Communication Strategies

Communication is a central part of any organization and it is commonly agreed that any successful organization will put effort in attaining effectiveness in its communication and promoting free flow of information which an integral part of communication. Whether formal or informal a lot of expertise is required in preparing and dispatching communication. Meetings as avenues for communication have become common in many organizations and they can be time consuming and often fail to produce results if the planning is not done properly.

Meetings whether annual, bimonthly or daily are used by organizations all over the world for communication to different stakeholders. It takes a lot of time and resources to plan and hold a successful meeting but what really matters at last is how well the objectives are communicate to the audience. Such calls for such communication to be designed properly so as to ensure that, the stakeholders communication needs are fulfilled (Cheney et al, 2004). It is for this reason that the design and packaging of communication is very important. While preparing the communiqus the following characteristics of the target audience needs to be considered because failure to do so would result into communication breakdown, communication barrier or worse still miscommunication.

Skills of the different stakeholders in the meeting need to be considered so as to ensure balanced communication. In a meeting where sales people, customers as well as managers are gathered, then there is bound to be some expertise in crafting the communication. Use of technical language and vocabulary may be ideal for managers and sales people but it may be way beyond the ability of every customer present. This is due to the reason that, some customers may form a very royal client base but at the same time lack interest in technical details of the product making it necessary for the communication targeting them to be much simplified. This informs the decision to use non technical language and simple vocabulary, and where necessary, layman language in such a meeting so as to ensure effective communication. Therefore, communication needs to be presented in a very balanced manner in which all the stakeholders freely participate without facing difficulties in decoding the message (Mumby  Steve 2005).

The language used in all publications, speeches or PowerPoint presentations must take into account cultural and language barriers. It is not uncommon to find in such meetings, customers from different cultures and races, sales people drawn from various countries as well as managers from different parts of the world. This calls for caution in preparing and dissemination of information. Some of the points the presenter needs to consider include the need for a translator as well as the need to ensure that the language is culturally sensitive as what is acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable in another.

Level of education and knowledge of the audience is also very important. In many cases, all stakeholders have different knowledge concerning a product as well as the operations of the organization and these variations need to be considered in preparing communications. For instance, a meeting for production staff would highly use technical terminologies without any audience in the meeting feeling left out. This may not be the case in a situation whereby those in attendance include customers and staff from other departments.
There is a need to balance communication, speeches and presentation in the meeting so that the needs and interests of every one in attendance are fulfilled. Where this is not implemented, the purpose and objectives of the meeting may fail to be achieved. A good starting point would be to carry out a needs assessment of the various stakeholders before hand and then incorporate all the major points into the communication during the meetings.

Choice of message delivery method is also very important, for instance, issues of levels of literacy and language proficiency will determine whether a meeting can use either print or PDA for presentations. Organizations do not call for meetings often unless there are some burning issues. Therefore, meetings present important opportunities for deliberations amongst stakeholders for important issues facing the organization. As such, communication means must be chosen with a lot of concern. In choosing the channel, only those channels which attract the attention of the audience most must be embraced. In the case of the meetings, making them formal and official is the best strategy. Some communication channels are more effective than others those which especially combine different sensory abilities such as vision and hearing are to be given prominence as they are likely to have much higher impact.

It is worth investing some energy towards identifying barriers to communication with a view of overcoming such. The biggest barrier to communication is the environment of the meeting. A polarized environment in the meeting is a likely cause for emotional distress to both the facilitators and the audience. Polarization occurs due to unmet needs and demands or in a situation where all the involved parties do not agree concerning some issues of interest to them. It can also result from threats from outside which can include competitors and disgruntled staff.

It is important that before the communication is delivered any differences are ironed and every one in attendance is predisposed to positively participate in the meeting (Terry, 2008). The environment of the meeting needs to be inspected for detractors such as noise and made devoid of all such detractors. This will ensure full attention of the members in attendance. Communicating to the audience way before the meeting date is important. Where possible, written confirmation of attendance needs to be sought also. Where differences persist, an atmosphere of reconciliation needs to be created so as to avoid negative criticism.
Communication needs to be highly impactful so as for it to be effective, therefore the person leading the communication needs to be capable of making lasting first impressions. Besides, one needs to be a good public speaker and able to easily connect with the audience. The interest, attention and expectations of the audience need to be captured in a bid to communicate effectively. In addition a communication needs to engage the minds of the audience so as to retain interest in the communication process. In the event where some deliberations require some stakeholders to give and others to take, it should always be communicated in such a way that it forges a win-win situation for all parties involved. No matter how a meeting goes, the objectives needs to be realized and all stakeholders expectations addressed properly. In the end it is crucial to ask for feed back to ascertain whether the stakeholders were satisfied with the communication efforts in the meeting.