Communicate the right way

Email

Best for focused, short, succinct messages. Emails are efficient and effective and can be opened at the receiver’s convenience. Be specific in your subject line. Remember with email you may not get a response, so if one is required another communication method may be a better option.

Instant Message 

Best for quick questions which need little discussion, and short team communication items. Instant messages are also opened at the receivers’ convenience and you may not get a response right away.

Individual Meeting 

Best for any conversations that shouldn’t take place in a group setting, or do not apply to the whole group. These meetings include new employee check-ins all the way to performance related conversations. Individual meetings can be formal or informal. Being face-to-face will strengthen relationships and is reserved for topics more serious than an email or instant message.

Phone Call

Best for any topic that requires a discussion and the person is not available face-to-face. If your emails are going back and forth on the same topic, it’s probably time to pick up the phone. Placing a video call is a great option as well.

Newsletter

Best for external communication or non-urgent internal updates. Newsletters that come in the mail vs. email are more likely to be opened and read. This is a form of communication often sent monthly or quarterly that is fun to read and contains more general updates, a variety of topics and personal elements.

Monthly Team Meeting

Best for collaboration and problem-solving. Provide current updates focused on alignment between team issues and organizational goals. Provide employees with clear actions and expectations as a result. If there is no problem to be solved or discussion needed see if another communication method would be more appropriate and effective than a team meeting.

Strategy Meeting

Best quarterly and/or yearly to keep individuals and departments focused and aligned to their organization wide goals and expectations.

Employee Forum

Best for “all staff” meetings for CEO updates to employees on the internal and external environment and provides other important information. You may have heard these called a forum or a town-hall meeting and attendance should be mandatory. In larger organizations where this is virtually impossible we have seen a rise in video email communications from CEOs to their entire staff.

Employee Communication Board

Best for visual, non-urgent information and messages related to a department or area. The boards provide a specific area to display material so everyone throughout the organization sees the same messages that relate to key focus areas. This is an area where you can let employees own their own communication. We have seen a rise in digital communication boards that are managed by a central communications office.

Social Media

Best when speaking with a broad, external audience. Social media can be used to highlight the inner workings of an organization, so the public is able to feel engaged. There are also closed social media networks that organizations and teams can utilize for internal communication.

Focus Group

Best for collecting information from an external group such as the community. This method shows external stakeholders their opinions are valued. High performing organizations value time and efficiency. By choosing an effective communication method, stakeholders see you value their time which builds trust.