Managing Channels And Why Less Is More in Internal Communications

As an internal communications specialist, I often hear things like, “We need to get this message out to everyone ASAP!” or my personal favorite: “Can we make a video about our team—just because we’re awesome?”

In this blog post, I’ll explore how internal communications professionals can develop a strategic channel plan that enables intentional, effective communication. You’ll learn how to decide what’s truly worth communicating and why less is more when it comes to communicating inside the organisation.

Create an audit of your communications channels.

The first challenge is to figure out how to say "no" to communicate everything and anything to everybody - because not everything needs to be told to everyone. This is where a content audit comes in. Start by clearly defining the purpose of all your communication channels. This begins with understanding what’s working well and what isn’t. Conducting an internal content audit is a fundamental first step. By reviewing how each channel is used, who is using it, and how it’s performing, you can gain crucial insights into the current state of internal communication across your organization—and identify areas for improvement.

Begin your audit by listing all the channels currently in use and documenting how each one is utilized. Then ask yourself: What value does this channel provide? How effective is it? What is its intended purpose—and is that purpose fulfilled in practice?

For example, if your team uses a weekly email newsletter to share updates, check whether employees are opening and reading it. Are the click-through rates low? Are important messages being overlooked due to an over-heated inbox? Perhaps the content would be more effective as a short video update or through a messenger tool like Slack. By evaluating the actual performance and purpose of each channel, you can make more informed decisions about how to optimize your internal communication efforts.

In my case, I identified three major channels that each were the top performers of internal communications channels: intranet, newsletter, and Slack.

Other channels, such as Town halls, All Hands, Ask Me Anything sessions, email distribution, department meetings, and notifications were secondary channels ​​used only in certain scenarios, for a specific audience or message type.  

Get organizational buy-in

Now that you know what channels are the most effective ones, you need your organization’s and leadership's buy-in.

One way, which proved to be helpful to me, was to ask for a 10-minute slot at an All-hands (and you can easily do that if you're the one who is also planning the All Hands). 

I came up with a presentation that clearly showed how each channel works as well as provided a few tangible scenarios and shared some metrics and data to emphasize each channel's relevance and performance. 

Even though you have the leadership's buy-in, you might still experience push-backs from employees, but change is a challenge for most people. Just make sure, that the change happens gradually and with enough context for people to get used to the new communication framework.

Simplicity is key and less is more!

I have been working for both big and small companies for more than 7 years, and I have learned one thing; effective internal communications is not about being everywhere all the time. It’s about being intentional with the way you communicate. In fact, simplicity is key and less is more is often more effective than mass-produced messages. 

Besides, sticking to my Channel Strategy, I always ask myself and my stakeholders the following questions; Why is this message important, to whom is this important, and how does the audience consume information/content? 

This not only ensures a more focused and streamlined communications effort and a shorter decision-making process, but it also ensures that your employees don’t feel overwhelmed by notifications, emails, links, and a constant feeling of having to reply to this and that. A "less is more"-approach will contribute to a more connected and informed workforce because you aren’t plastering the entire communication landscape with information and content all the time.

This blog post is not exhausting the topic; I'll write more about how you organize your internal communications channel landscape soon!