Why comms audits are sexy (bear with us on this one)

Right then, let’s talk internal comms audits. No, wait, come back! Internal Comms audits rock!

Alright, they might not be the sexiest bit of IC (and we’d love to know your thoughts on what the sexiest bit of IC is, but maybe that’s a blog for another day.)

Anyway, as we said, we think IC audits rock. How else can you get an overview of how your comms are received by your people?

How else can you truly understand the strengths, weaknesses, and how your people prefer to be communicated with, as well as where they go for information?

The building blocks of your IC strategies

Understanding all the above can help you build effective IC strategies and plans, providing people with what they want in the right way at the right time and in the right place.

Let’s face it, knowing your people’s preferences and being able to cut the channels which nobody uses (we’re looking at you, newsletters!) gives your messages at least a fighting chance of being read and acted upon.

Getting pre-and post-audit results is where the big bags of gold dust are. Whether you’ve spent the GDP of a small European country on a big IC change project or whether it’s just you working from home somewhere in the home counties, running audits really can show you the value of what you’re doing and how you’ve smashed those KPIs.

Happy office bunnies

It’s not a bad way to show your people you care, too. If they think their views are important and lead to change, then you’re going to have a happy bunch of bunnies in the office.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, here are a few thoughts around the sort of objectives you might need when getting into audit mode…

• Get a comprehensive understanding of our existing channels, how they perform, and current communication gaps.
• Gain a clear picture of what excellent communication feels like across different internal audiences by involving employees across functions, geographies, and cultures.
• Use the data to inform recommendations and actions which could help you deliver on your wider business strategy and a local or global IC strategy.

Insight, insight, insight

You can use online surveys, focus groups, drop-in sessions, or any forum where your people can speak freely and honestly about internal comms.

Not everyone will be interested, but make sure everyone who can have their say, wherever they work (and not just outspoken Margaret from Marketing).

It’s about insight, insight, insight, as you might have heard us say once or twice!

Link your questions to your objectives to make the results actionable and measurable.

And crucially, spend some time and effort to get your senior leaders on board.

We all know how busy they are, so help them as much as you can with pre-filled FAQs and leadership packs so they can advocate and explain why your audit is so important (and will help make people’s working lives better).

Get your results, collate the data and use them to inform your strategy and tactics.

Once your tactics and changes have had a chance to make a difference, check in again with your people and sit back and enjoy those positive results (before doing it all over again in a few years’ time).

Something which can give you a very clear picture of IC in your business, and provide the data you need to inform your strategy?

Sounds pretty sexy to us!

We’ve won awards for our comms audit work, so if you need a full overview of IC comms or need some help getting an audit up and running (and if you’re ready to join the anti-boring revolution), let’s talk!