Ask and You Shall Receive: The Importance of Feedback and Associate Buy-In on Your Effectiveness as a Communicator

Written By Jamie Levin

Frustrated because your open rate on your internal newsletter isn’t where you want to be? Annoyed when you talk to team members about content that is featured in your monthly newsletter and it seems like they know nothing about it? I’m sorry to say this, but you, as the content creator may be to blame. Sounds harsh, right? Maybe. But as communicators, it’s our job to make sure that the content we are featuring is of interest to our audience.

Think about it…if you’re not at all interested in cars would you read Automotive News? If health is not of interest to you, would you read Women’s Health? I’ll answer for you – no, you would not. The same goes for fellow teammates. If your organization’s internal newsletter doesn’t feature “news they can use” or highlights that are meaningful to them then why on earth would they take 15 minutes to read it when they likely have 50 other emails that they need to get to?

Looking for a way to fix this?

  • Listen.

  • Ask questions.

  • Take a few minutes to survey team members or host a focus group.

Added bonus…none of these actions require additional budget, just some dedication, time, a willingness to listen and learn, and sometimes some thick skin. The benefits are invaluable.

Jamie Levin

Jamie Levin is a strategic communications consultant with 15+ years of experience spanning internal and external communications, events, community initiatives and engagement. As a versatile executive with an excellent record of achievement as a collaborative partner supporting business objectives and bringing vision to life, she has demonstrated her commitment to being a proactive leader and innovative problem solver who is recognized for implementing effective team building skills, successfully identifying engagement opportunities and employing cross-functional initiatives to support company culture, and utilizing creative business building analytical and problem-solving skills. Jamie prides herself in being an excellent communicator who is strategically adept at translating strategy into a sound agenda that directly connects to overall business goals while reinforcing a people-first mentality.

https://www.JLevinCommunications.com
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