Feature
About a year ago, Nirit Peled-Muntz said, her company’s internal communications were fragmented. As the organization grew, what had previously worked no longer accommodated employees across time zones and with different work styles.
“Messages were landing inconsistently — sometimes too formal, sometimes too rushed — and people weren’t always sure where to find reliable updates,” said Peled-Muntz, chief people officer at the HR software company HiBob.
Further complicating communication, the company used multiple communication channels, including email, Slack and WhatsApp. This left employees unsure “what to use and when,” Peled-Muntz sa
“Employees were asking for more transparency and connection from leadership, but also more control over when and how they received information,” she said. “We realized our internal comms channels had become too reactive rather than intentional.”
This highlights the challenges that many managers, employees and human resources face in keeping everyone connected. More than half of employees reported being dissatisfied with their company’s internal communications, leading to loneliness and job dissatisfaction, according to a 2025 survey by Staffbase and YouGov.
What’s Causing Internal Communications Problems?
Internal communications challenges aren’t new. But, today, many organizations are in a “communications asymmetry crisis,” said Triparna de Vreede, an associate professor of information systems at the University of South Florida, who researches human-artificial intelligence interaction and employee wellbeing.
“The asymmetry comes from two different expectations in communication,” de Vreede explained. For example, an employee expects to be heard and understood when they’re comunicating, which is relationship-focused, but the person on the receiving end may expect the message to be task- or efficiency-focused, which de Vreede describes as “transactional.”
Organizations also adopt multiple communication tools, such as Slack, email and others, hoping to solve connectivity and efficiency issues, de Vreede said. These tools may improve communication efficiency, but don’t build connections.
“That’s why over time, as technologies are increasing and as a transactional perspective is becoming more and more natural for organizations, people are feeling more and more disconnected,” de Vreede said.
This is what led to communication gaps at the AI software company Make. “We had too many channels but not enough clarity,” Polina Dimitrova, the organization’s global head of people, said. “Teams were hesitant or confused about communicating early and directly, which let small problems grow into bigger ones.”
The company had grown quickly, leading to quick shifts in priorities and processes and “inconsistent ownership of communication,” Dimitrova said. “When everyone’s responsible for communication, nobody actually is.”
Many of these challenges are amplified by different working modalities, such as hybrid or remote work, which brings different expectations for how people communicate, said Alaina Zanin, an associate professor of human communication at Arizona State University, who researches health and organizational communication, said.
Employees working in-office, fully remote and hybrid, led to a communication imbalance at her organization, Peled-Muntz said. “We learned that when messages don’t travel equally across formats, people fill in the blanks, and speculation spreads faster than facts.”
Strategies for Improving Internal Communications
According to Gallup’s recent American Job Quality study, 55% of workers felt they have limited input on workplace decisions that affect them, including technology and working conditions.
People want to feel seen and heard at work, as well as a sense of belonging and connectedness, Zanin said. Improving internal communications helps; here are some strategies:
Emphasize Two-Way Communication
About a year ago, HiBob’s employee engagement dipped, mainly because “communication felt one way,” Peled-Muntz said. “Too many top-down messages, not enough conversation. Our people wanted to feel heard, not managed.”
The company began emphasizing communication as a “two-way ecosystem,” Peled-Muntz said. Instead of simply broadcasting information, they started keeping an open dialogue, collecting feedback via surveys, holding employee checkpoints and hosting in-person fireside chats. This gives employees a chance to ask questions and receive real-time answers, she said.
Short video messages from leaders and weekly personal summaries were launched, explaining how to communicate more dynamically and accessibly, Peled-Muntz said. “Employees now see their input shaping real outcomes, which has reignited a sense of shared ownership and connection across teams, locations and cultures.”
These changes increased open rates for messages about company-wide updates by 30%, Peled-Muntz said, and improved communication clarity helped boost employee engagement by 22% on the company’s latest survey.
Emphasize Core Communication Channels
Instead of adding more communication tools, which can be overwhelming, focus on what you’re striving to achieve with that channel, de Vreede said. Standardize and enforce core channels to “cut through the noise,” Dimitrova said. The company incorporated AI tools to make communication faster and more efficient. For example, they set up a Slack channel for employees to ask specific questions, and an AI agent looks for answers through internal documents.
“When people aren't drowning in poorly organized information, and can quickly find what they need, they can actually focus on collaboration and execution,” Dimitrova added.
Being intentional about communication platforms is important for consistent, human-centric communication and interaction, Peled-Muntz said. At her company, leaders join all-hands meetings from their laptops so everyone can see them wherever they are, and leaders host two sessions to accommodate every time zone. Key updates are shared in writing, so everyone stays informed and connected.
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Prioritize Relationships Over Tasks
Productivity is important, but communication shouldn’t solely focus on “task accomplishment,” Zanin said. It should also focus on maintaining relationships, mentoring and problem-solving.
“When employees have a stake in who they get to be in the organization, and how they get to contribute, it makes them feel more identified with the organization and more likely to engage in organizational citizenship behavior,” Zanin said. “They’re the ones going above and beyond to mentor their colleagues, to help resolve conflicts, to go the extra mile.”
To boost engagement, Peled-Muntz said her company’s messages now include a “why and what’s in it for me” that establishes a purpose and helps build trust. Leaders also acknowledge when they don’t know something.
Be Human
With more organizations adopting AI and working with dispersed teams, it’s important to maintain human elements and emotional touches, de Vreede said.
“Organizations have to create these spaces where humans stay humans, and thereby, create more value that AI cannot create,” she said.
AI helps create consistent, clear messages, Peled-Muntz said, but it's equally important to keep communications authentic and human. “We don’t want everything to sound perfect; we want it to feel real,” she said.
Ultimately, strong internal communications isn’t just about sharing information; it’s also about sustaining culture, Peled-Muntz said. It also improves employee experience, connectedness and engagement, Dimitrova said.
“Communication and collaboration are inseparable,” Dimitrova said. “Improving one strengthens the other. Companies that figure this out will execute better and move faster than their competition.”
Editor's Note: How else can you improve internal communications?
- Communication Frameworks Are Vital Workplace Tools — Clear communication isn't the norm. But by adopting these frameworks, you can ensure your message is understood, internalized and easily shared by others.
- The Neuroscience of High Impact, Lower Noise Internal Communications — How brain-based communication strategies drive business results in an era of information overload.
- Are Your Messages Hitting the Mark? Time for an Internal Comms Audit — If you don’t know how many employees receive your internal communications or who takes the time to read them, you're probably due for an audit.
