Leveraging powerful employee digital communications platforms and strategies is by no means a new concept, but what makes these fancy bells and whistles work most effectively? Sometimes, you need to ease off the gas pedal. Part of any effective employee digital communications plan these days for many companies involves leveraging the massive technological leaps made over the past few years in human resources. But fancy bells and whistles aren’t enough to fully connect management to employees and employees to each other. When communicating your company goals, direction, or your mission statement, you have to get the information out in an organized manner, whether that’s via written documents or video. But not every instance of important workplace communication needs to come out in a formal, polished, regimented way.
The Power of Casual
Everyone has different communication styles. Everyone responds to different messages differently. Knowing this, how can anyone communicate the same message to different individuals within an organization at the same time? The answer is to vary your approach. While some employees appreciate a highly-organized, clear, formal presentation on appropriate office behavior and expectations, others might respond better to an interactive, informal chat. The glory of employee digital communications these days is that you don’t have to be in the same room as your employees when you have informal chats with your employees. Video streaming technology has changed ‘standard communications’ over the past few years. The use of live streaming and fast video conferencing has made it possible to deliver messages informally to employees without going from office to office and cubicle to cubicle.
Casual = Open
Of course, just like their employees, every manager has a different communication style, too. Some see casual communication as fun and a necessary part of their job. Others see it as a hindrance—getting in the way of clear messaging. Many employees take advantage of open door policies and the ability to voice their concerns about negative things happening in the workplace preventing them from doing their jobs when the manager takes the pressure off. That is, the open-door policy is there for employees who simply want to talk, not necessarily file an official complaint. When the communication mode is more casual, more employees are likely to talk about how they really feel. When they know they can express themselves in ways that don’t always fall in line with their day-to-day duties, employees will be more responsive and engaged. And while face-to-face communication has been and always will be the most effective mode of communication between humans, employee digital communications strategies involving informal, easy-to-use video conferencing solutions are a close second. The power of casual is in its ability to let managers take their foot off the gas for a moment; to be a human being and listen to their employees, which leads to better engagement and improved morale. There are times to be formal, there are times to be serious, but you don’t need all of your communications to appear in the gravest of tones. Take some pressure off and use technology to your advantage to do so.