One of the top barriers to business success? According to 1 in 4 professionals surveyed by Gallagher, it’s internal communication channels that aren’t fit for purpose.
Having the right mix of communication channels supports effective internal communication and employee engagement. It helps you build a culture of connection and belonging.
But it’s easy to get it wrong. Usually, problems occur when:
- You have too many communication channels
- You don’t have a communication framework — designating specific channels for different types of content
- You have channels that are inaccessible to certain segments of the workforce
- You don’t ask employees what they want from your internal comms channels
Here, we explore 15 of the most popular and effective internal communication channels for 2025. We also look at the questions you should ask when deciding which channels are best suited to your organization and your internal comms strategy.
Common internal communication channels and why they are not enough
Internal communication channels are the tools, platforms, or methods you use to connect employees to your organization — and each other. These channels support the sharing of information, the amplification of company culture, and the building of coworker connections.
Most organizations use a combination of communication channels to reach their workforce. They may use internal communication software to provide some or all channels — and they tend to use different channels for different types of communication.
For example, a company may use email, a social news feed, in-person meetings, project management software, and survey tools. Each of these channels performs a different internal comms function.
Together, these channels support formal and informal, face-to-face and digital interaction. They also ensure that information moves in all directions across the organization.
Types of internal communication channels
We can categorize internal communication channels by the type of communication they facilitate.
Top-down
Top-down internal communication channels allow leaders to share company updates with employees. You can use these channels to speak to the entire workforce but they’re not as interactive as other options on this list.
Examples: Town hall meetings, intranet announcements, content hub resources
Bottom-up
Bottom-up employee communication channels allow workers to share their thoughts, ideas, and concerns with managers and the C-suite. These channels help employees to feel heard and valued — and they’re an essential part of your communication channel mix.
Examples: Employee surveys and polls, leadership Q&A sessions, digital forms
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer internal communication channels are another essential. These channels allow coworkers to communicate with one another and help to create a culture of belonging and collaboration.
Examples: Instant messaging tools, co-worker communities, news feed stories
Questions to ask when choosing internal comms channels for your organization
Most organizations use a mix of comms channels. When devising your internal communication channel strategy — and when assessing the usefulness of the channels we’ve listed below — consider the following questions.
What types of communication channels do we currently use and are they effective?
Before updating your internal channels of communication, assess the effectiveness of your current setup. Consider whether existing tools help you meet communication goals, like fostering engagement or enabling collaboration.
Ask whether each channel has a defined purpose. Is it fulfilling a vital function or is it simply adding to the noise? And consider whether your channels are helping you keep pace with internal communication trends and employee expectations.
What do our employees think of current internal communication channels?
Organizations that ask employees about their communication channel preferences report higher channel effectiveness. So get feedback on the things workers do and don’t like about your current channel mix.
The accessibility of your employee communication channels is another key consideration. Find out whether employees from all parts of the organization — in the office, at home, and in frontline roles — can access your primary communication channels with ease. Language barriers, time zone challenges, shift patterns, and access to tech are all things to think about.
What types of internal communication do we want to share?
Your internal communications should be informative and engaging. So you need varied comms channels that offer real-time updates — and that fit naturally into every employee workflow.
Consider the types of content you want to share — whether mandatory reads, deep-dive resources, social posts, or messages from the leadership team. Then, decide which communication channels you need to deliver each of those content types.
How do we give employees a voice?
Internal communications are more effective and engaging when employees get to contribute. The C-suite gets access to valuable insights that can drive business success. Workers feel valued when it’s clear that leadership is interested in their ideas and concerns.
So determine whether your current channels support two-way communications. If not, you need to add some interactive communication channels into the mix.
How do we prevent channel overload?
Bombarding employees with too many messages across too many channels can lead to information fatigue and channel disengagement. So look for tools that provide multiple channels via one dashboard — and allow you to segment your audience, ensuring only relevant messages reach each employee.
Also, consider the admin experience. To avoid overloading your comms team, channels that provide in-built AI support are useful. You can automate routine internal communication tasks, freeing your team up to focus on more meaningful interactions.
