Running head: Communication Strategy Paper

Communication Strategy Paper An Assignment Submitted by Name of Student Name of Establishment Class XXXX, Section XXXX, Fall 2012

Communication Strategy Paper Communication Strategy Paper Introduction Communication is everything. Most of our needs and indeed most of what makes us human has communication at its root. Human needs for love and affection come about as a result of communication, for example, between a parent and child. Caring is communicated through words and actions. Human are socialized and educated through a communication process. People know themselves and their roles in society, learn about others and organize into groups of various kinds directly as a result of communication. Communication is, therefore, an important subject in and of itself. A strategic approach to a communication has become of greater importance in recent years. There are several reasons why this happened. The first involves trends in the workplace, the second is the evolution of understanding of the process of communication, and the third is that developments have resulted in a greater appreciation for the centrality of communication in terms of the creation of human social and organizational realities. Audience All good communication should be driven by and focused on your audience: its interests, needs, expectations, and concerns. In other words, effective messages should be audience-centered. Another important thing to remember is perception. Perception is the part of the communication process that involves how people look at others and the world around them. It is a natural tendency to perceive situations from own limited viewpoint. Perception of reality is also limited by previous experiencies and attitudes toward the sender of the message. People filter messages through their own frames of reference and tend to see only the things they want to see. Overcoming perceptual barriers is difficult

Communication Strategy Paper but essential to craft messages that meet the needs and concerns of an audience. To envision the audience, the focus must be on relevant information known about the receiver. The more familiar you are with the receiver, the easier this task will be. When communicating with an individual, it is important to recall a clear picture of the receiver his or her physical appearance, background, values, opinions, preferences. The following audience characteristics have to be considered: age, economic level, educational background, needs and concerns of the receiver, culture, rapport, and expectations. For example, some newspaper businesses after making analysis on cultural differences of their readers have understood that Japanese readers value the beauty and flow of words and prefer an indirect writing approach, unlike Americans who prefer clarity and consciseness. Purpose Identifying the purpose of communication can help to more effectively plan and formulate messages. It should be noted that to be an effective strategic communicator requires prior knowledge and specific skills: (1) self-awareness, (2) the willingness and ability to understand others, and (3) the ability to think critically. There are two foundational purposes of communication in organizational settings: To inform To persuade and influence Communicating to Inform To inform is to pass on information. In the world of work you are informing, when you explain something to the colleagues, employees, or customers and clients. It is helpful to analyze audience and make sure that you are delivering the information that it

Communication Strategy Paper needs and wants. Also the communicator should use the channel of communication that is best suited for his purpose. Persuade and Influence In the business world all communication is persuasive. To succeed at persuasion, communicator must generally give the person with which he is communicating good reason to do or believe what communicator intends. That is one reason why it is generally important to identify your purposes for communicating in the workplace before you communicate. Organization Two organizational patterns provide plans of action for typical business messages: the direct pattern and the indirect pattern (Clifton, 2012). The primary difference between the two patterns is where the main idea is placed. In the direct pattern, the main idea comes first, followed by details, explanation, or evidence. Which pattern to select is determined by how communicator expect the audience to react to the message. Direct pattern works best for receptive audiences. In preparing to write any message, you need to anticipate the audiences reaction to your ideas and frame the message accordingly. When the writer expect the reader to be pleased, mildly interested, or at worst, neutral the direct pattern must be used. The writing consultants, have noticed that typical readers begin any message by saying, So what am i supposed to do with this information? In business writing you have to say, Reader, here is my point! . As quickly as possible, tell the purpose of writing.

Communication Strategy Paper Content Message is the encoded idea transmitted by the sender. The message is what the sender attempts to transmit to his specified receivers. The content of the message includes the assertions, arguments, appeals, and themes which the sender transmits to the receivers (Hasan, 2010). For instance, community leaders may wish to send a message to community organizations appealing for financial support for a new swimming pool. The content of the message may include the results of a survey showing the need for a new swimming pool, the proposed plan for a new pool, and the appeal for financial support. The formulation of the message is very important, for an incorrect pattering can turn the receiver hostile or make him lose interest. The selection of content of the message depends on communication skills, attitudes, social position and culture of communicator and his audience. Medium Once the sender has encoded a message, the next step in the process is to transmit that message to the receiver. At this point, the sender must choose the medium how the message is transmitted. Traditional forms of oral and written communication still exist in all organizations today (Ober, & Newman , 2009). Face-to-face meetings are the most personal form of business communication and the best choice for building relationships. At many organizations, flip charts and handouts are still used during meetings and training programs. Oral messages might be transmitted through a staff meeting, individual meeting, telephone conversation, voice mail, podcast, conference call or even less formally through the company grapewine. Written communication typically is leaner than oral communication. Lean media do not allow for many cues to complement and

Communication Strategy Paper enrich the message. Written messages might be transmitted through an email, a report or a web-page. Choosing the right medium for the audience, message, and objectives is critical to the success of communication. Conclusion A communicator should be able to create the desired relationship with the audience or employees to produce the needed response. Thus, diverse strategies, verbal and non-verbal, of effective communication form an important part of business communication as a discipline. From a small business to a multinational enterprise, every organization needs an effective communication system to enable it to function and flourish. Business communication is a means of : Increasing employees job performance and effectiveness by updating their knowledge Promoting employees sense of belonging and commitment Effecting changes smoothly Motivating employees and creating a sense of identification with the organizations goals Hence, an active communication system is vital for the good health of an organization. If there is continual sharing of ideas and interactive meetings between the management and employees, an overall atmosphere of understanding and goodwill would prevail in the workplace.

Communication Strategy Paper References Clifton, J. (2012). Discourse Perspectives on Organizational Communication. Journal of Business Communication, 49: 377-380, doi:10.1177/0021943612456517. Hasan, M. (2010). Definition of Communication. http://mahmudhasan.com/definition-ofcommunication/ Ober, S., & Newman A. (2009). Business Communication: In Person, in Print, Online. Mason,OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning.