Internal Communication

Internal newsletters

Question:

Hello Sir,

I have recently suggested the idea of starting an internal newsletter for our organization, which has got approved. Kindly suggest key factors to keep in mind while crafting and publishing an internal newsletter.

Thank you!

Answer:

Congrats Priyanka for taking the initiative and influencing your organization to invest in a newsletter. It indicates that you have a say in how communication is shaped in your firm. That said, starting a newsletter is one part, sustaining is another. I would rather recommend that you go back to the need for the newsletter – is it because employees do not know what is happening in the organization? Is it because managers do not have enough time to communicate updates with their teams? Is it to recognize great work?

Once you know the causes, you can address them without even having a newsletter! Such as periodically sharing an update with managers or with leaders to cascade. Or placing the content on your intranet, assuming you have one – so that it is all in one place and people can access or search whenever they want. I am not a big fan of newsletters, having seen many start and die a premature death!

If you are still keen to go ahead, then you need to involve your employees and leaders – make it ‘their’ newsletter not yours. Your role is to facilitate and influence the messages that the ‘vehicle’ carries to audiences – not to be creating and publishing it. Yes, you must have control over the final output and have measure to gauge impact. You need to be responsible for the editorial and themes and final product, although the ownership needs to lie with your ‘extended’ team. It will also mean that you have to coach this group of enthusiastic people on the nuances of content management and marketing. They are not experts in this space, so need a lot of hand holding. Have a calendar of themes and content pieces that will be valued by employees. Do a pilot among some to see how many will truly ‘read’ it.

Here are some more thoughts about newsletters. Hope you find them useful.
http://www.aniisu.com/2017/03/05/5-ways-to-get-your-employee-newsletter-the-attention-it-deserves/
http://www.aniisu.com/2016/07/15/6-ways-to-improve-your-employee-newsletters-success-quotient/
http://www.aniisu.com/2015/05/19/moving-your-employee-print-newsletter-online-6-tips-to-make-an-impact/
http://www.aniisu.com/2014/06/10/6-ways-to-revive-your-ailing-employee-newsletter/
All the best!

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