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Internal communication is not something that entrepreneurs generally think about when developing their business idea for the first time. They see a pain point where they want to help people, and they form a team to solve the problem for customers.

You will see many inspirational quotes about a great deal that solves a customer's problem.

You don't see many quotes about how important internal communication is for a team.

It is an overlooked part of building a business and because of this, business owners tend to bump against walls.

• They are not reaching their monthly goals
• They only realize that a team member is unhappy if they adhere to their two-week notice period
• You can't pick up an idea and prevail because team members don't know how to work together to bring it to life

If you have problems with internal communication or are an accomplished business owner who wants to avoid these problems, there are 10 ways to improve internal communication.

(NOTE: Visit Recess.io to learn more about improving your internal communication!)

# 1: Create a schedule for internal broadcast email

Just like the broadcast emails that you send to your email list, you send a different version to your employee email list. Your employees need to know what's going on in your company and they don't mind being a reader. If you don't tell them what happened in a big meeting, they'll never know.

Give your employees a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual summary so they stay up to date. For example, plan to have an internal employee newsletter sent to Recess every Friday at 12 noon (written by the CEO).

# 2: Use data / evidence to prove why what you do is important

If you tell your team about a new idea (whether it's a product, offer, campaign, new rental position, etc.), don't tell them why you think it's a good idea. Show them the hard facts that prove it's a good idea.

Just like your customers, your employees will buy what you can prove – not what you think is a good idea. For example, you can show them why you should post on Instagram twice a day by introducing a competitor who publishes great engagement so often. Or you can show them how much better a marketing team does after participating in a coaching program so they know why it is important to them to take the program seriously.

# 3: Use metrics to show the success or failure of initiatives

Employees can understand that your most recent email campaign has increased product sales by 25%, that you have an average of 1,500 new social media followers per week, or that customer support tickets have increased by 10% in the past month have dropped when you achieve this clearly.

Using metrics to represent the success (or failure) of new offerings, products, campaigns, strategies, etc. improves internal communication by letting employees see what worked and what didn't.

# 4: Don't write as if you're writing a textbook

When you send your internal email newsletter or other message to employees, you don't want long paragraphs and little separation between text. Nobody wants to read this … nobody.

Make sure you split your paragraphs consistently (you can take this article as an example) and use headings and bullets to convert long content into blocks (note the headings in this article, too). Make your internal emails reader-friendly with Recess.

# 5: Summarize all events or required meetings for all employees

Understandably, not every employee can come to every event. Off-site events, conferences, coaching programs and even important meetings will not always include your entire team. If so, you want to bring everyone up to date.

Summarize what happened at events outside the company, what a team learned at a conference, how the coaching program conveyed a new kind of productivity, and what changes or goals can be expected after a certain meeting (e.g. a meeting with only executives who did not attend other employees)

# 6: Use action items to ensure that meeting discussions are translated into action

After your meetings, each employee should have a list of the action items they need to take to achieve the meeting's goals. This improves internal communication by ensuring that every employee understands what to do after the meeting.

Employees who know exactly what to do after the meeting can do this. Knowing exactly what is required of them will ensure that this will be done and that you will be able to record and implement meeting ideas.

# 7: use marketing materials to convey points (infographics, videos, etc.)

You read that right – use your marketing materials for your employee newsletter or other internal communication contact points. For example, at your monthly all-hands meeting, you can create an infographic of how well you've achieved your goals in those 30 days.

Videos can be used to send employees updates on the current status of a project, a feature in a large publication that they want to be notified of, or to notify them that there is a slight delay in a project that they are is currently working on it. Don't be afraid to use marketing materials to easily convey your point of view to employees.

# 8: Make goals and KPIs available to everyone

Your goals shouldn't be a secret. Improving internal communication means that everyone knows what they're working towards. What sales goals is the team targeting for this quarter? What is a successful month for the social media team? How much revenue is an email campaign likely to generate?

If your employees cannot immediately see and understand your goals and KPIs, how can they help you achieve them? These are not only your goals, but also your goals.

# 9: Send weekly or monthly updates to investors

Board meetings are not held regularly. A lot has happened until the next board meeting, and you'll spend most of your time telling your investors what's going on instead of getting an idea of ​​what to do about it.

Instead of starting over at every board meeting, send investors a weekly or monthly update so they know exactly what's going on. When it's time to meet, you can quickly summarize everything and deal with the good things – their advice on how to improve.

# 10: Ask employees how they want communication to improve

And of course you want to ask your employees where they see problems in your current internal communication and how they want to solve them. Your employees will know if they are always up to date on new partnerships and products and can tell you what they need to fix.

You may need an internal newsletter that informs you about events in the organization that do not require input, but that require expenditure.

Good internal communication is no accident. It happens on purpose when a team can receive updates from its CEO, read a reader-friendly newsletter, and seek advice from its trustworthy investor body without worrying about updates.

(NOTICE: Visit Recess.io to learn more about improving your internal communication!)