Local news organizations have long been the go-to sources for loyal readers when disseminating information on regional politics, weather, business, and human-interest stories. Although many local news organizations have perfected the ability to distribute information to the masses, many seek ways to improve how they communicate internally to run their operations more efficiently.

With an abundance of new tools and resources, it can be daunting to identify how to best move an organization forward efficiently.

Here are a few things that local news organizations can focus on to operate efficiently and get more from their employees.

Develop an internal communication plan

The backbone of any local news organization’s business is to be able to effectively distribute trusted news and information to their readers. With that said, many local news organizations fail to communicate as effectively within their organizations as they do externally.

The importance of developing an internal communication system that outlines how departments, teams, employees, and contractors communicate with each other is often underestimated. Local news organizations should think about the most efficient ways to use email, project management tools and/or messaging apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams to communicate more cohesively as an organization.

A communication plan can help set rules such as using email to communicate with external partners, using Slack for quick messaging internally between colleagues, or using project management tools such as Monday.com to work on more long-term projects. A solid internal communication plan helps eliminate confusion as to where and how communication happens and can help reduce duplication of efforts in your organization.

Facilitate effective meetings

Not many people think of running an effective meeting as a skill, but it is. Efficient meetings can be the difference between an organization increasing revenue and losing revenue. Effective meetings also help decrease employee turnover and boost company morale. Every meeting should have a clear objective and an agenda. It is also important to start and end meetings on time.

To improve meeting engagement, run meetings for 45 or 75 minutes vs. the traditional 30 or 60-minute meetings. This allows meeting attendees to absorb the information just delivered and have time to prepare for their next meetings, usually starting on the hour or half-hour mark.

It is also wise in this day of emerging artificial intelligence tools to use an AI note-taker that can quickly summarize meeting notes and distribute them to meeting attendees. Lastly, always establish “to-do” items before the next meeting. There is nothing that ruins the effectiveness of a meeting more than having to meet about a preceding meeting and go over items discussed previously that have fallen through the cracks.

Assess operational effectiveness

This is an often-overlooked step to improving company culture. How well is your organization assessing the workflows currently in place designed to prevent errors and delays? How well does your organization assess how well it achieves its intended outcomes? It is good practice to survey employees and organizational partners annually — they can provide useful feedback to help improve your organization.

It is also important to create surveys that not only help your organization assess how well current structures are working but also allow employees to suggest strategies and ways to improve day-to-day work. Leaders of local news organizations should also conduct individual meetings with staff twice a year to assess goal setting, goal completion, and career trajectory.