The need for a corporate communication strategy

Communication is something that can help organizations take a step closer to the
achievement of their goals, and it can also keep organizations from achieving w
hat needs to be achieved. This is why many organizations these days develop prog
rams to help improve communication in the workplace. In this way, every person w
ho is part of the organization is able to understand and appreciate the idea of
effective communication.
Being unable to communicate effectively means getting farther from the achieveme
nt of goals and objectives; and this is why organizations make it a point to hel
p employees learn more about techniques and strategies that can improve communic
ation in the workplace. Let us face it, how will employees come to understand th
e direction that needs to be taken if the management is not able to communicate
this effectively to them? And how will the management know about the different c
hallenges faced by employees if there was poor communication?
On average, about 70% of our time is spent communicating, whether it is verbal,
nonverbal or through listening, reading or writing. In basic terms, communicatio
n is the transmitting of an idea or an opinion from one person or group to anoth
er person or group; an exchange of ideas.
Effective communication is required to ensure the message is delivered, received
, interpreted and acted upon in the way it was intended. Whoever you are office
junior, CEO or stay at home dad, effective communication is key to achieving bot
h your personal and professional goals.
There are two main elements to Effective Communication, assertive speaking and a
ctive listening.
Assertive speaking - To project yourself (verbally and non verbally) in a direct
, confident and relaxed way, in order to be able to deliver your message, image
or idea in the way that you meant it to be heard, whilst at the same time encour
aging the audience to do the same.
Active listening - Utilizing empathy and respect to listen to both the content (
verbal) and the emotional (non-verbal) elements of the message, idea or image be
ing delivered in order to hear the message as it was meant to be heard.
Effective communication requires more than just words, it needs positive, direct
and confident body language, facial expressions, pace, and tone of your voice t
o all add weight to what you want to say.
Professor Mehrabian of the University of California looked at how face to face c
ommunication is received by any listener.
The research discovered the Impact of communication:
Facial expressions / gestures / body language55%
Tone of voice38%
Content / words7%
Importance Of Communication In Organization
Organizational communication lays the keystone to every organization for upbring
ing and grooming the environment of that particular organization. It could be ca
tegorized in three different categories as follows.
Upward communication: It is the communication that occurs in an organization fro
m peer to the managerial level and has formal tone included in it. It can be the
feedback of the employee towards the manager about some specific report or task
.
Downward communication: The communication that takes place from the upper echelo
n that is from manager towards its employees and can be in the shape of some ord
ers and instructions that are required to be followed.
Dydic Communication: More friendly and informal communication that occurs betwee
n the peers of same organization. It takes place as exchanging ideas amongst eac
h other being the subordinate of that organization. Effective communication is n
ot always easy, yet the alternative of poor communication is much harder in the
long run. Follow these simple guidelines, and enjoy the benefits of effective c
ommunication.