Communication for corporate houses is a process that is pivotal for everyone associated with the organization. Be it an email sent to a prospective client or a message shared between team members, it is important to know how to communicate a message in a specific manner.
In this blog, we will explore the different types of communication for corporate houses and their importance.
There are different kinds of corporate communication that are segregated into various types including formal, internal, external, informal, etc. We will examine what each of them means and their importance in the corporate culture.
Corporate communications control and channel every internal and external communication to build positive perceptions about the organization among relevant stakeholders. It helps in strengthening the engagement and communication framework of an organization while enhancing its credibility.
While communication is simply the movement of information between people and businesses, it is imperative for corporate houses to adopt a successful communication strategy for seamless growth.
A business requires building a substantial relationship with its consumers and clients in the long run. Corporate communication is an important element of the entire communication framework in a business for client acquisition and retention.
Types of Communication For Corporates
Internal communication
Internal circumstances are linked to numerous processes operating within the business. An internally strong business will better be able to face the market challenges and uncertainties. Some forms of internal communication include:
- Discussion with workers
Group discussion among the workforce will add to the unity of the team. Since employees have to work in synchronization, it is important that they stay close to each other and jointly work towards the achievement of the business goals. This also helps in getting new ideas from employees and implementing changes effectively.
- Daily reports
Regular reports are important to keep an eye on the growth of the business. They also serve as a tool to motivate the workers and for better collaboration between departments.
A lot of times, informal communication also plays an important role in inducing a positive work culture in a business. A calm climate makes it convenient and easy for employees to achieve their targets. It is important for managers to ensure simple, effortless communication among team members. Also, cross-cultural communication should come as an elementary part of it.
A seamless flow of information ensures that employees are provided with everything they require to perform their roles effectively, carefully, and to the best of their potential. Access to learning increases the productivity and confidence of the employees. In short, it is pivotal for an organization to thrive.
External communication
External communication is the process where the corporate houses or businesses exchange a lot of information with other government officials, organizations, dealers, consumers, and clients among others. Here are important types of external communication.
- Public Relations
Without a doubt, the media and the press act as the main carrier of the message in the communication process. It is obvious that anything that is covered in the press will immediately influence the consumers and clients.
Press releases, newsletters, and media stories should be effectively leveraged to notify the audience accurately about your organization. While many business heads are of the opinion that a philanthropic image may create a positive reputation for an organization in the market, a straightforward approach is more effective in this regard.
Seven principles of public relations
There are seven principles of public relations which are in practice across the globe by public relations professionals and firms.
Speak the truth
Let the audience understand what is happening and furnish an accurate picture of the organization’s vision, mission, and practices.
Explain it with action
Public opinion of an organization is framed majorly by what it does and not what it states.
Customer is supreme
To better serve the organization you should effectively understand what the customer needs. Keep the business heads and other relevant stakeholders including employees informed about the public opinion regarding the products and the practices of the organization.
Manage public relations as if the entire organization depends on it. Since corporate relations are a part of the management functioning, no corporate policy should be executed without examining its impact on society. The public relations professional in this regard comes as a policymaker who is able to manage a large range of corporate communications exercises.
Understand that an organization’s true character is represented by its employees. The most influential opinions, good or bad, about an organization, are formed by the words and actions of its employees.
This means that every employee working or retired is associated with public relations. It is the accountability of corporate communications to encourage each worker’s capability and desire to be a trustworthy, competent ambassador to clients, friends, and government officials.
It is also important to remain calm and give attention to details while framing a public relations strategy. This helps in not only ensuring smooth PR operations but also assists in crisis communication.
Technology usage
It is necessary to portray a comprehensive image of your organization over social media. The current technology poses a significant risk of a public backlash in case of miscommunication. There are myriad cases of poor marketing decisions made by renowned corporations in recent years that serve as a lesson. However, there is a significant advantage to technology as well including swift access to a global audience. Since in the online world, you are not restricted by boundaries, the sky’s the limit for you.
Branding
The whole effort of building a positive image through good PR and reaching a large number of people has its challenges as well. It is important to have a good Public Relations team in place since just one wrong statement can drastically tarnish the image of a brand. A faulty answer to a customer or a negative piece of news can absolutely demolish your image.
In such a scenario, a unified corporate communications strategy for both internal and external communication is required.
Avoid miscommunication
It is established from various surveys that the absence of communication among the employees and their reporting managers is not fruitful. The reporting managers should not pass any communication that can misguide the workforce.
Any possible mistake from their end can be risky for the reputation of the whole brand. Corporate communication concentrates on this aspect of the organization and ensures that everything runs smoothly.
