No virtual corkboard: Refining manager comms on your intranet
Tips on equipping managers to drive reach, participation and more.
When used the right way, a company’s intranet can be a destination for employee connection and reinforcing organizational values. But when you break it down a little further, it can also serve as a conduit for managers to build ties to their teams, regardless of location.
By training and preparing managers to champion your intranet, you empower them to remind their reports of policies, procedures, and principles that promote company values in the process.
Driving reach and participation
Managers are the closest touch point many employees have for company announcements, and any good manager knows that sharing information is a big part of the job. But what are managers to do when they’ve got a team that’s either dispersed across a wide geographic area or difficult to pin down all at once? That’s where the intranet comes in handy.
To help managers, communicators should speak to leaders to ensure that the intranet platform is accessible in all places and methods — that means making mobile accessibility a priority. That way, a manager can reach their team in more than one way via the platform.
Johnna Muscente, vice president of communications and public relations at Corcoran, told Ragan that managers should be trained to use interactive features on the intranet platforms that boost team participation.
“You integrate interactive features like polls or live Q&A sessions to encourage participation and feedback,” she said. Recognizing top contributors and involving them in team decision-making can further boost engagement.”
Muscente also suggested that managers tailor their posts and content drips on the platform to the various roles that make up their teams.
“This targeted approach ensures that employees receive information that is directly relevant to them, keeping them actively engaged vs. tuning out important updates because many don’t pertain to their roles.”
Figuring out the channels and cadence
So you’re a manager who managed to get your team on the intranet platform. That’s great! But how are you going to ensure that the message you’re trying to put out to your team gets through? Do they like blogs? Polls that allow them to participate? Quick posts with a fun video to grab their attention?
Key to figuring out this piece of the puzzle is ensuring that your efforts align with the comms team and the organization to manage a consistent flow of updates that keep the team informed without overwhelming them and taking them from their assigned tasks.“For example, reserve major announcements for when they are most impactful, share lighter content on a daily or weekly basis, and be sure to regularly refer to the data to gauge employee engagement,” Muscente said. Analytics will point to when your team is the most active and you can strategically schedule key communications to maximize impact.”
It’s also important for managers to figure out the balance between social-focused content that isn’t always directly pertinent to work and critical information for the team to do their jobs.
Kara Seward, second vice president of corporate communications at Allied Solutions, said that managers at her organization use their platform to share updates about personal and professional lives to keep a balance.
“Layering in the social element through internal social media can help teams bring their full selves to the office,” she said.
Christine De La Huerta, director of internal communications at Baptist Health South Florida, said that managers at the hospital system use its intranet as a channel to share their perspectives.
“Just as we use our intranet to celebrate company-wide wins, we also use it for more leader-specific updates to teams a more focused look at what they need to know.”
A crucible of team culture
The best intranets are ones that function as more than a virtual corkboard for company updates. Managers should dive into what’s unique about their teams and help those values live online.
Muscente said that incentivizing teams to participate can help bring a refreshed sense of team culture to the platform.
“Introduce competitive elements like points or leaderboards for those teams participating in intranet activities to make it more engaging,” she said. This approach boosts engagement and also fosters a sense of camaraderie, particularly among remote teams.”
When utilized at their maximum effectiveness, intranets can serve as an information destination that’s much more than just a dumping ground for posts about healthcare plans and 401k matches. Managers can use these tools to inform, develop, and bring together their reports, no matter where they are.