15 internal communication channels to use in 2025
The best internal communication channels to use for your organization include:
- Instant messaging
- Employee surveys
- Content hub
- Internal news feed
- Coworker communities
- Face-to-face meetings
- Project management tools
- Digital forms
- Bulletin board
- Internal videos
- Recognition platforms
- Video conferencing
- Modern intranet
- Employee app
You probably already use some of these channels to communicate with employees. But you may spot some alternatives that will help streamline and upgrade your internal communications.
Just remember: To avoid overwhelming employees, you should look for tools that bring channels together into one user-friendly, digital interface.
Instant messaging
Instant messaging tools support the real-time sharing of information between teams. Unlike email communication, employees don’t have to wait for a response.
The best solutions allow you to create both one-to-one and group chats. They allow you to share images, gifs, videos, and documents — and launch video meetings straight from a chat thread.
Search functionality is another important consideration. It should be easy for employees to search the messaging tool, finding and referencing older chats and resources.
Employee surveys
{{mobile-survey="/image"}}
Employee surveys are one of the most popular employee listening channels. They provide a ton of data about the employee experience — and they promote a positive company culture by ensuring employees feel valued and listened to.
You get the best results when you go beyond the traditional annual survey, using a mix of quarterly surveys and quick pulse surveys to assess employee sentiment on issues like:
- Employee satisfaction
- Employee engagement
- Your internal communication strategy
- Upcoming organizational changes
You can use supporting communication channels to close the feedback loop. Share your findings with employees and inform them how you plan to act upon the insights you’ve uncovered.
Content hub
{{mobile-main="/image"}}
A content hub is a library of self-serve resources — and another valuable internal communication channel.
A hub contains things like policy documents, FAQs, and training manuals. By making these resources available to employees, you reduce the number of questions directed at managers and your HR team. You also give employees quick and easy access to the information they need.
To ensure this communication channel works effectively, you need to regularly update or archive old content. Employees then know that they can trust the information on your content hub is reliable and relevant.
Internal news feed
A social-media-style news feed is another essential internal communication channel for a modern workforce. A user-friendly news feed is familiar to employees — and with rich, multimedia content and interactivity, it’s an excellent tool for employee engagement.
Your news feed is a place to:
- Promote company culture
- Encourage employee interaction, with the platform and each other
- Share essential information
- Recognize employee achievements
The best tools mirror the experience employees get on social media platforms away from work. Employees can like and comment on posts — and create their own content using features like Stories.
Key features to look for include segmentation and controls. To ensure high levels of engagement, you should be able to personalize the news feed to employee roles, locations, departments, and interests. And admins should be able to fine-tune the experience, limiting posting rights to prevent information overload.
Coworker communities
In remote and frontline work environments, employees miss out on water cooler moments. So they can end up feeling disconnected from their coworkers. This is leading to an epidemic of loneliness.
Over half of employees feel lonely all or most of the time. And with more than 8 in 10 employees saying a sense of community helps them perform better at work, finding ways to combat that loneliness is key to employee productivity and satisfaction.
Include coworker communities in your communication channel mix and you provide a digital space where employees can come together.
Employees can create coworker groups based on shared interests, hobbies, or work-related topics. They can chat, network, connect, and collaborate, developing a sense of community that improves their workplace experience.
Face-to-face meetings
Most of the channels of internal communication on this list are digital. But face-to-face meetings are still an important part of any internal comms strategy and can include:
- Manager one-to-ones
- Team and town hall meetings
- Coaching sessions, workshops, and lunch and learns
- Social events
These face-to-face sessions are useful for communicating complex messages and for building better workplace relationships.
However, there are some considerations to bear in mind. Face-to-face meetings aren’t always the most inclusive option if you have employees working in different locations across different shift patterns.
If you have frontline employees, you may like to limit the number of face-to-face meetings you schedule — or vary dates and times. You can also record meetings. Then post a video to your intranet or employee app, so everyone can access the information shared.
Project management tools
Many desk-based teams are using project management software as a communication channel. This brings project management tools and team chat into a single location and helps teams to plan, organize, and execute projects efficiently, even when they’re working remotely.
While useful for project teams, these tools don’t have the full range of features you need for effective internal communication. So they’re best used as part of a more comprehensive communication tool, either built-in or as an integration.
Digital forms
Digital forms reduce your reliance on paper processes. They’re an easy way for employees to communicate with managers and the HR team, without having to send an email or schedule a meeting. As such, they’re another incredibly useful internal communication channel.
