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👏 How to build and scale your internal comms team
👏 How to build and scale your internal comms team

Structuring and scaling an internal communications team with Blink

Updated over a week ago

In this article:

👪 Responsibilities of an internal communications team

Your internal communication department ensures that every piece of content on Blink is created and distributed to drive maximum engagement.

So let’s get into specifics. The responsibilities of an internal communication team include:

Managing internal communication channels

Aside from Blink, you’re likely to have several other internal communication channels such as email and video conferencing.

But which channels are available, what should be used for what type of communication, and how to implement them? These are the kind of questions addressed by an internal communications team.

For example, if you want to get workers’ opinions on a single, specific, and casual issue, sharing a quick, fun poll on the Blink feed is better than sending an email.

Supporting external campaigns with an internal spin

There are times when internal inputs can help external marketing campaigns. For example, if the marketing department wants to communicate how carefully the products are made, they can interview employees and take potential customers behind the scenes through images and videos.

Implementing new technologies

With new modes of digital communication, organizations are rapidly adjusting their communication tech stacks with new collaboration, communication, and social networking tools.

It’s your internal communication team’s responsibility to ensure that no worker gets left behind. For example, your frontline workers need to be kept in the loop as much as office-based employees.

Before and after installing Blink, the internal communication team will champion it across the organization, get buy-in from all stakeholders, and ensure best practices to make the most of it.

Track and improve staff engagement

An internal communication team’s job is not done once they schedule everything to be sent and published. The next step is to gauge the reach and engagement of their content.

So, your internal communication team will also have pre-defined KPIs and ways to track performance on Blink.

The team should seek answers to questions like:

• Are our messages successfully reaching employees?

• Are they reaching them on time?

• How many workers are taking the actions mentioned in the messages?

By tracking staff engagement, the team keeps improving its messaging and continues refining the overall communication strategy.

Roles needed for a superstar Internal Comms team

Even if you don’t have the resources or the budget to fill all of these roles, it’s still possible to build an effective team with fewer people ready to wear multiple hats.

👤 Internal communications head

If your business is divided into different units, each unit will have a representative/partner who collaborates with the central internal communication team.

This would also include someone who acts as a bridge between senior leadership and the internal communications team.

For effective communication, you want top management to be involved and visible in ongoing communications, and this role would ensure the same.

👤 Internal communications channels coordinator

Next, fill your team with members who will administer and coordinate communication on different channels and communities. How many? That depends on the channel structure and internal communications strategy

👤 Internal communications multimedia executive

Studies have shown that people only remember 20% of what they read and 10% of what they hear. Yet, they remember 80% of what they see.

So, consider having someone who can turn your plain-text messages into engaging infographics or videos.

How to build and scale your IC function

💹 Understand organizational goals

You can’t build or restructure your internal communication team without understanding the business requirements first. So, think this through. Business strategy informs the communication strategy.

For example, if a part of your business strategy is expanding to new locations, your communication practices, tools, and team structure should take this into account.

👥 Plan roles and responsibilities

Now that you’re clear on your business’s goals, consider the different types of roles you’ll need. Refer to the roles we shared above to select what’s best for your internal communication team.

With Blink, you need at least one person committed to ensuring that the stakeholders post regularly

✏️ Document everything

If you have been working as a team of one, it’s likely that you don’t document much. All you do is in your head. We don’t blame you. You’re overloaded with tasks, and it’s tempting to just move from one thing to another and get more done.

This may work for a solo IC professional, but not for an internal communications team. Documenting is essential for a team to clarify roles, outline processes, and share knowledge.

Fortunately, it’s not that hard. Just use Blink's information-sharing hub that can be accessed on the web. Take the time to record and reflect on what you’re doing.

🔭 Lead the team effectively

If you’re the owner of internal communication in your company, you should be ready to step into that space. This includes guiding your team, developing relationships, and building trust.

And a big part of that is ensuring that the communication within your own team is flawless and setting an example for everyone else. Establish protocols and a regular cadence for how you’ll communicate and collaborate with your internal communications team

🔖 Additional resources

Want to share this information with your team? You can download this guide through the button below:

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