Since it also covers all the outside factors like clients, their requirements should be the organization’s priority. The employee should be skilled enough to resolve all the queries and satisfy the customer about the organization’s service or product. If the customer appears skeptical about your product or service, you will fail to establish a loyal customer base.
Transparency
Effective corporate communication will improve the overall transparency of the organization. For example, if an employee is confident about the company’s vision and goal, he will certainly deliver his best. The same holds true for the customers as well. An organization with transparent policies will be able to attract more customers.
Other forms of external communication
Apart from Public relations, there are other forms of external communication like email, brochures, newsletters, posters, and advertisements among others. Most of the multimedia marketing elements designed to attract customers, partners, and suppliers to conduct profitable business transactions constitute an important part of external communication.
Functions Of Corporate Communication
Corporate communication creates a productive organizational environment. In an enterprise, information is to be distributed by experts and generalists to a host of individuals besides sharing information with other stakeholders like customers, employees, media organizations, etc.
Corporate communication builds and supports the brand and also takes care of its reputation. It portrays the organization’s brand within and outside of the organization. Therefore, the process of corporate communication warrants a relationship between an enterprise and individuals or organizations in the outer world. At present, it is used as a tool of public relations to portray a positive image of the corporation and establish healthy relationships with stockholders. Corporate communication is also leveraged to inform the public about the latest launches and milestones of the organization.
A healthy and positive relationship with all stakeholders benefits in supporting and maintaining a positive brand image. A positive reputation and image are pivotal for everyone be it a corporation, organization, non-governmental organization, or even a government body.
Growing competition, easy access to information, and an explosion in social media have made ‘reputation management’ a preference for most businesses.
This is managed by expert corporate communicators in a professional manner. Managing crisis control and facilitating advanced approaches to global communications also comes as an important function of corporate communication.
Strategy for corporate communication
The strategy for corporate communication has evolved along with the changing technology landscape. The conventional way to corporate communication was leveraging relevant channels like conferences, meetings, articles, etc. For example, public relations teams used to frame stories and arrange interviews with magazines and newspapers to promote their services and products.
The modern process of corporate communication, however, is more flexible and includes a two-way transfer of information. This communication flow is not directed from the organization to its stakeholders but also vice versa.
This assists in fostering a better relationship between all stakeholders. Besides the conventional means of communication at present, businesses also leverage social media to platforms to interact. Some of the most common social media platforms include Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook.
It enables communication to be delivered in a methodical way and when the organization wants.
A lot of organizations also make use of an integrated model utilizing both conventional PR and social media channels.
Skills required for effective corporate communication
Skills enable you to be a better and efficient communicator. They assist you in creating and delivering messages effectively. While you can perfect your listening skills on your own, negotiation skills, interpersonal skills and compatibility establishing skills can be acquired by following successful and productive individuals.
Skills to present something, however, demand the use of technology that requires training. You can also avail training programs to polish your public speaking skills, writing skills, stress management skills, etc.
Listening abilities
Listening is a continuous process and includes three elements- hearing, understanding, and response.
The hearing comes as the physical aspect of your body receiving and understanding sounds. You may understand these words as part of a discussion.
Interpreting is where your brain processes the information which you hear and acquires meaning from it.
Information is delivered to you at this stage. Once you recognize what you are hearing, the last segment is reacting. Reacting in a discussion reveals that you have understood what was spoken and that you know the intention of the speaker.
Reacting may include making a choice to act on the information you have comprehended and maybe responding with your comments or opinions.
Interpersonal abilities
Interpersonal abilities relate to the strength of a person’s capacity to function within a corporation via social interaction and communications. These are the abilities that an individual leverages to communicate with other individuals.
Possessing positive interpersonal skills improves productivity in the corporation since disputes are mitigated. In everyday scenarios, it enables convenient and efficient communication. Individuals with good interpersonal abilities can frequently control the emotions that emerge in complex circumstances and react judiciously rather than getting distressed.
Negotiation abilities
Negotiation is referred to the process which is practiced when two parties have unacceptable opinions regarding a deal or an issue involving the businesses. Throughout the negotiation, each party attempts to influence the other. Through good negotiation, it is plausible for both parties to figure out a win-win proposition.
Decision-making ability
While decision-making can be a difficult process, it is a must-have for every professional to be successful. There are both human and material factors included in the process of decision-making. An individual has to evaluate or give priority to all these factors, predict the result, and make choices in the most beneficial interest of all the stakeholders involved.
Time management
Judiciously utilizing time to accomplish your objectives is an ability that can be improved gradually. There are numerous methods to acquire or improvise this capability. Time management involves establishing a set of principles, tools, and practices together to get the maximum out of the available time.