Strategic Communication

Every action when approached in a strategic and a planned manner usually ensures success rather than when approached without prior planning or in an unorganized manner. This holds true even in case of Communication. Communication basically has three aspects involved in it: the speaker, the subject of communication and the listener. When talking in corporate terms the same three aspects holds good except that they are seen in a much broader sense. The first aspect in case of corporate communication is the organization; the second aspect here is the end object at which communication is aimed which is known as the constituency, the final aspect being the subject of communication which is referred to as messages.

Every organization has several messages to communicate daily and to various constituencies. The organization also has several channels through which these messages can be communicated. Hence the organization has to adopt a strategic approach the get the message across to the constituency in the most effective manner possible. The organization must first determine the objective for communication. The objective maybe to let the public know of a new product introduced into the market in which case it may choose to advertise the product or the objective maybe to lay off certain employees.

The organization must then look into its resources available for communication. Resources can be classified into three categories: Money, Human Resources and Time.
Money: Organizations can communicate their messages through various methods. Each method has a different price. As in case of introducing a new product into the market, the organization might choose advertise the product in newspapers and magazines which is less expensive or may choose to advertise in televisions which is more expensive.
Human Resources: Human resources are an important factor in communication strategy. An organization has to constantly communicate with its stake-holders for which it needs an effective and experienced communicating staff.
Time: Time is also an important resource to an organization which it needs to use effectively. Timely communication of the message is very important. Communicating the message too early or too late may not produce the desired results.

The organization also has to determine the kind of reputation it has with the constituency it is trying to communicate with. When the organization holds a good reputation with the constituency, then communicating the message becomes very easy and simple than when the organization holds a low or a negative reputation.

The organization has to then analyze the constituencies it wants to communicate to and its attitude towards the organization. Organizations must realize the fact the constituencies are often inter-linked. A message aimed at one constituency might also affect another constituency in a either a good or a bad manner unintentionally. If the message has a positive effect on the second constituency at which the message wasn’t actually aimed, the organization stands to benefit from the message. But a negative impact from the message can severely hut the organization bringing down its reputation and brand image.

Organizations must next choose the channel through which it can pass the message to the target constituency. Choosing the channel is not as easy and simple as it may seem. The organization’s top executives may themselves choose to communicate the message, or send an e-mail to the constituency, or announce the message publicly through news paper advertisements or even television advertisements. Here is where the structuring of message comes into picture. Message structure can either be direct or indirect. Direct structure means revealing the main point first and then explaining why; indirect structure means explaining why first and then revealing the main point of the message.

Finally it is very important to evaluate the results of the communication. This analysis gives valuable information from which the company either stands to benefit or lose. The organization must act quickly if in case the communication hasn’t produced the desired results and work on the areas where the communication strategy has failed.

Today’s information age provides a lot of opportunities to organizations for potential partnerships, collaborations and mergers or acquisitions. In all of these situations, effective communication is absolutely imperative and very critical. A fall in communication would mean a fall in any of the above situations and an opportunity lost. Non-profit organizations also need to communicate strategically and effectively to get their message across to the public and also to the government to voice their opinions and concerns. Communication is also important in getting messages across from one department of an organization to the other. Hence communication is important in integrating the various departments of an organization. Communication must therefore be approached with a pre-set strategy just as other functions of a corporation. A communication department can therefore be formed which should be treated in line with other departments of the organization and given equal importance.

(Above informat taken from http://www.benton.org/publibrary/toolkits/stratcommtool.html
http://www.chass.ncsu.edu/ccstm/scmh/model.html)

Companies such as FreeMe and CyberCash providers of web-enabled applications have successfully used Strategic Communication to their advantage. Strategic communication has allowed the companies to successfully reach their customers and advertise their services. This has allowed them to become major market players. Strategic communications has also allowed the companies to integrate the various departments. This has given the management more flexibility and operate successfully in a highly competitive world.
(Link : http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-21-2000/0001294939&EDATE=)

I can recall attending a seminar in the final year of my school when a professor from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) was invited to the school to give a lecture on the topic Life Cycle of Stars and also the Evolution of the Universe since this topic was also part of our text book syllabus. The professor used slide presentations to show pictures of various constellations and nebulae and also to explain the concepts of Astrophysics. The slide presentation was completely new to the students and was very effective in keeping the students attentive right through the duration of the lecture. The power point presentation coupled with the high resolution pictures of stars, galaxies and planets was more effective in making the students understand the topics than the regular black-boards in the class-rooms. The professor at the end of the lecture was flooded with questions that surprised the entire band of teachers who were also present during the lecture. We were finally asked to write down our questions on a piece of paper and pass it to the principal who would in turn pass it on to the professor from IIA. When I received my reply I was overjoyed on the fact that such a senior person had in fact taken time out to read my question responding back. This is a small example for the cyclic frame-work of communication.