6 internal communication tools to boost team engagement

Choosing the right internal communication tools for hybrid and remote teams isn't just about communication efficiency — it's about shaping company culture.

• Why it matters: Engagement among team members working from home is at an all time low. Of the 62% of employees who say they don’t feel engaged at work, 20% reported feeling lonely every single day in 2023, Gallup found.

These negative feelings impact worker productivity worldwide and cost the global economy $8.9 trillion, according to Gallup's research. They also indicate a need for the right internal communication tools to strengthen employees' connection to themselves, their colleagues, and the organization at large.

Internal communication tools are key to company culture

Organizations with distinct cultures experience better business outcomes than their counterparts. They're 48% more likely to see revenue increases and 80% more likely to have satisfied employees, according to PwC.

Source

If open, transparent communication promotes employee well-being and alignment — two of the many hallmarks of a robust culture that positively contributes to the bottom line — then an organization’s choice of internal communications tools can make or break its business culture.

🔎 Zoom in: Internal communications tools are the vehicles on an organization’s information highway.

• Email, instant messaging apps, and other tools relay job-critical information between a company’s leadership, its departments, and employees.
• Without this software, these disparate entities, each with distinct and diverging objectives, find it difficult to work together toward a shared outcome.

Yes, but: Internal comms tools can do much more than just relay information. They give organizations a foundation to build a strong culture. 

When used right, they can impact employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention, facilitating the benefits associated with them. 

Choosing the right internal communications software solutions is key to a healthy organizational culture.

• Yes, and: These tools can help you avoid the consequences of ineffective communication and contribute to your company’s overall performance and bottom line.

This opportunity tree explains the ripple effect of using software that promotes internal communication:

• Communication empowers Awareness
• Awareness empowers Alignment
• Alignment empowers Engagement
• Engagement empowers Productivity
• Productivity empowers Revenue

That all starts with choosing the right tools for effective communication. 

Let’s take a closer look at other reasons you need to invest in the correct internal communication tools.

Relay information efficiently

Employees shouldn’t struggle to find the information they need to do their jobs, but they do. However, oOur research reveals that:

• 55% of employees lose roughly 30 minutes to two hours every working day clarifying the details needed to do their jobs.
• This wasted time costs organizations $15,000 per employee in lost productivity every year.

Two factors cause these issues and affect effective information deliver:

1. Leaders tend to use the wrong internal communication channels.
2. Large organizations tend to use too many apps for internal comms.

Get employee feedback on your current internal comms tools to help narrow the tech stack so information is delivered how and where they need it.

• This way, employees know where to look for the information they need and what comms tool to use to get answers as quickly as possible. The time savings will apply whether they’re frontline workers or remote employees.

Strengthen social interaction and bonding

43% of remote and hybrid employees don't feel connected to their colleagues at work, according to BetterUp. Meanwhile, a Gallup survey found that only 28% of these employees feel connected to their organization’s mission and purpose.

This disconnection and misalignment can cause as much as 49% of disengaged employees to make good on their exit plans within two years. 

But there’s some good news. The right internal communication tools and software can reverse that trend by strengthening employee bonds and promoting social interaction.

• IBM Center for Business of Government found that social intranets strengthen social ties and forge new connections between employees in different parts of an organization.
• This comms tool also promoted open communication among employees who already used external social networks like Facebook.

Other tools like videoconferencing software can help managers follow Gallup’s advice to hold weekly 15- to 30-minute meaningful conversations with the remote workers. These mini-bonding sessions could help reinforce their connection and give managers another avenue to recognize employee contributions.

Power closer collaboration

Poor communication can impact productivity. A Forbes report reveals that nearly 50% of employees attributed a drop in their productivity levels to miscommunication.

• 42% of these workers said the issue caused them stress, while 40% experienced distrust for the company leadership and their teams because of it.
• The percentage of remote workers who reported a lack of trust was even higher, at 52%.

Internal communication platforms can rectify poor communication between employees in a few key ways...

• Facilitating persistent chat discussions related to project deliverables, timelines, and goals.
• Allowing employees to work simultaneously within the same document or workspace.
• Providing quick access to the expertise and resources of team members when issues occur.

