“Our people are physically, emotionally, and spiritually tired”- this is what a client said to me last week and it made me stop and think…

As the clock has whirred forward from March 2020, when the world was plunged into lockdown and companies made the mad scramble to get as many employees online as possible, we can see a clear shift in corporate perception of internal communication from a nice-to-have to a must-have.

So, as organisations are refining their work location model-hybrid or otherwise-there are many changes that we can expect in the coming year.

The question is… as internal communication professionals, are we poised to seize the day and carve out new areas of expertise or will we be relegated to the covid-comms squad or the return to office fun police?

Now is the time to streamline, regroup and reset so we can continue to make a worthwhile impact. Let’s look at team, projects, and organisational communication priorities for the coming months.

First, check in on yourself and your team. Where are you right now?

Fresh, unpublished research from the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence and Antenna. The “So, How Do You Really Feel” survey shows that our mental health as communicators has suffered over the past year with 66% reporting a decline in mental health since the start of the pandemic.

Check in with your team (and yourself) to see if they need a refresh, a switch in the role, a holiday, or a new project. There is more organisational change on the horizon, and we need to make sure that we are fit, regroup and reset to tackle the new challenges coming our way.

If we don’t take care of ourselves and our team, how can we deliver to our people and our clients? 

Re-orient yourself to:

1. The diversity, inclusion, and sense of belonging mindset. This does not mean focusing on gender etc. but rather looking at a sense of belonging in all aspects of the workplace, regardless of where or what time of day someone works.

2. Doing even more with less. This means prioritisation and equipping your internal clients to serve themselves whenever possible.

3. Being digital.

An internal communication audit-big or small, but preferably quickly-will help identify your problem spots and how you can streamline.

This is when to call in Open.  We have delivered multiple global client audits, so if you need help re-orientating your internal comms, why not drop us a line.