Starting An Internal Talk Series? Consider These 7 Essentials For Success

Tapping the immense wealth of knowledge and talent within the organization for the benefit of employees is critical for ongoing success. However, harnessing knowledge and translating it into meaningful content such as a ‘talk’ series isn’t easy unless you have a well-defined approach in place. Here are some essentials that internal communicators can consider while framing and launching their own content series.

·        Make it relevant: If employees need to listen to insightful speakers they can always turn to the TED Talk series online or listen to leadership messages from any other organization on You Tube. However, it is your company’s context and business sense that your employees can’t get elsewhere.  Tacit knowledge within organizations can be tapped through content initiatives that invite employees to share and learn from each other. The goal therefore is to improve business understanding and connect your employees with the purpose of the organization through your content series.

·        Make it personal: Have employees curate content and choose topics that help them get better with every day work and life. Ask for ideas on for example, the name of the series, the format, the frequency and even how to promote the content series. You will be surprised how crowdsourcing and co-creation of content can enhance the quality and acceptability of your communication.

·        Make it consistent: Once you have arrived and agreed on a format that potentially works for all – be it face-to-face interactions or online video messages, stick to it.  Launch it once you have a few pieces of content ready to share. Visiting a sparsely populated page can be confusing for your employees. Articulate guidelines for employees who are keen to create their own content and contribute to the initiative. Be sure to communicate as frequently as you committed to do.

·        Make it real: Let your employees be the ‘anchors’ of your content series, thus drawing more eyeballs. Recognize their contribution whenever you can either by giving credit in the communication or by sharing a note with their managers. Have a mix of content so that employees can gain from varied perspectives. For example, if you are aware of senior leadership visiting your offices in the near future find a slot for them on your channel. If an employee has personally achieved a milestone you can invite the person to share experiences.

·        Make it accessible: Be inclusive such that employees who are on the move or have jobs which don’t give them a chance to access official e-mail can access your content. If needed share the content with ‘power’ users of communications at remote sites who can then share a consolidated set of messages with such employees. Consider content sharing on different formats and devices.

·        Make it scalable: If you already have an existing learning platform, piggy back on that rather than have yet another place for employees to remember and access content. Check if there is an app in use which can be re-purposed for this need.  As you build a repository of such content pieces think of how you can re-purpose some for other audiences, at external forums and even on your website. Either in the form of webinars or messages on the careers and diversity pages.

·        Make it simple: Have easy to understand instructions on how employees can view, engage and contribute content for the benefit of others. At some stage you can consider a rewards scheme where every contributor gains points and recognition. Seek feedback as you progress through a formal survey that gauges the value of the initiative, the relevance of content and how it is helping employees get better at work.

The true measure of success of such initiatives is usage, participation and impact. When employees tell you that a ‘talk’ changed how they view their work or life you know you are making a difference.

Have other suggestions on launching an internal ‘talk’ series? Share them here.