INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
INNOVATIVE PRACTICES
PART 2 – LEVERAGING
MEDIA EFFECTIVELY
Suhasini Kirloskar
Publisher
Winning Edge Magazine
Partner
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Edge partners
www.winningedgemagazine.com www.edgepartners.biz

MEDIA
Intranet
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Town Hall Meetings
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Newsletters
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Social Networking, Blogs, Linkedin Groups
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Videos
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Instant Communications
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INTRANET BEST PRACTICES
Jakob Nielsen recently announced the 10 best Intranets for
2009. His observations-
Intranets are being viewed more strategically and are getting

more direct attention from top management.
Team sizes for supporting the Intranets are getting bigger.

A number of companies are engaging consultants.

Integrating social media initiatives, Facebook like features, as

well as personalized delivery of information.
Language translations for maximum impact.
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Sharepoint growing in popularity as a platform.
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CREATING PUBLISHERS
In a number of organizations most content is not produced by a

professional group of writers or designers. Instead team
members across the organization create and publish content.
Internal communication managers Train these contributors with

the required writing and publishing skills.
Internal communications managers ensure training, tech

updates, measurement and recognition to make these publishers
effective.
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TOWN HALL MEETINGS
Communicators need to help leaders prepare:
Strike a balance between what senior management wants to

express and employees want to hear.
Speak to co-workers and understand their concerns. Help the

leader to prepare to address those.
Give the story, not just a data dump.

Try to include everyone – shift workers, out of office

workers, global teams.
Preparation differs for personal interaction or virtual meetings.
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NEWSLETTERS
Plan content that is ‘employee centric’ – what would

people like to read?
Tone needs to be believable.
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Aim for quality content, design and presentation.
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Make it simple, short and regular.
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LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA
Build relationships by establishing conversations.

Blogs or Linkedin groups can be used effectively.
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HSBC Bank Brazil's CEO blog started in 2005 and has since

been viewed more than 2 million times and accumulated 8,000
employee comments.*
Internal blogs linked from Intranet can be used for a variety of

announcements.
Should plan for two-way interaction.

Also stay in touch with alumni in these ways.

IBM, Toyota, Deloitte and Verizon are using social media

effectively – particularly important for building a rapport with the
Gen Y.
* Source-Jakob Nielsen ‘s Alertbox
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INTERNAL BLOGS
You may want to encourage internal blogs.

Create a set of guidelines and disclaimers, but also
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give freedom of expression.
Search for writers in the organization – Internal

Comms should support but not create.
Tone cannot be ‘corporate’, needs to be individual

and informal.
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VIDEO FOR INTERNAL COMMS
Deloitte member firms around the world hired 45,000 people in

fiscal year 2008, many of them straight out of college.
Recruiting and retaining top talent is the main focus area.

Communications strategy needed to include YouTube.

People’s tastes have evolved – want compelling content more

than an expensive and polished look.
Used it to create sense of belonging in a global team.

Featured men and women from many different levels in the

organization.
Distributed on Deloitte TV, but also created virals for YouTube

and Facebook.
*Source-Karen Frankola, Deloitte from Strategic Communication Management
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MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS
Develop a measurement model.
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Conduct surveys, focus groups and other

measurement exercises.
Choose appropriate metrics.
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Analyze results to plan future initiatives.
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Measure the ROI of your programs.
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Communicate your findings to senior key

stakeholders and ensure their support.
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CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Not just another management fad

Make it an individual and organizational

commitment to change, progress, and grow
Review best practices from time to time

Align your processes to fulfill the ever

changing legitimate needs of the customer
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