How smart communication can boost workplace productivity

In this era of remote and hybrid work, many companies are facing a new challenge: onboarding and nurturing diverse teams who have never — and may never — meet one other in person.

• Why it matters: A solid culture or center of gravity is crucial to org-wide productivity, but it’s tough to set up and keep strong with a distributed team. That puts a premium on clear, effective communication.

“We want everybody to feel like they’re on the same team,” says Jesse Granger, Director of Communications at Bluepeak. “That takes communication, empathy, and meeting folks where they’re at.”

It also takes acknowledging “you never have one audience” to serve, explains Patricia Kiernan Johnson, VP of Communications and Public Affairs at the Curtis Institute of Music. “They all have different needs… We have students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, audience members, board members, around the world.”

👇 Communication needs to be intentional, not complicated if you want to build a strong, connected community — whether folks are in the next office over or thousands of miles away. 

1. Each audience has different needs. Whether they’re corporate staff or field workers, explore that, embrace it, and prioritize what details help each. That will help them feel seen and appreciated.
2. They’re also in different places. While core communications — like a weekly newsletter — can keep an organization on the same page, targeted messages need to meet readers where they are. That could be Instagram, for a student body, or in a town hall, for a board.
3. They’re full of real people. So, even in times of stress and crisis, we need to have empathy, prioritize humanity and write like we speak. It’s captivating, compelling and builds trust.

The bottom line: The key to comms that unify a workforce is understanding what readers need, reaching them where they are, being realistic about the details they'll prioritize and speaking their language.

Go deeper: Watch our conversation with Jesse and Patricia, and learn how they're making their all-staff updates a must-read.