An article from Fast Company answers the question you've been asking yourself: how do you get your employees on board with your internal communication tools? The answer is clear: to get them to adopt new uses, you have to make them fun. Here are the 3 key ideas of this article:

Fast Company did the interesting exercise of organising a round table discussion on digital transformation and the issues it poses for companies. Everyone around the table agreed that, when implementing more innovative and agile practices, the priority is to get all employees on board. You can't put a tool in place and expect employees to use it.

Make your tools fun

"When it comes to implementing a new tool in the enterprise, adoption is low because the tool is not marketed internally. This is the assertion of Scott Belsky, working at Adobe. A one-day event to communicate about a new tool is not enough. You have to make employees want to use it. The example taken is Slack: Slack is not just a tool for internal communication, it is a space where you use animated GIFs and other features that people like. And it is because of this that the tool has managed to become part of their daily lives.

To get your employees on board with a new tool, you have to treat them as customers, as consumers... Even if they don't give you any money!

Communicate the benefits of your internal communication tools

It is essential to explain the benefits that will result from your internal communication tools. In the end, you will communicate as much about the tool as about the process changes. But the new processes will actually help employees!

Involving to get people on board

To get your employees on board with a new tool, you have to get them involved. Especially during the deployment phase! It is crucial to make sure that the right stakeholders are around the table, and that they help to think about usage. If they are truly listened to, these people will use the tool more easily. In addition, they will become prescribers for their peers.