The 8 must-have internal communication tools for 2021

Essential for large companies, internal communication is highly strategic in large groups. For good reason: it connects departments and creates bridges between different sites. To optimize the flow of information and the commitment of all the staff, here are the internal communication tools used by many companies and by all of their employees.

What are the goals of internal communication?

The goals of internal communication go far beyond merely conveying information to all employees. Good internal communication is a tool for cohesion within the company: it allows the various departments to be better organized, improves employees’ well-being and, ultimately, it has an influence on your brand image.

It conveys your values

By delivering your messages to your entire team, you also convey the company’s values. You give a unique vision to each employee and newcomers. In fact, successful internal communication determines the quality of relationships within the company.

It creates a collective identity

This is one of the main goals of internal communication tools: to create cohesion between your employees and a team spirit. This communication strategy brings together the different levels of the company and generates a climate of trust by improving dialogue between your employees. Thus, the teams collaborate more easily and feel committed to the same goal, namely their company’s success.

It conveys your business strategy

Effective internal communication is the ideal tool for communicating your goals. You can easily communicate your business strategy and, if necessary, the choice of the directions taken, to all your employees. It is also a two-way medium since it also allows your employees to be heard. In this way you will be able to identify any tensions and thus address potential conflicts.

It strengthens your employer brand

Internal communication tools are a powerful lever for retaining your talents and attracting your future recruits. An employee who is proud of their company will be the first to convey a positive image of your brand. Thus, good internal communication is a way of improving external communication. Your employees will become your best outside ambassadors, especially on social media, enabling your reputation to grow positively.

8 internal communication tools to unite your teams

Essential in a company, internal communication makes it easier to convey information to all your employees. Check out 8 of today’s most popular internal communication tools.

🎯 The digital and gamified seminar

It is often difficult to maintain the traditional and expensive annual seminar, hence the emergence of more frequent and shorter kinds of seminars, workshops, etc. In the form of participatory webinars, live YouTube, or simple Slack or Zoom meetings, these are the new venues where strategic concerns are shared among all employees. These formats are effective for sharing a vision and pointing the way to be taken!

A digital, gamified meeting or a video conference are among the internal communication tools that require the most organization, but they are very effective at bringing people together, especially if your employees are not on site. 

Fun or informational, these virtual meetings are an opportunity for opening dialogue and discussing current projects or sensitive topics.

🎙️ Internal podcasts

We have felt it coming in our private lives for some years: audio is making its comeback! Podcasts are increasingly superseding professional webinars.

Internal podcasts are an original way of boosting your internal communication. Highly appreciated by your employees, podcasts have the advantage of being shared on mobiles, and thus being available at all times. Have no hesitation in keeping an authentic side to a “homemade” podcast: it will help you make your relationship with your teams more human and will be an opportunity to give them a voice! However, before you start creating podcasts, always keep your goals clear if you want to make this atypical communication channel a regular feature.

💻 The intranet

The intranet is often a preferred tool for medium and large enterprises. It is quite complicated to set up and it remains very expensive. As a general rule, it is mainly used to gather together the various productivity tools or useful information, such as official documentation or procedures to follow. It has the advantage of being accessible via a personal code: thus, each of your employees has their own personal space they can view at leisure.

Often, the software combines an intranet, a digital workplace and a corporate social network. Increasingly comprehensive, they are more complex to set up and also more expensive. Their greatest challenge? Being truly adopted by the employees.

Sometimes tainted with a somewhat old-fashioned image, they are being revolutionized by Facebook Workplace, whose use has soared (7 million users in May 2021). The real revolution is that they can also equip itinerant and less-connected workers: In workshops, factories, in the field, etc.

🖥️ Digital signage

Digital signage is one of the most unifying internal communication tools. A real bridge between the physical and digital worlds: the digital tool will allow you to broadcast videos or content to all your employees. The screens can be made available to local management, departments, managers, or volunteer employees to provide optimal local communication. Communication on screens adapts to the company’s strategic objectives

Also, note that interactive display can be used to gamify but also to obtain feedback; for example, with connected buttons. With this simple and intuitive medium, you can easily communicate on an unlimited number of multi-site screens that you control and manage from a dedicated interface.

Digital signage requires little organization, but offers you multiple opportunities:

• Informing all your employees in real-time (even the unconnected field teams) about their performance and the targets to be hit and thus improve the productivity of the company;
• Modernizing your brand image by using innovative, connected internal communication tools;
• Generating the interest of your teams by broadcasting easy-to-listen-to information such as company bulletins or weather information, while keeping them receptive to more formal messages.

⌨️ The internal newsletter

The internal newsletter has been in place for a long time and shows no sign of losing its popularity. According to a banana tag study, the internal newsletter delivers good results: 79% opening rate and 15% click rate. The study states that the shorter the mailing lists are, the better the engagement rates. By segmenting your audiences, you customize the messages and make them more relevant to your target.

The newsletter is simple and effective... but only for a connected population! It also has the advantage of being inexpensive and easy to set up. Monthly or weekly, it allows information to be conveyed to all employees regularly. Indeed, it should be noted that to be optimal, the newsletter must be directed at all employees, including the management.

Among the internal communication tools, the newsletter is the perfect solution for strengthening cohesion among your employees by going beyond the company’s immediate news. A portrait of one of your employees in a video or an innovative project portrayed in pictures are examples of richer content to supplement your newsletters.

📰 The internal newspaper

More complete than a newsletter, more inclusive than its digital version, the internal newspaper is one of the most corporate internal communication tools. In a digital or paper version, the company newspaper is an opportunity to give a voice to your teams, while promoting the corporate culture. It is the ideal communication tool to unify and inform all the staff. For example, you can discuss the strategic decisions of the senior management, external communications operations and the economic results, as well as the organization of internal or external events. The potential limit: It does not allow for interaction.

💡 The suggestion box

The suggestion box is one of the oldest internal communication tools, but it is still highly rated. Completely anonymous, it allows your employees to express themselves completely confidentiality, thereby encouraging them to say what they really think. Not only does it enhance your image as a manager concerned with the problems encountered within the company, but it is a way to become aware of your employees’ concerns.

❔ Surveys

Surveys are still a simple and effective internal communication tool. You can set up survey tools relating to company projects, activities or the organization of the company. Whatever your objective, the survey is a means of communication that has the advantage of centralizing the responses of your teams. Each voice is taken into account, so you reinforce their sense of belonging to the group.

All of these internal communication tools will strengthen the cohesion of your internal teams while enhancing the image of the company externally. It is a highly effective collaborative strategy that will enable you to bring your employees together around a common project: the life of the company!

Digital signage is a tool that integrates seamlessly with internal communication plans and supplements your existing tools. Indeed, screens can be used to promote the latest newsletter or internal newspaper to encourage people to read them. It is also an indispensable way of generating traffic, reminding people of survey deadlines or specific internal events. It is thus a tool that is fully complementary to your current internal communication tools.

Cenareo combines an intuitive digital signage solution with solid leading-edge expertise that simplifies the management of large-screen fleets and improves the user experience, maximizes the impact of communications and accelerates the digital transformation. The solution, fast to deploy, stimulates our customers’ creativity, increases their productivity and allows both local and global management which will speed up the return on investment of their project.