No matter how much the workplace evolves, one comms challenge seems to remain fixed: how to effectively communicate with deskless workers. To help our members work through this challenge, we brought together a group of comms leaders for a closed-door virtual discussion focused on troubleshooting and problem-solving.
The conversation quickly confirmed that the nature of the challenge hasn’t changed; deskless workers are often offline, on the move, short on time and operating in safety-critical environments. These realities make it hard to get the right information to the right place and to ensure these audiences feel connected to their organisation. What has changed, however, are the innovative approaches comms leaders are now using to overcome these barriers.
Since we’re far more interested in solutions than problems, we’ve pulled together some of the most practical advice from the discussion, to help you in your own organisations.
“We have people working in remote places and lots of people offline. They might hear from their supervisors but don’t necessarily get important company updates.”
What’s working: Four practical approaches…
1. Make it relevant and personal
What leaders want to share vs. what employees want to hear. This tension came through loud and clear during the discussion. Comms leaders acknowledged that while executives may want every detail of a new corporate strategy shared, that’s not necessarily what frontline employees want, or need, to hear. The key is making the strategy or organisational change relevant to the individual. It’s about drilling down into what it means for employees’ roles and day-to-day work, and that applies beyond frontline teams. Of course, doing this well requires a sound understanding of your deskless audiences.
“Relevance of messaging is key. It’s about what we want vs what we need them to know.”
This quality control role amplifies communicators’ role as the stewards of brand messaging and voice, something that’s especially important today. What’s more, it doesn’t diminish your team’s great writing skills; it elevates them, as strong editing requires a sound understanding of what good writing looks like.
2. Empower line managers
As the primary touchpoint for employees, the importance of line managers can’t be overstated, a sentiment that was reiterated during the discussion. It’s these individuals who will field questions from employees and need to clarify policies and reinforce key messages. As such, they need to be equipped with the right information and tools to do so confidently. Without their support, messages risk being diluted, misinterpreted or lost altogether.
“You need to give supervisors the right information to answer key questions.”
3. Make is bite-sized (where appropriate)
“People don’t want to read long-form articles” was a recurring sentiment around the virtual table. With attention spans waning and employees wanting quick and accessible content, comms leaders are increasingly leaning into bite-size formats to better capture attention. This might mean swapping a lengthy email or intranet post for a short video that can be watched during a coffee break, or creating a quick visual summary that links to a detailed memo for those who want more detail.
Leaders did caution, however, that condensing complex information into short-form isn’t always easy for teams, highlighting it as a growing learning and development priority for communicators.
“People want shorter, bite-size content.”
4. Don’t overlook traditional channels
With so much focus on bite-size, digital-first content, it’s easy to think that digital holds all the cards. But leaders cautioned against overlooking traditional channels. Posters, printed materials and even snail mail sent to employees’ homes still have real value, especially for reaching those without devices or who rarely visit a physical site or hub.
The real value comes from blending the best of traditional and digital. For example, a print poster could include a QR code linking to more detailed content online, allowing employees to choose how they engage.
“Sending post home is sometimes the best way to cut through.”
A final reminder
Underpinning all of these approaches was a clear and important reminder: “You can’t treat deskless workers as a homogenous group.” The umbrella term of deskless or frontline workers makes it easy to fall into this trap, but doing so risks oversimplifying your audience. Just as we segment our desk-based employees, we must do the same for deskless teams, whether it be by role, location, access to tech or other factors. Without a deep understanding of your audience, even the most well-intentioned approaches could fall flat.
Want to be part of the next conversation?
This article offers just a glimpse into our virtual Leader Exchange Sessions. These closed-door conversations are shaped by our members and provide space to troubleshoot real challenges, share practical solutions and gain peer insight. One leader described them as “group therapy” and we couldn’t say it better ourselves.
If you want to nominate a topic, hear from your peers and have a time-efficient way to stay ahead of the curve, make sure you’re part of the next session. Find out how you can get involved at hello@kademygroup.com.