You can create digital forms relating to any topic — leave requests, safety reports, shift swaps, employee suggestions. Then, make these forms available via your organization’s primary communication platform.
Bulletin board
If you don’t have a mobile-friendly digital tool that frontline employees can access easily, paper notices may still form a key part of your communication channel strategy.
You may be sharing messages on the bulletin board or via digital signage. We know of transit companies where posters were left on every bus driver’s seat. Needs must. But bear in mind that these methods of internal communication have their limitations:
- There’s no interactivity, which means low levels of engagement
- You can’t be sure that employees are seeing and reading your messages
- Information quickly becomes outdated and irrelevant if older notices aren’t reliably taken down
If frontline and office-based staff are getting their information from different sources, you also run the risk of misalignment and misunderstandings.
Internal videos
Internal videos are another useful communication channel when you want to explain complex concepts. They’re also great for humanizing your leaders and improving workplace trust.
While videos don’t support two-way communication, the combination of audio and visuals catches an audience’s attention, making them good for engagement and knowledge retention.
And — for a more interactive experience — you can use live streaming tools, which allow employees to send reactions and comments during your video event.
Email continues to be a popular channel of internal communication for desk-based workers. It’s a way for coworkers to collaborate with one another — and for leaders to send company-wide updates.
But frontline employees don’t always have a company email address or easy access to their emails during work hours. And even for desk-based employees, email has its drawbacks.
It’s asynchronous and doesn’t support real-time communication. It’s primarily text-based so doesn’t offer great levels of engagement. It’s also easy for workers to become overwhelmed by the number of emails in their inbox.
Recognition platforms
{{mobile-recognition-post="/image"}}
Recognition tools and platforms are an internal communication channel designed to improve employee morale and motivation.
These tools make it easy for managers and coworkers to recognize employee achievements. Some platforms allow managers to assign points, which employees can spend on real-life rewards.
While an increasingly popular part of the channel mix, recognition platforms are unlikely to provide you with all the tools you need for effective workplace communication. So you need to integrate them with your primary communication tools — or find a platform with recognition features built-in.
Video conferencing
When employees can’t meet face-to-face, a video meeting is an excellent alternative. Linking workers across locations and time zones, this is another popular communication channel for desk-based teams.
However, as with email, you can have too much of a good thing. A high volume of video meetings can cause stress and fatigue. And this format isn’t great for frontline workers, whose work environments and patterns aren’t suited to a scheduled video call.
A modern intranet
The traditional intranet has a bad reputation because it fails to meet the communication needs of today’s organizations. A modern intranet is a whole new ballgame.
The best modern intranet platforms combine many of the internal comms channels listed above. They incorporate a company news feed, content hub, instant messaging, recognition tools, and surveys.
For everything else, there are handy integrations. Employees can access all workplace software from the same user-friendly interface, preventing tech tool overwhelm.
With in-built analytics and a consumer-grade user experience, the modern intranet is an all-in-one solution for internal communications, HR processes, and employee engagement.
An employee app
Like the modern intranet, an employee app combines many of the comms channels above — and provides deep integrations for the other tech tools your teams use.
The key point of difference here is mobile accessibility. An employee app is available on every employee smartphone. Your teams don’t need a company email address to access the app and single sign-on capabilities give them secure access to all workplace tools, with just one set of login details.
The employee app is a particularly useful internal communication channel for a frontline workforce. They can access your comms — and contribute to the company conversation — at a time, at a place, and with a device that suits them.
Creating the right mix of employee communication channels for your organization
Looking through the channels of internal communication above, you may feel spoilt for choice. There are lots of excellent ways to share messages and facilitate connection across your organization.
When deciding which channels best support your internal communication goals, consider these two key principles:
- Employee input is essential. You achieve more with your communication channels when you have employee buy-in. Find out what employees want from your channel mix to figure out which of the above tools deserves a place within it.
- Less is often more. Create more communication channels without a clear strategy and you’re likely to overwhelm employees. So aim to streamline communication channels into a single internal communications tool, accessible to your entire workforce.
With the right combination of communication channels, you’ll find it easy to share essential information, create an inclusive company culture, and improve employee engagement — without adding unnecessary noise.
.png)