 66% of the average employee's working time is wasted in meetings, emails or calls. 

Meetings are often a good method for top-down and horizontal communication, but not so good for bottom-up communication. 

To make it work in this direction too, we at efficy do 1-on-1 meetings. 

You can read more about them in this article.

CRM

CRM is one of the most important channels for internal communication. 

Replacing (and evolving) intranets, it is the right place to centralise all company communications:

• From customer and partner information.
• To project management and organisation.
• To team agendas and many other areas.

For this channel to be effective, it has to be adaptable to the specific needs of your company, and that makes efficy the best. 

If you want, you can try it right now. 

Social events

Especially nowadays, with the rise of teleworking due to COVID, holding social events, even if telematically, to replace coffee chats is important. 

The key to making these events work are:

• Optional assistance.
• During working hours.
• They should be entertaining.
• That they have a clear objective.

We, for example, organise yoga classes every week and every so often we have a coffee with Cedric, the CEO, to talk about how we are doing and chat about concerns of all kinds. 

Internal chats

Both for team and task management and for keeping in touch on a day-to-day basis, chats are critical. 

Even if you work in an office with your colleagues and can get up and consult with whomever you want, asynchronous communication is still a rising value. 

If you telework, then even more so. 

We use Teams for this function, where in addition to discussing projects and chatting with each other, we greet each other every morning.

However, there are other alternatives. If you want to know more, you can do so in this article on internal communication tools.

Suggestion boxes

Although it seems an almost anachronistic communication channel, it is often a good way to give feedback to management without fear of reprisals. 

Ideally the organisation should be open to conversation and there would be no problem with giving opinions or complaints to anyone, but often this is not the case. 

And even if you are trying to define such an organisation, change takes time, and a suggestion box can be very useful in the meantime. 

The keys to making it work are:

• Easy to access.
• Be anonymous.
• That the management really takes the suggestions into account.

Those 6 channels are the best for good communication.

But if I had to put them in order, the most important for me would be email, and the second, a CRM. 

Specifically, one as flexible and adaptable as efficy. 

If you want to try it, you know you can do it today. 
 

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