Ready to turn your internal operations into an external strength? Here are three steps you can take today:
1. Bridge the Divide: Pre-brief Before You Press Release
Stop letting your staff hear major news from the public or the local news first.
- Action: Before any significant public announcement (e.g., a new budget, major infrastructure project, or policy change), send a brief internal-only memo with the key message, FAQs, and a clear directive on what they should tell the public. This alignment is critical for building trust with both employees and citizens.
2. Activate Two-Way Dialogue with Frontline Workers
The people who talk to residents daily have invaluable insights—listen to them!
- Action: Implement a simple, mobile-friendly feedback channel (like a dedicated chat or survey within an employee app) for frontline teams to share common resident questions or on-the-ground sentiment. Crucially, share back what you heard and how that feedback influenced your external messaging.
3. Connect the Dots: Showcase the ‘Why’
Help every employee understand how their daily work impacts the community mission.
- Action: Regularly share “Citizen Success Stories” in your internal newsletter or intranet. Highlight how a policy change, a new technology, or a specific team’s hard work directly improved a resident’s life. This reinforces the value of their service and fuels their passion.
4. Drive Excitement: Empower the Team Across the City
Instead of relying on boring old communication methods, bring non-traditional voices into the fray.
- Action: To genuinely drive excitement and connect with the community, move past predictable, top-down announcements and empower your entire team as communicators. Break free from boring, traditional methods by actively seeking out and showcasing non-traditional voices from every corner of the organization. Specifically, create a dynamic strategy to feature diverse employees—from frontline workers to department specialists—in your videos, social media campaigns, and internal communications. This authentic inclusion not only builds internal buy-in and ownership but also leverages personal stories and diverse perspectives to create a more relatable, energetic narrative that genuinely resonates and builds palpable excitement across the entire city.
