It’s Mercury in Retrograde Season, and that means your communication is more likely to go haywire (if you believe in that sort of thing)! To ensure things go as smoothly as possible this month and beyond, you need a plan that will keep your organization’s internal comms from becoming completely mercurial. And in the world of internal comms, nothing beats a well-planned out communications calendar.
With our 20-years-plus of experience in internal comms, we at IC have learned a thing or two about effective and efficient internal comms calendars, so here’s our guide on building one from the ground up!
Why do I need an internal communications calendar?
Simply put: your communications calendar will serve as the single source of truth for your internal comms team. It is the team’s place to go for the most updated version of their game plan and ensures everyone is always on the same page.
Think of it this way; if you were a pilot, you’d want to make sure all the safety logs were in one place, so you didn’t miss anything—that same principle applies to your internal communications calendar. You lower the risk of missing an urgent or critical message from being sent out due to a miscommunication of information across your team.
Okay, so how do I build an internal communications calendar?
Our experts suggest a funnel approach—start with the biggest things and work your way down to the smaller stuff. Here’s what that looks like:
Step 1: Put in holidays/immovable events/conferences into your internal communications calendar
Start with adding dates for the largest holidays, events, and conferences. This allows the rest of your communications calendar to be built around the holidays and other unmovable events. This limits any time conflicts and makes it clear to your organization when a stat-day or a company-wide event may be. After all, there’s nothing worse than commuting to the office, only to find out it’s a holiday when you arrive.
Step 2: Reach out to department heads
Next, contact the head of each department and get any important dates from them as well. Product launches, quarterly meetings, campaign dates—it’s important to map these out on your calendar. Hence, your team will know what messaging needs to go out when to keep the entire organization updated on the ins and outs of essential business matters.
Step 3: Add in repeat events and check for conflicts
Now that you know exactly what dates workers will be on the clock, schedule your reoccurring events with as few time conflicts as possible. Examples of these would be daily briefings, town halls, group lunches, etc. Set reminders for exactly when communication needs to go out for each of these events.
Step 4: Sharing is caring!
Your cleverly crafted calendar is ready to make its big debut. Share it somewhere you know all employees will be able to access and see it (we recommend your company intranet).
Step 5: Be prepared for changes
And finally, review, review, review. Your internal comms is never going to be set in stone no matter how much you try to plan. Things will need to be added to the calendar on a rolling basis, and you’ll need to know your calendar in and out to effectively schedule everything as it comes into your inbox. But we know you can do it, you’re a superstar internal communicator already! Or you’re a cat who’s walking across its owner’s keyboard…either way, this is your world.
Tip: we can help
Our expert team has put together a template outlining exactly how to create the perfect internal comms plan, aiding you in your internal comms calendar creation, and how to organize all the events and pieces on said calendar. You can download it for free here.
That’s all, folks!
We hope this short guide helped you get your internal comms calendar off the ground to really help you to hone your comms strategy moving forward. If you want more of our expert advice on all-things internal communications, be sure to check out our internal communication software in action by booking your demo today!
Not quite ready for a demo just yet? Take our free assessment to see exactly what parts of your internal comms strategy are working and what parts need a little TLC!
