About the book
What it is
Digital Communications at Work is a practical, hands-on guide for internal communications managers, HR business partners and workplace leaders who want to make their digital channels genuinely effective — not just operational.
Grounded in real-world experience across universities, global banks, professional institutes and international charities, it helps you navigate the realities of planning, launching and sustaining digital communication at scale: the stakeholder politics, the governance gaps, the technology choices, and the pressure to prove it's working.
Why we wrote it
This is the book we wish we'd had when we started.
Digital communication is now the backbone of how organisations operate — but it's still treated as an afterthought. Small, overstretched teams are expected to understand user needs, manage vendors, build channels, create content and keep everything running — often without a clear strategy or the budget to match.
We wrote this book to change that. Not by adding to the pile of tactics and tools, but by giving practitioners a strategic, joined-up framework that connects communications to culture, performance and measurable outcomes.
Because the goal isn't just better messages. It's better organisations.
What you’ll learn about
Developing a tailored channel strategy aligned to your business goals and culture
Building and presenting a compelling business case to secure leadership buy-in
Selecting, integrating and optimising digital tools using proven frameworks
Implementing content strategies that sustain engagement and support talent retention
Measuring, analysing and demonstrating the ROI of your communications investment
Navigating the planning, politics, finance and IT challenges that derail most programmes
What’s inside
The book follows a clear arc from discovery through to delivery — and looks ahead to what comes next.
Section One: Discover
Introduction: Why digital communications has become business-critical, and how to use this book.
Chapter 1: Discovery: How to identify your organisation's communication needs, gaps and barriers before you build anything.
Chapter 2: Platforms: How to choose the digital communications architecture that fits your organisation's structure, culture and goals.
Chapter 3: Building the business case: How to understand, articulate and present the costs, benefits and value of digital channels to secure investment and leadership buy-in.
Section Two: Develop
Chapter 4: Publishing: The role of the intranet as the foundation of your digital communications ecosystem.
Chapter 5: Distribution: How to ensure the right messages reach the right people at the right time, across the right channels.
Chapter 6: Processes: Digital workplace governance: the structures and practices that keep channels effective over the long term.
Chapter 7: People: How to build organisational capability and ensure your team has the skills digital communications demands.
Section Three: Deliver
Chapter 8: Content — Best practice for developing, publishing and maintaining content that informs, engages and drives action.
Chapter 9: Communities — The benefits and real challenges of enterprise social tools, and how to make them work.
Chapter 10: Launching channels — How to successfully plan and execute the launch of new platforms or features, from pilot to full rollout.
Chapter 11: Measurement and management — How to define success, track performance, and use data to continuously improve.
Section Four: Future
Chapter 12: What's next for internal communications — Emerging trends, technologies and the skills practitioners will need to stay ahead.