COMMUNICATING STRATEGICALLY

INTRODUCTION:

Communication is a vital component in the routine functioning of an organization.
Business activities would not take place without proper interaction between the members involved in it.

First of all, let’s see what communication exactly means. "Any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that person's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or nonlinguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes." E.g. informing employees of an organization about the changes in work timings involves transmission of information. Interpersonal communication is irreversible, complicated, and is contextual.


CORPORATE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY FRAMEWORK

Corporate communication involves the corporation, the message and the constituency that is the receiver. The corporation forms the message and transfers it to the constituency. The constituency needs to respond to the message.

A strategic communication decision to “foster interdepartmental
communication” can be accomplished by various methods such as job rotation and using
cross-functional teams.

The traditional questions of “who-what-when-where-why and how” are a reasonably
good starting point for developing a communication strategy:

With whom will executives communicate?
How will employees and executives communicate?
When will employees and executives communicate?
Where will employees and executives communicate?

DEVELOPING CORPORATE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES:

I. Setting an effective Organization Strategy:

This process involves-

a. Determining the objectives for a particular communication.

b. Deciding what resources are available.

c. Diagnosing the Organization’s reputation

II. Analyzing the Constituencies:-
This analysis determines who the constituencies are, their perception about
the organization and what they know about the communication. Constituents
can be primary (employees, customers, shareholders and communities) or
Secondary (media, suppliers, Government, etc.).

III. Delivering Messages Appropriately:-
This involves proper structuring of the message. It involves choice of
communication channel and drafting of message.

IV. Constituency Responses:-
The communication process never ends without the constituent’s
response.

By creating communication strategy based on the time tested theories presented in this chapter , an organization is well on its way to reinventing how it handles communication.

Personal Experience:

Interpersonal communication is so vital in my everyday life. From greeting my parents in the morning to wishing them a good night, I use communication. Communication is important in conveying my thoughts to others.Even when I go to college, I interact constantly with my friends and professors. It usually starts with me asking a question to someone or vice versa.

Let’s take the instance of what I experienced at work. My boss gives me instructions from time to time. He asks me to get few print outs for him. He is the corporation in this case. His order to get a print out is the message. I am the constituency. When I oblige his orders, it becomes the response.

REFERENCES:

Paul A. Argenti, 2007. Corporate Communication, Fourth Edition.

Clampitt, P. 1991. Communicating for managerial effectiveness. Newbury Park, CA. 1991.

National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities, 1992, p. 2

LINKS:

http://www.unm.edu/~devalenz/handouts/defcomm.html
http://www.pstcc.edu/facstaff/dking/interpr.html