Com 620 module 1

Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
1
C H A P T E R
What is Strategic
Communication?
COM 620 MODULE
with
Walter Ratliff

Strategic Communication
 Requires understanding the difference between
strategy and tactics
Tactics Strategy

Tactics are what you do. Strategy is why you do it.
Strategy Tacticor

Strategy Tacticor
Cast a vision

Strategy Tacticor
Write a newsletterCast a vision

Strategy Tacticor
Analyze the environment

Strategy Tacticor
Issue a press releaseAnalyze the environment

Strategy Tacticor
Develop a communication plan
Issue a press releaseAnalyze the environment

Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 9
Why is a Strategic Approach to
Communication Important?
 Changes in the workplace due to globalization
1. Hierarchy to Flattened Hierarchy and Network

2. Management to Leadership
• Based on formal bases of power
• Reward, Coercive and Legitimate
• Emphasis on order and consistency
• Thrives in stable environments
Influence &
Informal
Power Bases
Inter
dependence
Relational

3. Uniformity to Diversity

 Evolution of our understanding of the communication process.
Information
 Communication is more than just transfer of information

 The social construction of reality and its effects on
conceptualizing communication.
• Social Construction comes out of plurality
• Example: What is a dog?
• Our social constructions are based on our experiences, knowledge and
interactions with others. Even “dog” is a socially constructed reality.
vs.
Brown
Fluffy
Small
Cute
Cuddly
Friendly
Spotted
Sleek
Large
Vicious
Fast
Loud

Strategically communicating can help you:
Navigate new and changing
organizational environments
Appreciate
diversity of ideas
in the workforce
Lead using
informal bases of
power
Focus on the
larger picture
Use
communication
to influence

Case Study Approach
Analysis
-key issues
-causes
-stakeholders
Solutions
-list of possible
solutions based on
analysis
Recommendations
-select solution that
will best achieve
desired outcomes

Learning the Art of Strategic
Communication
Understand the *Strategic* Process
Part 1 Foundations of communication (Ch. 2)
Step 1: Identify the purposes of
communication (Ch. 3)
Step 2: Analyze the audience (Ch. 4)
Steps 3 & 4: Consider the context and select
a channel of communication (Ch. 5)

Learning the Skills for Strategic
Communication
Communication *Tactics* for Differing Channels and
Contexts
Part 2 Communicating in writing (Ch. 6)
Communicating in oral presentations and managing
meetings (Ch. 7)
Communicating with employees (Ch. 8)
Communicating in and leading teams (Ch. 9)
Communicating with external audiences (Ch. 10)
Internal organization communication (Ch. 11)

Requirements for Strategic
Communication
Personal Literacy Business Literacy
Social Literacy Cultural Literacy

Four Models of Communication
• Assumes communication is transmitted without distortion
from sender to receiver
Information
Transfer
• Assumes sender and receiver are focused on achieving shared
meaning, without interest in own perspectiveTransactional
• Assumes sender is entirely focused on own interest, possibly to
the detriment of honest ethical communication
Strategic
Control
• Assumes communication is a process of joint creation of reality,
focused on audience and context, allows different points of view
Dialogic

Monologue vs. Dialogue
Monologue
 Talking to oneself
 Deception
 Superiority
 Exploitation
 Pretense
 Coercion
Dialogue
 Joint creation of reality
 Trust
 Sincerity
 Lack of pretense
 Humility
 Directness
 Open-minded
 Honest

3 Influences on Perception
1. Stereotypes cause us to focus on
certain cues
2. We make attributions about who or
what is responsible for what we sense
3. All the factors we sense are compiled
into a coherent whole to form an
impression

What is My “EQ”?
Self Others

Obstacles to Strategic and Ethical
Communication
Strategic and
Ethical
Communication
Perceptual
Mindset
Inferential
Errors
Thinking
Style

Ways to Combat Confirmation Bias
Confirmation Bias: A tendency to distort information that
contradicts the beliefs or attitudes we currently hold.
Actively seek out disconfirming information and
evidence
Vigorously present and argue disconfirming evidence
to others
Play devil’s advocate
Gather allies to challenge confirmation bias

Ways to Combat False Dichotomies
False Dichotomy: A dichotomy that is not jointly
exhaustive or that is not mutually exclusive.
Be suspicious of absolutes. Look for alternatives to
the one or two suggestions recommended
Employ the language of qualifications. Speak in
terms of degrees
Sometimes… Rarely… Mostly… Occasionally.…

What causes inferential errors?
 Vividness
 Unrepresentativeness
 Correlation
“I heard about a terrible tragedy that
happened to someone who did that…”
“That restaurant is no good, I
went there one time and I didn’t
like it…”
“Every time I’ve gotten sick, I was
wearing these shoes…”

Additional Perceptual Errors
Oversimplifying
• Tendency to prefer simplicity over complexity because it is less effort
Imposing Consistency
• Tendency to impose patterns where they don’t exist
Focusing on the Negative
• Tendency to perceive negative characteristics as more important than positive
Making a Fundamental Attribution Error
• Tendency to assume that others’ failures are their own fault, but that success is due to
situational factors
Exhibiting a Self-Serving Bias
• Tendency to assume that our own failures are due to situational factors, but our success is
due to our personal qualities

Thinking Styles
Sponge
 Indiscriminant absorption of
information
 Passive
 No method for deciding
usefulness
Filter
 Critical absorption of
relevant information
 Active processing
 Asks questions of material
to determine usefulness

Practice Your Critical Thinking
 Seek alternative hypotheses,
explanations, conclusions and sources of
information
 Communicate honestly and openly about
your own and others’ positions
 Learn to appreciate ambiguity and variety
of potential solutions

This presentation contains copyrighted material from Strategic
Communications Management for Leaders by Robyn Walker (Boston:
Cengage Learning, 2014).

Com 620 module 1

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