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How to Successfully Deploy an Internal Communication Tool
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According to a Lecko study, 60% of employees still use email as their primary communication tool — a solution that is far from ideal for facilitating information sharing and access and bringing all your employees together.
Fortunately, there are now many internal communication software solutions that are far more modern and effective than email — including the enterprise social network, a significantly improved version of the classic intranet.
So, how do you successfully deploy an internal communication tool? What steps should you take to convince future users to adopt it? And which stakeholders should be involved from day one?
We share 6 best practices for a successful tool deployment.
end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code 1. Analyze Your Needs
Before deploying your internal communication tool, start by thinking about what you actually need. For example, are you looking for an intranet, an enterprise social network, or a collaborative platform?
Also take the time to clarify your intended use and the objectives you want to set. Depending on your priorities, you may need a tool that helps you:
- foster interaction among employees,
- build connections,
- share information in real time,
- store your static documents,
- spotlight employees,
- communicate news and events,
- promote your company's values,
- etc.
Of course, this should not be a solo exercise. To avoid going in the wrong direction, we recommend surveying your employees and managers about the communication challenges they face day to day. Are they satisfied with their current tools? If not, what would help them communicate and collaborate better with colleagues?
This will give you everything you need to choose an internal communication tool that meets everyone's expectations.
Go further: Download our methodology guide "8 Key Steps to Choosing Your Internal Communication Tool" 👇
end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code 2. Compare Tools and Involve Leadership
Once your needs are clear, it is time to compare the different tools available on the market, looking in particular at:
- the features offered and on the roadmap,
- pricing,
- ease of use and deployment,
- integrations with your existing tools,
- where data is hosted (make sure to choose a tool hosted within the European Union if you want to keep your data confidential),
- customer reviews of the vendor.
A true all-in-one solution (and a French one!), Talkspirit includes all the features you need to streamline your internal communication (welcome portal, news feed, posts, comments, chat, webinars, video conferencing, etc.). If this type of platform interests you, feel free to contact our team.
Of course, there are many other tools on the market. To explore them, we invite you to check out our top 14 best internal communication software solutions .
During your benchmarking process, make sure to involve all project stakeholders — particularly leadership, HR, Internal Communications, IT, and the relevant business managers. The more leadership is involved in the project, the more likely you are to convince future users to adopt the tool.
Read also: 10 Reasons Why Your Enterprise Social Network Is Not Taking Off
Struggling to convince some stakeholders? Read our article on the "5 Good Reasons to Launch an Internal Communication Project" for the key arguments to put forward.
3. Prepare the Launch
Great — all your stakeholders are on board, your benchmark is complete, and you have found software that fits your needs.
But the work doesn't stop there. Far from it! You now need to deploy your internal communication tool, starting with preparing its launch. Here are some steps you shouldn't skip:
- Create a communication plan to announce the tool launch and invite employees to connect. This can include:
- the communication channels you will use (emails, intranet, enterprise social network, internal newsletter, digital signage, etc.),
- the content formats you want to prioritize (video, written messages, webinar, in-person event, contest, etc.),
- the key dates on which you will communicate,
- the objectives you want to set in terms of deployment (for example, getting 80% of employees to log in within one month).
end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code - Identify ambassadors who can promote the tool to their teams and show them how to use it.
- Create your first groups and add content to the tool to give your first users a proper welcome.
- Appoint moderators responsible for animating the various groups and encouraging exchanges on the platform (these can be team members or volunteer employees).
- Define usage guidelines clarifying:
- how to use the different groups,
- who can publish content, when, and how,
- how to protect everyone's right to disconnect,
- what is the role of this tool alongside existing ones.
Read also: 3 Key Actions to Successfully Launch Talkspirit
4. Train Employees and Managers
If you want to successfully deploy your internal communication tool, you also need to train your employees and managers. Whatever software you implement, make sure to show them:
- what the tool is for,
- the benefits it will bring them on a daily basis,
- how to use its various features,
- and the usage guidelines to follow (if any).
Where possible, try to personalize this training by highlighting examples of use cases relevant to the different roles in your company, so that users can better picture how it fits into their work.
Going further, you can also run dedicated sessions to clarify everyone's roles on the platform (administrator, group manager, manager, ambassador, or regular user), as well as the features associated with each role.
Finally, pay particular attention to training your managers. Given their position, it is essential that they lead by example. Do not hesitate to schedule dedicated sessions to help them get comfortable with the tool and show them the types of messages they can share on it.
Read also: How to Drive Adoption of New Collaborative Tools?
5. Support the Change
As you might expect, initial training alone is not always enough to get teams to adopt a new internal communication tool. Some employees or managers used to other tools or workflows may push back — and overcoming that resistance won't always be easy. If you encounter this challenge, be patient and pedagogical. Change takes time!
Read also: [Change Management] How to Handle Objections?
Several initiatives can help you support this evolution of work practices smoothly. For example, you can:
- Run monthly support workshops for users who struggle to use the tool or are reluctant to change their current habits.
- Ask ambassadors and/or managers to evangelize these users by showing them how they use the tool day to day and the benefits they get from it.
- Organize events and fun activities on the platform to convince as many users as possible to engage with it.
- Share important information exclusively on this tool and ask everyone to log in to access it — leaving no alternative but to use it.
- Get support from the vendor and/or an external partner.
6. Track Key Indicators
The best way to check that your action plan is paying off? Track key indicators — both qualitative and quantitative!
Here are some KPIs worth reviewing regularly:
- the weekly and monthly active user rate on your tool,
- the engagement rate on your posts (if you have an enterprise social network, you can measure this via likes and comments),
- impression rates on your posts (i.e., the percentage of users who saw your messages),
- the number of posts created by users (the more users create their own content, the more engaged they are on the platform),
- the user satisfaction rate with the tool (measurable via a survey or satisfaction questionnaire),
- the positive and negative feedback you receive daily.
These suggestions are by no means exhaustive. Feel free to track other indicators that are more aligned with your company's goals.
Conclusion
In short, deploying an internal communication tool requires having clearly defined your needs upfront, involving leadership, preparing a dedicated communication plan, and continuously training and supporting employees and managers. By following these best practices, you have everything you need to make your platform deployment a success.
Want to discover more best practices? Download this practical guide to learn what 10 of our clients have done to improve their internal communication:
Access the Practical Guide
In our practical guide "10 Initiatives from Our Clients to Improve Internal Communication," you will find: examples of companies using Talkspirit to optimize their internal communication, along with tips and tricks to better share information and strengthen cohesion within your organization.
