4 Steps to Build Communication Bridges

The key to communication is the ability to reach individuals where they are.  Too often planners miss the critical step of identifying the key audiences or they only use traditional methods of communication that have worked in the past.

4 Steps to Bridge the Communication Gap

• Identify and prioritize your audiences–  This is the important step that many organizational teams miss.  They view the target audience as all employees in the organization instead of breaking them into manageable groups that have similar interests or communication style preferences.  Just as you would identify the demographics important for an external campaign, the same holds true for internal messaging.
• Create key messages for each type of audience–  Set up a table with the organizational goals and the communication goals.  Insert columns for each audience  then craft different messages based on what will resonate most with that particular audience.
• Determine which communication channels you have and which ones work best for each audience–  This is a two-fold challenge.  First, take a critical look at the traditional methods you use to communicate internally.  Whether it’s posters, email messaging, newsletters, etc., you need to select which one is going to have the most impact and return on your message, not just use the one that feels “comfortable”.  Next, you have to look at each audience you identified and determine which method will best reach those employees.
• Use social or collaborative sites that will benefit your audience and support your messages the most effectively– The way to create a successful campaign is to find a way to create two-way discussion, not just a message push.

Creating a communication strategy for your organization that combines the best of traditional methods of communication with the new social elements, you will have the most successful approach with the best results.