Weekly newsletter reduces email overload

If you have ever worked at an organization that communicates every little thing—important or not so important—by blasting an email to every employee, you know the situation faced by communicators at Summit Medical Group. 

Addressing that email overload was one goal of Group Update, Summit’s weekly electronic newsletter, which consolidates the noncritical announcements along with the organization’s important news into a concise, engaging bulletin that shares just enough information to get the main point across, then links employees to the intranet for the full story. This approach has also helped employees get accustomed to the intranet as the primary source for news. 

Working with an outside designer to establish a readable, engaging motif, Summit also coordinated with IT to ensure electronic distribution would deliver a consistent look and feel that would accommodate both computers and mobile devices. 

The publication is primarily a vehicle that delivers information employees need to do their jobs effectively, but it also delivers material that serves to improve the quality of employees’ work lives, including benefits information, events, wellness information, and discounts the organization makes available to staff. Stories also encourage employees to contribute (such as one campaign to get employees to submit pictures of their pets on summer vacation). 

The growing number of content submissions for inclusion in the newsletter is one measure of its success, leading us to recognize Summit Medical Group’s Group Update with Ragan’s 2014 Employee Communications Award for Best Electronic Newsletter.