Improve in-office corporate communications by implementing smart digital signage solutions in lobbies, breakrooms,…
Communication has never been more essential for businesses in 2023. The slope of change has shifted from a relatively mild grade to an uphill climb for many if not most businesses. Just as they do in environments outside the workplace, employees need excellent communication through technology, keeping them informed in real time, helping them adjust, adapt and learn.
Internal Communicators benefit from a clear vision and a visual identity for change. But often these important elements are not enough on their own to help employees keep up. More effective corporate communications outlets are necessary, with better technology to help the business deliver a coherent change story. At the same time, it’s important to support the practical implications of change — from corporate values to nameplates.
Research shows that most organizations do not invest enough in corporate communication technology. In fact, almost half (46%) of internal communications roles identify technology investment as the primary issue holding them back from greater efficacy (Gallagher, “Internal Communication and Employee Experience,” 2023). Why do they want this technology investment? Traditional channels of communication are too slow, or can go unchecked with multiple channels being used to get messages to employees and leadership.
Digital signage on the other hand, is an increasingly powerful and dynamic tool for internal communicators. Digital signage allows you to deploy updates as soon as they are made live or triggered to update displays on the network. Digital signage adapts easily when the plan changes. There is a wide range of technology and solutions that can be implemented to improve corporate communications. For instance, highlight company values, social responsibility and policies, promote HR updates, highlight employee accolades or communicate sales numbers. Digital signs and interactive kiosks allow you to help visitors find their way around or even check in upon arrival. A solid digital communications strategy opens up new opportunities in corporate communications throughout the entire campus and organization.
Digital signage also addresses the need to create a corporate campus that as safe as it is engaging. An integrated emergency messaging strategy can be deployed with immediacy on digital displays of any type should there be a serious on-campus incident, or a predicted event, such as the need for a weather-related emergency communication.
How, and more importantly, where, does digital signage help communicate the vision and identity of the business? How are internal communicators leveraging digital signage to enhance leadership visibility, create a sense of community and build trust?
Let’s discuss the practical, measurable wins.
With such a broad array of possibilities for digital signage in the office, it can be difficult to envision specifically how digital signage can help in the development or refreshing of an internal communications strategy. The “where” of digital signage can be a great place to jumpstart planning, because the natural needs of the space and context inform the content and ultimately lead back to strategy.
We encourage you to look through the following spaces to see some of the more context-specific uses of digital signage and how these use cases help organizations reshape the internal communications function around more adaptive growth strategies.
Whether you are supporting hybrid work, engaging teams around purpose, strategy and values, or enhancing leadership visibility and manager or HR communication, you will find your objectives supported in one or more of these areas.
Meetings can be an important source of creative productivity, which makes meeting rooms and collaborative spaces one of the most important areas for any digital signage deployment. Use digital signage in a one-to-many relationship to reinforce brand values, emphasize corporate news, employee shout-outs, KPI dashboards and visualizations. Or connect multiple offices via social media feeds and digital notice boards. Encourage staff to participate by sharing feedback and ideas to the feed.
A relatively simple implementation of digital signage is a small format tablet outside the conference room, which displays occupancy at-a-glance, and can be integrated with commonly used calendars to show the day’s agenda.
Digital signage can also enable more participatory and dynamic usage of meeting rooms by engaging attendees and speakers. Digital signage can display real-time polls, surveys and feedback from participants, allowing them to voice their opinions and see the results. Meeting room digital signage allows you to facilitate seamless collaboration by integrating with other productivity and scheduling tools, such as video conferencing and screen sharing.
Key objectives of digital signage in meeting rooms:
If you have a fully functional food service in your cafeteria, then digital menu boards, or self-service ordering can also be great options to add more efficiency and convenience to the order and pickup process. These also present the opportunity to promote wellness and healthful eating, or display sports or other entertainment so that employees can get the most out of their break during lunch.
