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- Veronika Mazour
- February 23, 2017
4 ways to boost your internal communications with digital collaboration
We define digital collaboration as the digital systems people use to collaborate internally (within the enterprise network) or externally (with enterprise communities or partners) to get things done.
Digital collaboration tools connect people, information, business applications and company communications, transforming your company into a unified, successful business force.
Content
What can digital collaboration platforms bring to internal communications that traditional intranets cannot? We highlight four key points.
1. Boost Employee Engagement
“ To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace. ”
Doug Conant
former CEO of Campbell’s Soup
Employee engagement is one of the top five areas of focus for most internal communication departments, and it is used widely to attach a solid business value to communications. As many as 70% of all business leaders believe employee engagement is critical to their organisation’s success, according to a study by CLC.
A number of studies have shown a correlation between employee engagement and financial performance indicators, such as revenue growth, operating margin and shareholder return. Indeed, companies with high employee engagement :
- Outperform their peers by 10% to 40% across a wide range of performance indicators ranging from customer satisfaction to profitability
- Outperform the stock market by more than 20%
- Outperform the sales growth of average organisations by 4 percentage points
Digital collaboration makes people more engaged. Our clients report up to 30% improvement in their employee engagement rates, which matches statistics shared by other digital collaboration solution providers.
How does it do this? Successful digital collaboration helps people cope with today’s demanding workplaces by allowing them to get help from colleagues when needed and find relevant information faster. As a result, it brings back the feeling of personal control and involvement with the company. It helps employees interact with a wider range of colleagues and form connections throughout the organization. It helps information flows outside the departmental silos and promotes transparency, creating a sense of larger purpose for employees.
2. Aligns the workforce
Traditional top-down communication is easy to ignore—it just sleeps in one’s archived emails, in the corner for one’s screen or in the company intranet that nobody uses.
With digital collaboration tools, on the other hand, managers can use multiple channels to relay messages. A message can be posted, reshared and discussed through social activity streams, sparking two-way conversations. Content can be placed in a contextualized environment, targeting precise subgroups and communities of interest. This not only helps get messages and information across better but also helps build trust and make employees feel more aware of what is generally happening in the organization.
3. Actively builds a corporate culture
A corporate culture consists of (often) unspoken rules for how things are done in the company. Together with official processes and systems, it forms the “software” that guides how people in the company work.
A company culture is best built and reinforced whenever people interact. To actively build an organizational culture, you need key people to model the right kinds of behaviour. Digital collaboration tools in turn can play an important role in amplifying these behaviors, making them more visible and allowing management to visibly encourage them.
Digital collaboration tools allow people to establish social and work connexions while collaborating on projects and exchanging ideas within communities of interests. Gradually, an active employee community can emerge in which mutual help, knowledge sharing and innovation can thrive.
4. Increases and measures internal communication efficiency
Communicators often find it difficult to prove to management that internal communications have business value because they lack the quantitative and qualitative KPIs to do so. In fact, measuring the efficiency of internal communications is a struggle in most communication departments; over 60% of internal communicators do not measure internal communications at all, and only 16% appear satisfied with their measurement protocols.
If users shun your intranet, you probably rely heavily on email and physical supports for information flow. Think of all the time and hard costs associated with this process. How many emails do you send per week/month/year? What about the costs of paper, color printing and physical circulation?
Through a digital collaboration intranet, you acquire a strong reach platform for your communications. Your content production will gain in efficiency through collaboration tools and workflows for your team, and digital collaboration tools will improve your communications reach by adding new channels to your usual communications flow.
Furthermore, quantitative KPIs, such as reach and engagement, and a direct means to survey your population will become available via likes, shares, comments, followers, total number of connexions between people, content consumption metrics and more.
Besides improving your internal communications efficiency, digital collaboration tools can transform your business from the inside out. Want to learn more about the business impact of digital collaboration?
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Employee Engagement
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FAQs
You will find here Frequently Asked Questions about internal communication with all the answers in one place.
❓What is Internal Communication?
Internal communication (IC) is the process, strategy, and set of tools that organizations use to share information, align employees with business goals, and foster engagement and collaboration. It is much more than simply sending out company announcements or newsletters—it is a deliberate, strategic function that shapes how employees experience the organization every day.
