Managing Internal Communication in Hybrid Work Environments within Ministries: Effective Solutions

Abstract

The new era of hybrid work accelerated by COVID-19 pandemic increased uncertainty in organisations and the need to change the usual internal communication processes and forms. Ministries, as public sector organisations, faced various challenges in managing internal communication such as increased level of stress, complaints from employees about the lack of feedback from managers as well as difficulties in creating strong interpersonal relations and a sense of being a team. This paper analyses the challenges of internal communication in public sector organisations in the era of hybrid work and how specialists and unit managers in a particular Lithuanian ministry have addressed these challenges. The study presents suggestions from semi-structured interviews with heads of units and specialists of internal communication on how to improve internal communication management at organisational and unit level at ministries when hybrid work becomes a part of new reality. Based on the results of the study and the academic literature, recommendations are made on how internal communication in policy-making institutions could be organised in a period of these turbulent times.