Key objectives of digital signage in cafeterias:
When employees step away from their work, they need to relax, so that they can come back for more productive work sessions. Digital signage is often used in these settings to both enhance the dining experience and to promote engagement. Make the experience personal and create a sense of community. Display employee recipes or photos, news, financial and entertainment news to provide a fun, creative atmosphere. Showcase employee recognition, achievements, birthdays and anniversaries to foster a sense of community and appreciation. Provide health and wellness tips to promote healthy workforce habits. You can even bring in traffic feeds to help employees and visitors time their commute or trip to the airport.
On a personal note, at Scala US headquarters, we use cafeteria digital signage to test out ideas — some for client campaigns and services — but we also provide screens where employees can experiment with our content management solutions. They can schedule and publish creative ideas for signage, or experiment with more dynamic data. Everything from dad jokes to “Taco Tuesdays” has had a turn.
We also use digital signage throughout Scala HQ to welcome new employees, displaying their headshot and get-to-know-you facts, promote HR and benefit news, promote sales and services success stories and more.
Key objectives of digital signage in break rooms:
Digital signage can also be a game changer for workspaces. Digital signage can display customized KPIs or dashboards, keeping employees informed and motivated. Communicating major wins, goals and challenges can help employees feel engaged, wanting to get the most out of their day. Further, introducing collaborative tasks, such as mind mapping, surveys, and other interactive features can drive team building, engagement and shared identity, all factors that employee sentiment shows are important in today’s return-to-work environment.
Consider some of your department or corporate KPIs — these may include sales quotas, financial goals or outreach volume; marketing SEO dashboard website metrics, pipeline and campaign performance; support team customer satisfaction and closed ticket times; HR recruitment metrics; financial reporting and more. The possibilities are endless when considering what you’re measuring, reporting and looking to improve. Digital communications allow for transparency and motivation.
Key objectives of digital signage in workspaces:
Most employees do not spend their time in the lobby, but the experience of walking into an office can be as impactful on work morale as it is on a visitor’s first impression. Well-purposed lobby digital signage responds to the need of the space. Do you have frequent visitors who wait? Present welcome messages and check-in options. Digital signage allows you to display personalized content to high profile visitors, greeting them with their own company’s logo, or even greeting them by name.
Similar to the digital display content on screens throughout the building, lobby digital signage can entertain through updates such as traffic, news and weather, but it can also be used to promote case studies, new products or corporate news. Further, you can provide more immersive, web app experiences that walk through the brand’s identity and values. The content educates, informs and impresses everyone walking into the building.
Key objectives of digital signage in corporate lobbies:
Elevators are high traffic areas, so they help businesses reach larger audiences. Take advantage of employee and visitor dwell time with a dynamic channel that promotes quickly looping content. Everything from weather announcements to corporate news, or sports and traffic updates will “elevate” the experience during any normal day. Many elevator digital signage projects are motivated by the ability to communicate emergency messaging, while displaying escape routes.
Key objectives of digital signage in elevators:
The modern workspace can be extremely agile. This means that traditional signage can be made obsolete almost as soon as it is installed, and new employees can find it difficult to navigate. Digital signage supports a more premium wayfinding experience because it updates instantly, and it can provide personalized directions to the target location. Forget about the large red arrow that says “You are here.” Digital signage asks a more compelling question: “Where would you like to go?” Even better, digital wayfinding allows you to track the departments, teams and personnel that are most frequently sought. This can be in the form of large format displays, wall-mounted tablets, or interactive kiosks strategically placed throughout the corporate campus.
Key objectives of digital signage in wayfinding:
Digital signage is a powerful tool that can transform your office space into an informative and engaging environment. By displaying relevant and dynamic content on your screens, you can communicate effectively with your employees, visitors, and clients. You can also boost your brand image, enhance your corporate culture, and increase productivity. And, of course, creating a safe environment for these day-to-day campus visitors is highest priority, which can be achieved with confidence using a solid digital signage platform.
Whether you want to show news and weather updates, company announcements and achievements, employee recognition and feedback, or interactive games and quizzes, digital signage can help you achieve measurable goals. Deployed via digital signage, internal communications efforts not only symbolize to employees that internal values are changing, but also provide a means to improve the efficacy and speed of change — facilitating rapid evolution of corporate image.
Check out this infographic on digital signage best practices!
