Virtual meetings that simulate casual pre-pandemic hallway encounters; applications that gather real-time information about the work environment; internal social networks over which employees share content and communicate: technology and innovation have also been put at the service of internal communication and people departments. All these actions increase your team members’ engagement and motivation.
All these solutions, moreover, share three common denominators:
- They adapt to the needs of people working remotely or in hybrid schemes;
- They generate spaces that allow employees to continue experiencing the organizational culture, even at a distance;
- They put Agile Comms (agile communication) into practice.
According to the signatories of the Agile Communications Manifesto, “Agility without good communication, without clear meaning, without values and purpose, leads nowhere. On the other hand, in a world in ongoing transformation, communication can no longer survive as an aggregate that can be practiced without a collaborative framework that allows it to adapt permanently in an iterative and incremental manner.”
In this new scenario, digital transformation must be accompanied by cultural transformation, in which we provide employees with the opportunity to be an active part of business decisions, with their own voice, taking initiative in the challenges that the company needs to embrace or is willing to take on, establishing mutual trust.
The boundaries for achieving a higher level of engagement have blurred
With agile communication, internal and external communication becomes one. But what does that mean? There are no longer divisions between internal and external communication for the simple reason that the boundaries between consumers and employees are also blurred, thus increasing the sense of commitment among all an organization’s members.
Just like with loyal customers, those of us who work for companies also choose them on a daily basis and can express ourselves in our own words on social media platforms, among colleagues, building and defining the employer brand image. Communication becomes multidirectional.
In addition, the new generations demand coherence between what is said and done: what the company proclaims in its diversity, inclusion, sustainability and good governance narratives must have an internal correlation. Otherwise, the house of cards collapses. And the consequences can be very damaging to the company’s reputation.
Getting to know one another, connecting, joining forces
We build a partnership with each professional who is part of the team. But it’s vital that this not become simply a slogan or the organization’s institutional values. It needs to be made a daily practice.
Agility can help make that a reality by providing us with the stage and tools we need to achieve an engaged workforce with our teams:
seeking business solutions.
improving the organizational climate.
establishing improvements in communication.
There are several solutions on the market to implement Agile Comms practices, like Workplace by Facebook, Officevibe, Happyforce y Virtual Unconferences.
Oxean Cross Internal Communications has experience with the latter two and has reviewed their main features.
Engagement and Work Environment
Happyforce is a feedback and engagement platform that helps you to retain talent, motivate your teams and boost employee engagement. It works through an app that employees download to their cell phones, and using brief surveys, frequently measures the work environment of each person in the company.
This allows companies to evaluate in real time the needs, pain points and successes in order to iterate and make adjustments to the Employee Journey Map (a way to visualize the timeline of the entire employee experience, starting when people apply for a position until they leave the company) as well as to culture and internal communication.
With this platform, companies can also build a culture of recognition that connects good work practices with their purpose and values. Recognizing team members helps to increase personal and job satisfaction and engagement.
A strong sense of connection among your teams
The Agile Comms methodology:
- improves engagement by creating a shared experience across multiple work teams across geographic locations;
- increases levels of participation, collaboration, adaptability and creativity;
- improves team motivation, offering inspirational talks and identifying issues where they need support;
- provides learning opportunities through training sessions and internal communication campaigns with knowledge pills; and
- increases the ability to influence others using emotional intelligence through speaker coaching and facilitation of group sessions.
This is what Digital Unconferencing is all about, a solution that we have developed in partnership with Wise Work.
The possibilities are within reach. It is only necessary to change our mindset and dare to live and experience agility. The results are as infinite as the iteration itself (agile processes that allow us to test solutions and improve a product, service, business, processes).
