Nowadays managers face more business challenges with less time to address them, and less tolerance for mistakes. Pressure from markets, investors, competitors, associates, and employees requires rapid response. The process frequently turns into permanent crisis management - unavoidable triumph of short-term fix over long-term impact. Effective communication becomes even more critical.
Effective communication stands for addressing issues in ways meaningful to the audience, for translating the message into their language, their perceptions, and their values. Otherwise the process gets disturbed, the message misinterpreted or ignored, the source mistrusted. There is hardly time for correction. Hardly time for a second chance.
Communication is the catalyst of any Change Process. Despite substantial resources devoted to the internal and external channels, communication still remains undervalued area in mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, downsizing, growth, leadership change, process reengineering, team building, or cross-border cooperation. Too many things are taken for granted. Too much is sacrificed on the altar of time, cost, or profit. |
