Here are three recommended best practices to ensure your next internal announcement is easy-to-understand and well-received.
Brevity
If you can communicate your point in 200 words versus 500, definitely aim to do so. Your colleagues’ time is valuable and your team is busy. Trimming up your announcement to a digestible length is one measure to ensure your message will be read and understood. You certainly want to avoid your announcement being skipped over, because it was too long and therefore, not read.
Pro tip: A helpful template to use for your announcement is to think of an upside-down triangle; include your most important information in the first sentence or two – and flesh out the specifics later on.
Keep your announcement concise and organized by incorporating headers for your different paragraphs (as we’ve aptly done in this blog post). That way, it’s “skimmable” for the reader to get the gist of what the email is all about in a matter of seconds.
Transparency
The whole point of organizational announcements is to communicate change. To do so effectively, be professional, but candid at the same time. Let’s say in your announcement that you need to ask your team put in some extra overtime during your busy season. Connect the dots for the reader – explain why this change is needed and how it’ll benefit the colleague, the team, and the company.
Empathy
Change can be scary – particularly in the workplace. People hear about shifting teams and instinctively start to worry about how it will affect their job. As the person writing the announcement, think about what you would want to know as the reader. The more specific you can be in laying out all the need-to-know details, the more you’ll disarm your team. For example, if you’re announcing a team restructure, attach an updated organizational chart to easily reference.
Additionally, a few words of gratitude go a long way – be sure to thank your team for their hard work and always end on a positive note. For example, “Thanks team, for your patience as we work to find a solution for XYZ.” Something simple can help your team feel connected and can lessen the blow if you have to deliver some complex information or less than celebratory news.
While the above tips are intended for internal emails, these are just as applicable for face-to-face meetings when communicating a change to your team in person.
If you’re interested in discussing this further, drop us a line. We’d love to discuss how we can help make change a smooth process for your business.