Communications Audit: Are You Collaborating as Effectively As You Could?

Communications audits are incredibly important within business; you need to ensure that your organisation is collaborating as effectively as possible. By ‘communications audit’, we’re referring to the comprehensive evaluation of your company’s external and internal communications, designed to determine what is happening and the success of its efforts. It analyses how information is being sent, received, and shared amongst employees, customers, and even investors.

Here we break down the benefits of a communications audit and how best to perform one.

Why do I need a communications audit?

Think of a communications audit as being as essential as your car’s dashboard. Your dashboard shows you how well your car is operating, highlights any problems to you, and keeps track of the amount of fuel in the vehicle. A communications audit does the same thing for your company; it acts as an indicator of your current communication practices and tracks their effectiveness. Much like a car dashboard, an audit can also pinpoint specific problem areas, such as gaps in information or misrepresentation.

After weighing up the strengths and weaknesses of your communication, the audit then provides the necessary recommendations and improvements in order to grow your business. An audit may find that a unified communications system is more appropriate for your company. Collaboration tools by Addin 365, for example, offer one software package which provides a platform for a variety of internal and external communication. Working with the package since its inception, companies like Addin 365 help employees to effectively utilise Office 365, maximising their return on investment into the platform.

What an audit ensures is that communication within your business is as strong as it can be, helping to build trust and commitment amongst employees. In addition, by determining the best ways to communicate with the external public, your organisation becomes more able to achieve its goals. If you’re in the process of creating strategic plans for your business, you need to know its communication systems inside and out.

How do I perform a communications audit?

In terms of performing a communications audit, you can either employ internal staff or hire an external communications audit professional. Forbes has published their tips for a successful audit; they suggest determining your outcome and a clear scope for your investigation, homing in on your target market/consumer, tracking your active marketing channels, setting up a system to collect data, and then analysing the stats. Bear in mind that organisations often look beyond their own employees for this kind of expertise. Often an outside consultant – one with experience in audits and strategic communications – can bring a much-needed fresh perspective and critical eye to your company. You’re looking for an impartial observer, someone who isn’t afraid to ask lots of questions about you, your staff, your board members, and your key external audiences. They also need to be well-equipped to comprehensively review your materials. If you choose to do the audit yourself, make sure that you can remove yourself and be subjective.