Effective internal communication creates meaningful linkages: between leadership and teams, across departments, and between on-site and remote employees. It ensures that information doesn’t just travel—it lands, resonates, and prompts action.
In practice, internal communication involves:
- Channels: Email, intranet, chat platforms, mobile apps.
- Content: Strategic updates, culture stories, knowledge sharing, role-specific information.
- Rituals: All-hands meetings, team check-ins, feedback loops.
- Measurement: Engagement, clarity, alignment, and effectiveness of communication.
🤏In short, internal communication transforms information into understanding, alignment, engagement, and action.
🧐Why Improving Internal Communication Matters?
Effective internal communication is no longer optional—it is essential for organizational success. Studies consistently show that improving communication drives engagement, productivity, and business outcomes.
🕵Quick evidence
🕺The Modern Challenge
🫠How to Improve Internal Communication?
The way we communicate at work has evolved dramatically. In 2025, improving internal communication means combining strategic leadership, modern technology, and a human-centered culture. Below are 22 actionable and up-to-date strategies designed to help organizations strengthen engagement, boost productivity, and build trust across distributed teams.
- Build a Single Source of Truth (Central Intranet)
- Create a Digital-First, Human-Centric Communication Strategy
- Lead with Transparency and Authenticity
- Define and Share a Clear Purpose
- Establish Clear Communication Guidelines
- Foster Two-Way Dialogue
- Use Role- and Location-Based Targeting
- Keep Channels Organized and Purposeful
- Combine Real-Time Chat with Long-Term Knowledge Sharing
- Build Digital Communities and Recognition Spaces
- Measure Engagement with Meaningful Metrics
- Empower Managers as Communication Champions
- Optimize for Mobile and Frontline Workers
- Automate Routine Communications
- Enable Continuous Feedback Loops
- Localize and Personalize Messages
- Integrate Communication with Business Tools
- Leverage AI for Smarter Communication
- Use Storytelling and Multimedia to Engage
- Adopt a Clear Governance Model
- Balance Top-Down and Bottom-Up Communication
- Continuously Audit and Improve Communication Channels
🤔Why Internal Communication Matters?
In the modern workplace, Internal Communication (IC) goes far beyond simply sharing updates—it is the lifeline that connects employees, aligns teams, and drives organizational success.
Effective Internal Communication ensures that everyone understands the company’s goals, feels included in decision-making, and has the information they need to perform their roles confidently. Research consistently shows that organizations with strong internal communication enjoy higher employee satisfaction, better retention, and improved overall performance.
- Aligning Employees with Strategy
- Engaging a Diverse Workforce
- Saving Time and Reducing Confusion
- Supporting Culture and Values
- Breaking Down Silos and Encouraging Knowledge Sharing
💥Why Internal Communications is important?
As workplaces continue to evolve at a rapid pace, internal communication (IC) has moved beyond simply sending messages—it has become a strategic pillar of organizational success. Building a strong Internal Communication strategy and using the right platform is no longer optional; it’s essential. Here’s why:
👨💻The Hybrid Work Imperative
🧲Employee Engagement and Retention
🔬Accelerating Innovation
🧠Knowledge Management and Operational Efficiency
👨👩👧👦Crisis and Change Management
🆚What is the difference between internal and external communication?
Here are some Key differences between internal and external communications:
- The audience
- The goal
- The frequency
- The flow
- The means
➝ Find out the Key differences between internal and external communications
🧭 How to Choose the Right Internal Communications Platform?
Selecting the right internal communications (IC) platform is a strategic decision. It’s about more than just picking a tool—it’s about enabling effective communication, engagement, and alignment across your organization.
Here’s a structured, step-by-step approach to guide your decision:
- Assess Your Current State
- Define Clear Goals
- Map Your Users
- Identify Must-Have Features
- Establish Budget and Total Cost of Ownership
- Create a Vendor Shortlist
- Test with a Proof of Concept (PoC)
- Plan for Adoption
- Define Governance and Metrics
- Go Live and Continuously Improve
➝ Discover How to Choose the Right Internal Communications Platform
I am the Chief Executive Officer of eXo Platform (the open source digital workplace platform), a company that I co-founded while in college and that I came back to after several years in the banking and consulting industry. I blog about modern work, about open-source and sovereignty issues. Occasionally, I also blog about my personal areas of interest, such as personal development, work–life balance, sustainability and gender equality.
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