Everyone in business should know the must-haves for effective corporate communic
Companies rely on communication to keep their businesses running smoothly. This communication can be internal and directed at employees or it can be focused on the client or customer. Regardless of the intended target, communicating clearly and effectively is vital to overall success.
These five tips – from a communications and motivational speaker – for communicating effectively at a corporate level can aid in insuring that all corporate communication will be received warmly and without the conflict that often accompanies company-wide communications.
1) Professionalism:
Communication at the corporate level needs to maintain a professional tone in order to be effective company-wide. By adhering to a strictly professional level, potential problems with harassment can be nipped in the bud and avoided completely. Lines are clearly drawn between the executive level and the rest of the staff and there can be no question as to a code of conduct.
Communication performed in a professional way can provide valuable backup should problems arise in the future and can be referenced later if necessary.
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2) Energy Levels:
Corporate communication by definition should inspire a sense of action and urgency to all the recipients of the message. Therefore, the energy of the message itself should convey a sense of action that promotes the message’s importance.
No one wants to read a boring brief on the new financial numbers and many people’s eyes glaze over when presented with endless rows of numbers. More often than not, these messages will be deleted before they can be read thoroughly. Engaging with the recipients and conveying a sense of personal excitement can be contagious. It is easier to get interested in something that someone else is expressing interest in.
3) Honesty:
No one wants to feel that they’re being lied to, especially at the corporate level. In order to maintain a standard of trust with your employees, being as honest and open as possible in all of your corporate communications is vital for building that trust. Most people would rather know what’s going on internally within the company than be blindsided by bad news out of the blue. Employees can handle news that is less than positive more gracefully than you may think.
By avoiding future conflict by being upfront from the start, corporate communication can build employee trust and security and lead to the overall health of the company as a whole and its staff.
4) Formatting:
In order for a corporate communication to be received and processed successfully, it needs to be laid out in an easy to read and informative manner. It should be presented in a way that is pleasing to the eye without a lot of boring, unbroken paragraphs.
Catch the eye of your intended recipient and keep things as organized as possible. Don’t be scatterbrained with different tidbits appearing haphazardly throughout the memo. Keep your structure simple but well defined and engage the reader with important and informative text in an easy to understand manner.
5) Follow Up:
Regardless of how organized a corporate communication is, it is not going to be understood and absorbed by everyone. Instead of sending a string of follow up messages to address individual questions, create an open-door environment where employees can ask questions and expect a timely and honest response. Communication needs to work both ways to promote a healthy work environment for people at all levels.
Corporate communications can convey internal excitement, important news, announcements and recognition of hard work. When they are not delivered in an effective and engaging manner, they can have the opposite effect and create an atmosphere of tension or worry within the office. Using these five tips to put together your next corporate communication can ease the burden of effective communication and allow all employees to be on the same page with as little confusion as possible.
Balancing the need for clear communication and to create a harmonious work environment is a big challenge for the author; she’s found advice from this leadership speaker extremely helpful.