What matters in a communications strategy

How does an organisation make effectively utilise the available approaches and media to communicate? How can an organisation scale up individual interactions into a common organisational communication strategy? This eight-page brief gives an overview of fundamentals essential to consider when developing an organisational communication strategy. The article is aimed at development workers, researchers and policymakers - from international organisations, the business community, government and non-governmental organisations.

The first part of the article examines the definition of communication. The author then explores the context in which communication takes place, both within an organisation and externally. It analyses some of the influential factors in communication outcomes and the skills and competencies required for the process. The third section takes a critically examines approaches to communication, from differing perspectives and experiences. Section 4 outlines organisational concerns and questions to be asked when devising an organisational communication strategy.

The author points out that because communication is a social activity, with learning and change inherent in the process, some implicit outcomes can result. Some of these outcomes are:

• increased mastery of a skill
• improved self-esteem and well-being
• improved personal efficacy
• reinforced mutual respect
• enhanced confidence
• trust.

The article also notes that no matter the type of organisation or project, there are six important questions to consider when developing a communication strategy. They are as follows:

• Why? Organisations define their short-term and long-term communication objectives in line with their mandate
• Who? The credibility of a message is influenced by who backs it
• Says what? How the contents of a message are present can enhance or detract from the message
• To whom? Which audience is the message targeting?
• By what channel? The choice of media used to communicate the information has advantages and disadvantages that need to be considered before choosing a medium
• To what effect? Because of the implicit and explicit outcomes of a communication process, it is important to monitor and evaluate its effectiveness and in meeting the organizational mandate and the objective of the communication process.

The article concludes that an effective communication strategy is based on appropriate choices in approach and awareness of the dynamics of the operating environment.