A Deloitte report confirms the effectiveness of collaboration tools, finding that employees whose organizations provided these tools communicated better, were happier, and were more productive. 

• Plus, two-thirds of the employees who believed their organizations promoted a culture of openness worked in environments that encouraged collaboration and information sharing.

🍃 Take a leaf from these organizations' playbooks — use internal comms tools that promote collaboration and aid productivity.

Recognize employee contributions

Employee recognition is essential for retaining talent. The data speaks for itself:

• Employees whose contributions go unrecognized are twice as likely to express a desire to quit within a year, according to Gallup. 
• “High-recognition companies” — organizations that recognize their employees’ contributions on an ongoing basis — have a 31% lower turnover rate than competitors with poor recognition cultures, according to Deloitte.

With the right internal communication tools and software, your organization can foster a culture of employee recognition and bolster talent retention. And that recognition doesn't always have to come from the top.

Many internal comms tools consider employee recognition from all angles. Features like social reward systems and scheduled thank-you activities let employees recognize their peers’ accomplishments right from their desktops.

• This peer-to-peer recognition can create the sense of belonging to boost employee productivity, encourage employee engagement and alignment with organizational goals, and, ultimately, reign in voluntary turnover.

6 best internal communications tools & software

The modern organization's internal comms infrastructure typically contains these six digital tools... 

1. Instant messaging tools

Instant messaging software solutions provide the best alternative to internal emails. They offer employees a no-frills communication channel, reducing inbox congestion and giving peers a place to make casual information requests without time-consuming face-to-face meetings.

These instant messaging tools can foster more connection between employees thanks to a few key features:

• Real-time message transmission: Employees can send and receive messages quicker than email correspondence.
• Group messaging: They support effective communication between groups of employees.
• File transfer: Employee text messaging systems can facilitate popular file transfers in formats like JPEG, GIF, and PDF.
• Graphics: Employees can incorporate smiley faces and emojis into their messages.
• Video chat: Many instant messaging tools have built-in conferencing features for virtual face-to-face meetings.

Slack remains the poster child for workplace-focused instant messaging tools. Users send an estimated 1.5 billion messages sent through the service every week, with some one million organizations using it as an internal communication solution. 

Core features of the platform include all of the above, plus the platform’s eponymous Slack channels, which are excellent for organizing teams.

2. Employee newsletter tool

Internal newsletters are the main communication channel employees wish their leaders used more often. 
Every organization can benefit from using an internal newsletter tool to send company updates, promote company values, clarify company policies, make company announcements, and more. Not to mention that a newsletter tool lets organizations send fewer emails.

Key features of employee newsletter tools include:

• Customization: The tool should let you customize visuals to fit your organization’s brand elements.
• Templates: Anyone should be able to design a newsletter, and templates speed up that process.
• Segmentation: Employee segmentation is key when sending newsletters to different teams, departments, and branches.
• Analytics: Key metrics show how many employees read your newsletter, the percentage or readers, and more.
• Writing assistance: AI assistants can help your brainstorm fresh ideas for your audience and proofread your work.

🌟 Axios HQ is the gold standard for employee newsletter software. Our newsletter solution helps organizations of all sizes create series that make vital details stand out while being 40% shorter on average.

• The software includes an AI Assistant trained on our trademark Smart Brevity Methodology and a customizable newsletter format proven to boost engagement.

Household brands like Walmart and Roku and institutions like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have used our AI-powered tool to boost employee engagement and promote alignment. Contact our HQ team to learn how Axios HQ can help your organization create a newsletter your employees will look forward to.

3. Collaboration tools

44% of companies can save three to five hours every week when they use the right collaboration tools, according to Statista. 

These multifunctional platforms are great for team collaboration because they allow employees to work on projects simultaneously, no matter their location. 

Key features of include:

• Real-time collaboration: Employees can work together in shared spaces for maximum productivity and visibility.
• Version control: They can revert to previous versions of a document or project. Some tools offer user statuses so managers and other administrators can tell who's online.
• Data integrity: Admins can keep track of all changes made to a project — a handy feature from an employee recognition standpoint.
• Whiteboards: This feature is synonymous with collaboration software and is useful for brainstorming sessions and planning.

