Architecting Effective Communication

Content fuels communication. Individual communication is usually a straightforward process; communicating for and with an organization however, with various points of contact and distribution channels, can become a muddled affair.

Logical Workflow

Implementing a formalized content development process will ensure a dramatic improvement in reliability and project lifecycle in addition to the predictability of successful communication time after time. Without a systematic process, common problems arise such as misinformation, ambiguous responsibility, delayed delivery, reduced quality and incompletion. In addition to enhancing timeliness and clarity of communication, a logical workflow preemptively accounts for content creation hiccups and other communication deliverables.

Consistency

Within the scope of any logical workflow exists the need for a common vocabulary and appropriately chosen language to facilitate clear and concise communication by and amongst any organization and their audience. Consistency of tone, messages and themes throughout will progressively enhance any type of information dissemination and will ensure a heightened level of cognitive awareness by the audience, create positive stakeholder perceptions, and ultimately encourage the desired behavior needed to adopt and institutionalize an initiative, sell a product, or promote a service.

Dedicated Team

A dedicated communications team can be directed to operate within the confines of a pre-determined logical workflow, branding and messaging. Such a team should consist of individuals with specifically chosen skill sets and they will operate within a predetermined tiered hierarchy and with a strategic workflow under which that team can gather and disseminate the right information at the right time from the right people and in the most effective ways. One dedicated team can ensure effective, timely and non-redundant communication by and amongst any organization.

Strategic Intent

In order to maximize the impact and relevance of communication content, the target audience must be identified as the audience offers important clues as to how content can best be delivered. The process of determining the audience and then establishing audience requirements and priority may involve several steps including surveys and interviews (that is to say interviewing several people from each of initially defined potential audience groups).

Interviews

Communication originates from need; analyzing what that need is and its justification is what will enable its fulfillment (e.g. a child needs to tell its parent its hungry, a job applicant needs to submit a cover letter to convey interest and capability, etc..)

You have to make sure that what you are communicating and how you are is appropriate for its audience. Once the end-goal and audience for the communication has been properly assessed then researching the content, data, and context for it becomes manageable within the framework. This includes both assembling existing research previously done, and eliciting new research and updated content to supplement the task.

Systematic Capture Mechanism 

A systematic capture mechanism is a predetermined set of questions that seek to ensure that the communications team is able to gather all the necessary information and data to properly communicate the initiative or messaging. A systematic capture mechanism used by a dedicated communications team works as a liaison between the requirement of the audience and the organizational knowledge of leaders and project managers. A dedicated communications team can use this capture mechanism vet information through targeted and educated questioning of organizational leaders to support the strategic intent of the interviews and will result in a successful compilation of appropriate and powerful information.

Holistic Messaging

With a formalized, end-to-end process, you can communicate more and more effectively. Communication is guaranteed to be clear, repeatable and executed efficiently with an accelerated cycle-time each time it is created through this standardized process.

Content coming out of an organization must communicate how it integrates holistically with the organization as a whole. Clear communication builds understand, which in-turn fuels buy-in from the audience and organizational success in a timely manner.