How To Build Your Internal Comms Channel Matrix (+ Template)

Creating an internal comms channel matrix is essential for managing communication flow within your organization. It enables to you to effectively reach your audience(s), target your messaging, and increase your chances of your communications being understood and acted on. 

As such, a channel matrix is a critical instrument in the communicator’s toolkit, and helps to demonstrate the strategic importance of your function to your company’s success. 
This blog will look at six key considerations when building your channel matrix, and why they’re important. To give you a head start, I’ve also included a template at the end.

1. Purpose of your content

It should be no surprise this is first. As you begin work on your channel matrix, it’s vital you think about the purpose of the content you are sharing, as this will influence your choice of channel. You may even discover you need to create a new channel(s) to share certain types of content. 
For example, let’s say you want to provide updates on company performance. These impact everyone in your organization, and should come from senior leadership. So that leads you to consider factors such as:

• Where are our people located? 
• How can we reach all of them?
• How can we maximize our senior leadership’s time?
• What will we do for those unable to attend/watch at a certain time?

For this reason, many corporates decide to share this type of information via regular Town Hall or All Hands meetings, which are recorded so that people unable to attend or view can watch them on demand. 

When delivering company-wide strategy updates it’s important that people hear directly from senior leaders, and at the same time as their colleagues, so there are no mixed messages. That’s why the purpose of your content is such a strong determinant of channel.

2. Where is your audience?

In a lot of organizations, your audiences will be a blend of desk-based and deskless workers. Indeed, in the UK alone it’s believed that around 80% of the workforce are in the latter category. These call for different approaches to channel choice. This is for two main reasons:

• Desk-based workers often live in email, PowerPoints, and intranets. It’s a written culture. 
• Deskless workers need content that is short and sharp. It’s a verbal culture. 

Before deciding on your channel, you need to map your audiences – their locations and number of people. Then, the key is to listen. Go and speak to your colleagues (desk-based and deskless), do surveys, focus groups, and use your employee experience platform to ask questions such as: 

• How do you receive company information now?
• How would you like to receive communications? 
• What are your preferred channels? 

If you listen to your people, it shows you value their opinions. They feel heard and are far more likely to engage with communications on channels they believe are tailored to their needs.

3. Different types of channels 

For a number of reasons, you need diverse types of channels, even for the same audience group. This is because:

• Everyone’s preferences are different. There are people who prefer face-to-face communications, others digital.
• While some content is best delivered ‘broadcast style,’ it’s also important to have two-way channels to create engagement and get feedback. 
• Your employees now expect you to meet them where they are, and show an understanding of when and how they want to consume company content.
• Covering as many bases as you can through a true channel mix gives you the best chance of reaching your various audiences with your communications. 

So, when creating your channel mix, look at your balance. If you have too much of one type of channel you risk alienating employees. Consider: 

• What number of your channels are face-to-face vs. digital?
• Do you have a mix of several types of content – verbal, visual, audio etc?
• Do your channels meet the needs of desk-based and deskless workers?
• How much of your content is on-demand, so employees can decide when to engage with it? 

It’s called a channel mix for a reason, so focus on getting the blend right and you’re far more likely to be successful with your communications strategy.

4. Use line managers as a channel

Line managers are a crucial channel of communication. With 70% of the variance in team engagement determined solely by the manager, it’s essential that this group is treated accordingly. 

What does this mean for my channel matrix?

• Line managers need to feel trusted and empowered by senior leaders. To do this, look at channels for line managers to engage with senior leaders – for example, regular calls. 
• Give them the tools to communicate. Many line managers are not natural communicators, and have not had formal training in it. They also need to know what they should and shouldn’t share with their teams. Consider creating a channel they can use – for example, a monthly manager pack – to help them. 
• Set expectations of managers as a communications channel. Typically, line managers have not been explicitly told, or don’t understand, that a big part of their role is to communicate with their teams. Having a channel dedicated to supporting them will go a long way to reinforcing this responsibility. 

If you want to reach your employees with your communications, you need to go through their line managers. For this reason, think of them as a channel with their own specific needs.

5. Get the frequency right

With research showing nearly seven in 10 UK workers are spending 15 minutes or less per day reading and viewing updates from their employer, you don’t have a lot of time to grab the attention of your audience. 

To avoid overwhelming your employees and to ensure that your key messages cut through, it’s vital that you look at the frequency of your channels. Pay particular attention to:

• How are you spacing out the frequency of individual channels and the mix as whole?
• Do you have enough of a gap between key channels? For example, is there a good amount of time between a global All Hands call and your company-wide newsletter?
• Does your channel matrix sync with your internal comms calendar? 

Getting your frequency right is a challenge. Too much of a gap, and your people may lose interest, too often and they may feel overloaded. Experiment with different frequencies and see what works best.

6. Follow the data

Whatever channels you are thinking about using, follow a data-driven approach. This means looking at your current mix and analyzing quantitative and qualitative results – doing an internal communications channel audit is a great place to start here. It can look at measurements including:

• Number of attendees at Town Halls
• Number of questions asked
• Feedback from employees – engagement surveys, etc.
• Clickthrough rates 
• Replay numbers
• Engagement with content on internal social channels 

Most communication channels have a range of metrics available depending on what you’re trying to measure, which will be specific to your organization. With data-gathering capabilities getting more sophisticated all the time, you have a wealth of information at your fingertips to help you decide:

• Is this channel delivering on its purpose?
• What content is most/least popular?
• Do we have the frequency right?

Using data as your friend enables you to test and iterate, learn quickly, and respond in a more agile way to your audience’s needs. All of which will enhance the effectiveness of your communications. 

This is not meant to be a complete list. It is designed to get you started with the main considerations that should go into your channel matrix. With that in mind, Workvivo Channel Matrix Template.pdf to get you going.