ClickUp and Jira are some of the best examples of collaboration software platforms. They offer everything from mind maps to resource management features like time trackers and workload views. 

4. Project tracking tools

Task management tools keep projects on schedule and teams organized with planning features that make tracking team member activities and responsibilities easier. 

These tools are great for resource optimization, budget management, risk mitigation, and streamlining workflows.

Key project tracking tool features:

• Project dashboards: Project managers can use these to get a high-level view of their projects.
• Task management: Managers can assign tasks, track responsibilities, and more.
• Expense tracking: Keep track of expenses for projects on a budget.
• Multiple views: View weekly tasks via Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and other options.
• Reports: Generate detailed project reports with one click.

Microsoft Teams is a great example. 88% of organizations use it as their project management tool of choice, according to KPMG. The platform provides a laundry list of features to help companies manage projects, key among them being workforce management as well as staffing and scheduling tools.

🤔 Be smart: There's usually overlap between collaboration and project management tools. You might not need a separate tool for each, but you do need a solution that provides both maximum visibility into projects and effortless collaboration. 

5. Intranet

A company intranet provides a centralized repository where employees can share and store company content over a private network. It’s excellent for knowledge sharing and preservation because employees can search for the information they need at any time. 

Benefits that warrant investing in social intranet tools include deeper employee engagement and social connection.

Key features of intranet platforms:

• Social features: These tools model social media networks, letting employees create profiles, post content, create status updates, and view newsfeeds, among others.
• Content personalization: Employees can interact with knowledge and information that matters to them.
• Multilingual support: Employees should have access to information regardless of their native language.
• Employee directory: Look up your peers, find profile information, and connect with each other.

Invest in an AI-powered intranet solution that integrates with other tools in your internal tech stack for optimal internal knowledge management.

6. Employee survey tools

When asked how leadership can improve, 35% of employees said they’d like more opportunities to provide feedback. An employee feedback platform can help your organization meet workforce needs.

This internal comms tool is useful for gauging employee engagement levels. Send surveys to employees and get back genuine feedback on your internal communications strategy, team alignment, and other affairs.

• The result: Give your employees a say, and your organization can benefit from more efficient communication processes, higher employee productivity, and deeper engagement.

Key features of employee survey tools:

• Branching logic: Survey tools can ask respondents different questions depending on their answers, allowing for dynamic responses.
• Data analysis: Uncovering insights from employee responses is key to continuously improving your organization’s internal communication strategy. Choose a survey tool that provides robust analytics.
• Templates: Pre-made templates will help you build dynamic surveys in minutes.
• Segmentation: Not every survey you create needs to be sent company-wide, so prioritize tools that let you segment your employees.
• Multiple response types: Employees can provide feedback as typed responses into text boxes, multiple choice question answers, and more.

Using the Axios HQ internal communications platform, you can create and deploy engaging employee surveys. Our software already has an internal communications survey template that's ready to use. 

The AI assistant and our intuitive drag-and-drop editor can also help you customize the template, add new questions, or create a new survey from scratch.

Essential features of internal communications tools

Workplace communication tools should provide a range of features that aid the efficient flow of information between employees. Look for these core features when building your internal communications tech stack:

• Notifications: Team members working on the same project need to know about the latest changes and activities. 
• Segmentation capability: Information relevant to a sales team may not be as useful to employees in the accounting department. Large organizations with several departments and branches must segment their distribution lists.
• Permissions and other security features: These safeguards protect information that provides a competitive advantage so only the right employees are privy to critical information.
• Mobile app: Internal comms tools with mobile apps provide employees with the essential information on the go. They won’t miss out on crucial and urgent notifications while away from the office.
• Multi-language support: Language barriers are an ongoing concern for remote-first companies and large organizations with offshore branches and employees. This feature aids efficient communication between employees from different geographies and backgrounds.

Remember: Always seek your employees’ input before making internal communication software decisions.

The bottom line

Your organization’s internal communications tools do more than just ensure the efficient flow of information between employees. Prioritize software solutions that promote connection, collaboration, and socialization to instill a workplace culture that cultivates happier, highly motivated, and engaged employees.

Go deeper: 9 bottom-line benefits of investing in internal communications.