7 Types of Internal Communications

Key takeaways

Effective internal communication strengthens alignment, fosters trust among employees, and ensures that everyone in your organization remains informed. Here are some important things to know:

• According to a 2025 report, 79 percent of employees believe the quality of communication they receive from organizational leaders impacts how well they understand company goals [1]. 

• Choosing the right communication type depends on your audience, purpose, channel, and priorities.

• You can build your internal communication strategy by exploring seven types of internal communication, ranging from top-down directives to informal peer-to-peer exchanges.

Learn how to develop and strengthen your internal communication skills to set the stage for lasting career success. If you’re ready to start building career skills right away, you can develop your expertise with the Corporate Communications Specialization from the University of California, Irvine. In this program, you’ll identify tools and strategies for effective internal communications, increasing employee engagement, and managing crisis communications

What type of interaction is considered internal communication?

Internal communication refers to the exchange of information within an organization. This type of communication focuses on keeping employees aligned and ensuring everyone is on the same page when it comes to company goals, policies, and day-to-day activities. 

Internal communication connects everyone within the company and can range in formality from casual updates between colleagues to more official announcements from leadership. 

What is external communication?

External communication refers to the exchange of information from a company to its outside audiences, such as customers, business partners, or the general public. Its purpose is to build trust, maintain brand reputation, and create meaningful connections with people who are not part of the internal workforce.

7 different types of internal communications

To have effective internal communication, it’s important to understand different types of internal communications and when to use each. When you match the method to your audience, your message becomes clearer and more impactful.

1. Top-down communication

Top-down communication is a type of information flow from senior leadership to employees, typically in the form of announcements, directives, or policy updates. For example, this might include an email from the CEO detailing a new company-wide work-from-home policy or a newsletter from senior leadership praising the recent successes of a team.

When done effectively, top-down communication helps to ensure that every employee is aware of broader organizational goals and updates, and teams are on the same page about how to be successful within the company.

2. Bottom-up communication

As the name suggests, bottom-up communication is the reverse of top-down communication. In this case, junior employees relay information to managers or more senior team leaders. You might hear this referred to as “managing up,” which is a practice designed to promote two-way communication between employees and their managers.

While less common, this type of communication can help ensure that the voices of all employees are heard and provide an avenue for feedback. Examples of this type of communication might include employee surveys or feedback sessions.

3. Horizontal communication

Horizontal communications include peer-to-peer interactions, often within departments or teams. This can occur at any level. If you’re a manager, this type of communication would include exchanging information with other managers. If you’re a director, this includes communicating with other directors. 

Horizontal communication provides an avenue for discussing projects and holding team chats in a collaborative atmosphere. If you have a weekly meeting with your team to coordinate project activities and align on your progress, this is an example of horizontal communication. 

What are some types of internal communications tools?

Email, instant messaging such as Slack and Teams, shared project platforms like Monday and Trello, and video conferencing platforms like Zoom are common tools that support internal communication. Depending on the size of your organization and the preferences of your teams, you may use any of these and other tools to facilitate ongoing internal collaboration.

4. Diagonal communication

Diagonal communication is a hybrid between horizontal (peer-to-peer) and vertical (top-down or bottom-up) communication. This involves direct dialogue between employees from different departments at various ranks. For example, as a marketing manager, you might directly communicate with a senior engineer to ask questions about the product and the features you want to market.

This type of communication can improve efficiency by allowing teams to more quickly ask questions, solve problems, and combine their skill sets to improve productivity. 

5. Crisis communication

In the event of an emergency, it’s important to be able to quickly share information across the organization and alert employees to what is happening and what actions they should be taking. This type of internal communication focuses on rapid information sharing and often includes alerts pertaining to data breaches, product recalls, scandals, or public health emergencies.

By having a crisis communication strategy in place, you can ensure that your teams have a clear idea of their responsibilities following an emergency and how to mitigate the impact to protect the company and brand.

6. Informal communication

Not all communication happens through formal channels. Informal communication encompasses hallway chats, lunch discussions, social messages, and other casual interactions that foster workplace relationships and cultivate a culture. This type of communication is typically relaxed and can improve morale and spark creative ideas by providing an avenue for employees to share their thoughts and ideas. 

For example, you might have a casual coffee chat with another employee and discuss a bottleneck you’ve both noticed. By combining your insights and experiences, this chat could lead to an idea that you can propose to more senior leadership (bottom-up communication) and improve the larger workflow.

7. Change management communication

When your workplace undergoes organizational changes, employees often need to understand and adapt to new systems and policies. By using change management communications, you can deliver clear messaging to reduce uncertainty and foster trust. This may involve information pertaining to changes such as restructuring, mergers, or the use of new technologies within the organization.

When designing this type of communication, it can help to craft a story that allows employees to understand what is happening, why it’s happening, and how they can help the company meet its short- and long-term goals.

Choosing the right communication type

Selecting the right type of communication depends on the situation, your audience, and your desired outcome. Not every message is best delivered in the same way. For example, announcements that work well in a top-down communication style may not be effective if you are seeking employee feedback and collaboration. 

By being intentional with your approach, you can make the most of your communication strategy. Factors to consider include:

• Who is the audience? Are you addressing senior leadership, peers, or employees you manage?

• What is the goal? Do you want to provide information, request input, or encourage action?

• How urgent is your message? Is this a time-sensitive crisis update or a long-term change initiative?

• What channel makes sense? Would your message be more effective in an email or through a face-to-face conversation? Does your message need to be referencable?

Explore free resources to build communication skills

To learn more about effective workplace communication and how to strengthen these skills, you can explore free resources on best practices by subscribing to the Coursera YouTube channel. Or, check out the following career resources to keep learning:

• Learn tips from experts: Tips to Strengthen Your People Skills 

• Watch on YouTube: 7 Key Communication Skills to Thrive in Your Career

• Explore emerging tech tools: Reimagining Work and Learning with AI: Expert Insights from Dr. Jules White 

Accelerate your career growth with a Coursera Plus subscription. When you enroll in either the monthly or annual option, you’ll get access to over 10,000 courses.

Build job-ready skills with Coursera Plus

Start 7-day free trial

• 
• 
• 
• 

Start 7-day free trial