The crux of many narratives lies in miscommunication or the withholding of information. Jack does not get his manager’s (aka mother’s) approval to switch collateral when purchasing the magic beans. Cinderella cannot be transparent about her economic and social status at the kingdom’s Big Shindig. And Pinocchio only has his nose to reveal his limited capacity for the truth.
This is one way in which you don’t want your office to be like a fairytale. Internal communications are the key to creating efficient teams that trust and value each other and can communicate effectively with clients and partners.
So what can you do to ensure that internal communications are clear, concise, and kind? And how can whiteboard animations help?
Design Effective Trainings
As you become accustomed to company culture, you also become accustomed to how to communicate most effectively with people on your team. Use trainings to jumpstart this process, building the foundation to ward off monsters of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and misuse of time. They set tones and expectations, which is useful not only for onboarding, but also for renewing the engagement of all employees.
And whiteboard animations lasso the attention of viewers to make those messages stick. (Trust us, it’s neuroscience.)
Create Communications Plans
Who do you talk to when and about what and can you use emojis? To make work efficient and fun, you should develop a communication plan. This will address what information is most important, what means of communication are best, and who you are accountable for contacting. It will walk you through the fastest way to get the information you need and how to communicate across departments. Whiteboard animations help make these plans clear and catchy, ensuring you never send a dinosaur emoji when a donut emoji is most apt.
Build Relationships
Nothing makes communication easier than regular meetings and unofficial opportunities to connect. If your team is remote, this could look like daily video chats and a virtual water cooler to tell jokes, celebrate achievements, and share personal news. If you are in an office environment, it can be as simple as spending lunchtime together.
A communications plan will give you the framework for assigning accountability, but relationships allow you to stay true to those intentions. Mistakes happen, and it’s what you do with those mistakes that allow you to build trust and innovate. This trust can be further strengthened if you provide opportunities for giving anonymous feedback and provide ideas to superiors. Perhaps no one will use it, but they’ll feel better for knowing it’s an option.
Work with Humor
When we laugh, we relax. And when we relax, we are able to communicate more authentically, more creatively, and more productively. Bob Dylan wrote “Like a Rolling Stone” during his so-called retirement. While we don’t recommend retiring to help your internal communications, we do recommend telling jokes.
At Next Day Animations, we like to find ways to integrate humor, imagination, innovation, and optimism into all that we create. This means whiteboard animations whose jokes land like graceful gymnasts. We love to find out what makes your company chortle and incorporate it into videos made for you.
There will always be miscommunication, but using these tips will help prevent it and manage it when it occurs. With whiteboard animations, you can craft communications that will stick with your team and guarantee a happy ending fit for a fairy tale.
