Key Takeaways
Every small and medium-sized business (SMB) owner must navigate the challenge of ensuring their team is informed, engaged, and aligned. Communicating with your team is an essential organizational element that employees expect.
Research indicates that leaders and employees often have different perceptions of how well communication is handled. Employees frequently report that guidance during change isn’t always clear, and that important updates don’t consistently reach them.
The results are clear: employers and employees are divided on the best way to communicate. This division, combined with growing demands for corporate transparency, creates new challenges for small business owners navigating workplace communication. Closing this gap means building clear, consistent ways to communicate with and listen to employees.
This guide shows you how to build a two-way communication strategy that works, with practical steps for everything from daily check-ins to major announcements.
What is strategic internal communication?
Strategic internal communication is the intentional effort by business leaders to keep employees in the loop while managing sensitive information and providing opportunities for feedback. It moves beyond simply making announcements and focuses on building a culture of openness and trust.
That said, employers and employees are divided on the best way to communicate. To close this gap, small business owners must prioritize building a clear way of communicating with and listening to employees.
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How to build your internal communication strategy
Building a successful internal communication strategy requires thoughtful preparation, anticipating reactions, and establishing channels for two-way exchange.
Master thoughtful, balanced messaging
One of the most challenging aspects of small business communication is deciding what to share, and what to keep private. You want to keep employees in the loop; however, oversharing can be problematic for multiple reasons.
On the one hand, non-essential information can be a bore to employees and cause them to undervalue your meetings and messages. In contrast, sharing too much critical or sensitive information can cause unnecessary stress and distraction.
Ask the following questions to ensure you’re considering employee needs when communicating important information:
- Is the information crucial to the health, performance, and overall wellbeing of your employees?
- What date do they need this information by and why do they need it?
- What would happen if they didn’t receive this information?
- Is the information true and concrete, or can it change drastically in the near future?
- How can you make it simple and accessible without minimizing its meaning?
Create a habit out of asking these questions any time you plan to share the news with employees. It can also serve as a helpful guide when crafting a strategy for regular communication, like a weekly newsletter or daily check-in.
Anticipate and prepare for employee responses
Next, consider how employees might feel when they receive the information you’re preparing to share. Any change, big or small, is likely to generate discussion. It’s important to anticipate what employees may feel after hearing the news, and how those emotions might prompt questions or concerns.
Before announcing something, consider:
- Who at your company does this impact?
- How could it affect each person’s professional or personal life?
- If you put yourself in each of these people’s shoes, what questions would you have?
- How can you include the answers to these questions when you deliver the information?
- How can you make yourself (or another executive) available to answer these questions?
Contemplating these outcomes can ensure that you’re prepared to manage the impact your announcement may have on employees.
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The advantages of prioritizing two-way communication
Effective internal communication means more than sending updates — it means creating ongoing dialogue. Tools like Slack make this easier by giving employees a safe, informal space to share ideas, concerns, and feedback at any time.
To build a culture of open, two-way communication, combine in-person check-ins with always-on Slack channels where people can express their thoughts comfortably.
In practice:
- Run monthly one-on-ones and continue the conversation in Slack direct messages.
- Create dedicated channels like #ask-leadership, #ideas, or #feedback.
- Encourage employees to react, comment, or send questions asynchronously.
During and after check-ins, make sure to:
- Listen actively and take notes.
- Reinforce safety by inviting feedback in Slack (for example: “Feel free to drop anything in #ideas anytime”)
- Acknowledge when someone speaks up — publicly or privately.
- Show follow-through by sharing updates in Slack when actions are taken.
Feedback and surveys
A strong communication plan blends in-person conversations with easy, ongoing feedback. Slack can support this through surveys, polls, and forms that make gathering input simple and accessible.
Since not everyone is comfortable sharing feedback face to face, offering options like digital forms or dedicated channels gives employees multiple safe ways to speak up. If the feedback reveals gaps, you can quickly adjust and improve.
For small businesses, consistently gathering feedback through meetings, surveys, or occasional Slack messages helps build a culture where every voice feels heard and valued.
The importance of a communication cadence
Once you know what to communicate, determine how often and where you share updates.
Examples of a solid cadence using Slack:
- Daily short update in #morning-briefing
- Weekly longer recap in #team-updates
- Monthly leadership AMA in #ask-leadership
- Real-time alerts in #announcements
Match communication formats to employee expectations. Some prefer email, others prefer Slack notifications — or a combination of both. Use a quick poll to ask what they prefer before finalizing your approach.
A consistent communication rhythm across Slack ensures no one feels left out and everyone has access to the same information at the same time.
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How Salesforce can help your small business communicate
Building a strong internal communication strategy takes time, but the results speak for themselves. When employees feel informed, heard, and valued, they’re more engaged and aligned with your business goals. Start building your communication strategy today. Check out Slack for small business and learn how you can all get on the same page and get work done.
Start your journey with the Free or Starter Suite today. Looking for more customization? Explore Pro Suite. Already a Salesforce customer? Activate Foundations to try out Agentforce 360 today.
AI supported the writers and editors who created this article.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Open communication fosters trust and ensures employees feel heard and valued. A strong communication plan leverages feedback to help leaders hold themselves accountable to employee needs.
You can improve communication results by creating safe, accessible spaces for feedback, developing a regular communication cadence, and ensuring all messaging is thoughtful and balanced to avoid distraction.
Thoughtful messaging requires leadership to ask crucial questions, such as whether the information is critical to employee health and performance, what the delivery timeline is, and how to simplify the message without minimizing its meaning.
A communication cadence is a consistent schedule and set of channels for sharing updates (daily, weekly, monthly) with your team. A predictable cadence is important because it ensures employees receive the right information at the right time, and prevents anyone from feeling uninformed or left out.
When communication is two-way and strategic, it significantly boosts employee engagement. Feeling heard, informed, and valued through open channels like feedback forms and leadership check-ins helps align employees with the company’s goals and fosters a greater sense of trust and commitment.
