A weird thing happened to me a couple of days ago. LinkedIn, a Microsoft online business networking platform, “invited” me to “contribute to a collaborative article” and earn a “badge” of merit. Note that my use of quote marks here indeed highlights LinkedIn’s words.

This article, actually a single paragraph, posed the question:

How Can You Engage Remote Employees With Internal Communication?

What made this strange was that both the paragraph and its question were written by LinkedIn’s own AI and that LinkedIn now sought members who would volunteer their human “insight” towards it as a way of making it seem that LinkedIn was a place for lively business thought. (I didn’t intend that pun.)

I only realised LinkedIn’s game after crafting my answer which I offer to you below. For rather than being able to post a true “collaboration” regarding the question, I was only allowed to add a ~700-character “comment”—and this was only made apparent after my attempt to upload it.

LinkedIn wasn’t looking for unique user input at all.

It merely wanted to make it appear that its members were interacting in conversation using it. And of course they weren’t.

Still, I now had this content to share with the world. So, maybe some human here will find it useful with nothing AI about it at all.

I hope it helps if the original LinkedIn question poses any operational interest for you.

How Can You Engage Remote Employees With Internal Communication? By Adam Parker a Human

The key terms here are “engagement” and “communication” and these translate as leadership and teamwork respectively.

Outside the world of solo enterprise, businesses are human collaborations working towards common goals—by people contributing their skills and abilities towards personal sub-goals.

Dictated by these “job descriptions” they are then led by other humans responsible for directing, measuring and refining goal compliance and attainment through performance.

Fundamentally, where jobs can be performed remotely—that is, outside a traditional employment grouping—the challenges of management and teamwork do not change. As in a physical team environment, these challenges still determine the calibre of the leadership and communication required.

Another name for this process is “motivation” and its science is clear.

What motivates your employees? That will determine their feeling of togetherness and belonging.

That question defines the makeup of your internal communications strategy. Do your communications touch your employees, empower them, direct them and give them a chance to share? Do they reinforce your business’ goals, personal pride, self-obligation and a sense of “team”?

Are these communications open at both ends? Can any employee initiate them up and down?

Do your internal communications make people feel that they belong and want to produce?

That’s all. It’s a question of leadership towards goals. Stacey Adams’ foundational Equity Theory of Motivation shows that employees will over-perform if they feel recognised and valued.

In the remote environment, as with one that’s more structured, do your internal communications make employees feel that they’re welcome?

Given the bespoke nature of that question, you’re right. Leadership isn’t easy.

© 2023 Adam Parker.

Adam holds a degree in human resource management.