• Organizational communication is the process of exchanging information and ideas within and outside an organization. It includes how organizations and their people create, share, and interpret communication in the workplace. The goal of organizational communication is to galvanize a group to achieve a common goal or objective or influence the behavior of stakeholders inside or outside an organization.
• The key to effective organizational communication is understanding your audience and their goals, expectations (cultural and otherwise), and context.

Clear, effective communication drives productivity, increases trust, builds engagement, fosters collaboration, and helps build a positive work environment. Clear organizational communication depends on a variety of strategies, depending on your context (e.g., internal or external and formal or informal) and audience (employees, investors, partners, etc.).

Here are just a few of these communication strategies.

• Encouraging two-way feedback: Feedback helps communicators identify gaps in their audience’s understanding. It can help you avoid miscommunications because you can address any confusion quickly. Feedback is easy to achieve in smaller settings, but for larger groups, you can solicit feedback through surveys or focus groups.
• Setting clear goals: Start planning all corporate communications with the end goal in mind. The plan should include everything from the objective of your communication to channels, tone and metrics measuring your message’s effectiveness.
• Respecting cultural differences: If you are speaking to a global audience, be aware that individuals may have different cultural norms. Consider how you may need to adapt your communication style to respect people’s norms and expectations.
• Focusing on continuous improvement: Choose metrics that will help you evaluate your communication so that you can improve the next time. You may also ask for subjective feedback from your audience that can help you refine your message.

Change is a constant today, and having an organizational communications strategy is essential for staying ahead of it. Without clear communication about change, employee engagement and productivity could suffer. Here are some recommendations for how you can approach communicating about change:

• Explain why change is necessary: To start building consensus for change, you’ll need to show what benefits the change will bring. Share how change aligns with your organization’s vision and strategic goals. Make sure employees have enough information to understand the rationale behind the change.
• Create a communication plan: Your plan should outline the key messages, your audience, the strategic communication channels, the timeline of communications, any feedback mechanisms and metrics to measure your success. A plan can help ensure that your communications stay on target to meet your goals.
• Be transparent: Change often leads to anxiety and uncertainty. People will be more comfortable with change if they understand specifically what will change and when the change will occur. Explaining how change will affect employees and other stakeholders will help them accept the change and begin to adapt.
• Build a consensus: If you are planning a major change, it may make sense to bring employees into early discussions to get their viewpoint. Including employees in the planning stage can help you generate ideas and flag potential issues that you need to address. You may also want to use employee listening to gauge employees’ appetite for change and use input from surveys and other feedback as you draft your workplace communication plan. You can also bring employees in later to champion your ideas. Town halls where employees have the chance to be heard can also help you gain support for change.
• Expect resistance: No matter how sound your corporate communication plan is, some employees will resist change. The key is to get ahead of potential objections. Plan how you will address naysayers and anticipate their concerns. If you proactively address issues and listen actively to resistance, you may be able to reduce the resistance.
• Offer support: If the change requires employees or stakeholders to adopt new behaviors or develop new skills, you may need to provide training or other support. Reducing the friction of change can build acceptance.
• Celebrate success: Look for wins and celebrate them to reinforce the benefits of the change. The more momentum you build, the more support you’ll earn.
• Adjust as you go: Change is a process, not a one-time event. As you learn from employee feedback, adjust your communication plan.

When coordinated around a business goal, strategic communication can lead to a series of benefits, including:

• Higher productivity: Strong workplace communication reduces the risk of misunderstandings and confusion. When employees have clear instructions and understand how their work connects to the organization’s overarching goals and purpose, they are more motivated and thus more productive. Regular communication that ensures everyone is on the same page can ensure that all employees are working toward the same goals.
• Greater employee engagement: To build a positive work environment, employees need to feel like they can trust their employer. Trust begins with transparent, clear communication. Employees who understand how their work aligns with overall business goals are likely to be more inspired to work toward achieving those goals.
• Better collaboration: Regular communication among teams and departments can also tighten bonds between team members. The more team members know they can trust and rely on their colleagues, the more likely they are to want to work together to accomplish their goals. Organizational communication helps them develop ideas, share feedback and work together to solve problems.
• Faster problem-solving: Open and effective communication in the workplace helps identify problems quickly so they can be resolved more efficiently. Quicker resolution prevents smaller problems from turning into bigger ones and can save organizations time, money and resources.
• Smarter decisions: When employees have access to the information they need to make decisions, they can choose options that further the organization’s best interests. Moreover, when leadership communication is strong and leaders share decisions and accept feedback from stakeholders, it strengthens the decision-making process. It also leads to greater acceptance by those affected by decisions.
• Stronger organizational reputation: The more effective and transparent an organization’s communication, the more trust and goodwill it will build with internal and external stakeholders. For example, when a customer service team communicates frequently and clearly with frustrated customers, it reduces tension and improves customer satisfaction.
• Higher profitability: Communication leads to higher employee motivation, stronger relationships with stakeholders, and improved customer satisfaction, among many other benefits. Add all of these benefits together, and they lead to higher profits.
• A more positive organizational culture: Open, transparent leadership communication builds employee and stakeholder trust in the C-suite. People are also more likely to feel that their input is heard and valued.

Organizational communication, when done well, creates trust and accountability both inside and outside the organization. It also strengthens organizational performance in a variety of dimensions.

• Collaboration: Strategic communication promotes teamwork. It encourages employees to work together to achieve goals, openly sharing their ideas and feedback.
• Coordination: Effective communication ensures that efforts are coordinated from the top down and across organizations. Unifying communications ensure that teams, departments and the organization as a whole are working toward the same objectives.
• Employee retention: A positive work environment where leaders engage with employees in frequent, transparent and clear corporate communication builds morale, leads to higher job satisfaction and reduces the risk of turnover.
• Efficiency: Employees who understand their roles and responsibilities waste less time and work more efficiently. They can make smarter decisions and avoid errors and duplicative work, which can hamper productivity.
• Innovation: Effective communication in the workplace stimulates creativity and fosters innovation. It reduces the fear of sharing ideas so everyone feels encouraged to speak up and build upon one another’s work. As a result, organizations can adapt to changes in the market and compete more effectively.
• Customer satisfaction: Customer communication can build trust. It helps sales and service organizations understand buyer needs and preferences, so they can tailor products to those needs and deliver better service. In turn, this builds customer loyalty.
• Crisis management: Timely, authentic communication during a crisis can make or break whether a company survives a crisis intact. Providing information to internal and external stakeholders is necessary to mitigate risk and alleviate anxiety.
• Reputation management: A solid corporate communication strategy projects a positive company brand, which can enhance organizational value.