The power of internal communication for IT teams

Often wonder, even after delivering so many projects a majority of users continue to express dissatisfaction on its performance, resulting in a low Voice of Customer (VoC) score?

The answer may be found in how the IT teams are communicating with its users.

It is known that business leaders form opinions based on what they hear from their teams and if there is no direct connect and communication with these users, no amount of convincing and communication with business leaders will help. While IT leads may be connecting with business leaders periodically, the confidence builds down below.

Communication, an integral function of every organization, is as essential for IT teams, with a goal to ‘Establishing the Connect with stakeholders and Channelizing Communication to Promote IT team’s Potential and Accomplishments through new launches and initiatives leading to Service Improvements’.

Some CIOs have started to form communication teams with measurable goals. Depending upon the size of the organization, it could be a full-time role or an added responsibility. It is often seen resting with the strategy team, though may be a part of any IT leader’s responsibilities.

Based on our advice, several of our clients adopted internal communications as a function or sub-function, and have been able to effectively use it to improve their VoC scores, earned higher confidence of staff and business leaders, and required less efforts to gain budget approvals.

Below are some of the key factors to remember:

• Communicating business benefits of IT initiatives and not technical benefits.
• With business, focus on the end result and not how it was done. There will be other opportunities to share the ‘how’ with business leaders.
• When addressing challenges, highlight the mitigation plan. This builds confidence that the team knows what’s going on.
• Find business sponsors who are willing to endorse your actions. While most IT leaders would want to announce the good news themselves, letting the business leaders announce some of the initiatives directly impacting them has shown great results as per our study. It also helps in adoption.
• Be creative, mildly witty where possible, and brief in how you communicate with users. No one has time and inclination to read long emails and stories.
• Don’t go overboard with your communication. Use multiple platforms for better recall. Some of the common ones are: teasers, screen savers, posters, standees at strategic locations, Intranet banners and town hall announcements. Tie-up with Marketing team to seek help where needed.

Finally, you may need to experiment a little to find the most suitable approach for your environment. For more details, write to us here and we’ll get back to you at the earliest.