Year: 2020

Exchange of information through the use of speech, signs or symbols is called communication. When early humans started speaking, some 5,00,000 years ago, that was the first mode of communication. Before we dive into modern technologies that drive communication in contemporary world, we need to know how humans developed better communication techniques to share knowledge with each other.

History of Communication

Communicating with people over a distance is known as telecommunication. The first forms of telecommunication were smoke signals, drums or fire torches. The major disadvantage with these communication systems was that only a set of pre-determined messages could be transmitted. This was overcome in the 18th and 19th century through development of telegraphy and Morse code.

Invention of telephone and establishment of commercial telephony in 1878 marked a turnaround in communication systems and real telecommunication was born. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines telecommunication as transmission, emission and reception of any signs, signals or messages by electromagnetic systems. Now we had the communication technology to connect with people physically located thousands of kilometers away.

Telephones slowly gave way to television, videophone, satellite and finally computer networks. Computer networks have revolutionized modern day communication and communication technologies.

1960-1990

That was the era when a personal meeting was very important before finalizing the businesses. PTT – post, telegrams, and telephone used to be important sources of communication but very costly. By the 70s and 80s, computers entered into the working environment but were on a nascent stage. Television was also in black and white color and it was not in everyone’s home.

The 1980s saw the arrival of a fax machine. This allowed the documents to transmit from one placement to another at a relatively low cost. It still exists but not of much use except in government offices. Fax machine operation was just the beginning of changes in human life.

1990-2015

The 1990s marked the decade that mobile phones entered into our life. The black screen, finger typed numbers, pagers and high rates call to be made were putting the people in elite groups who had a mobile at that time.  Generally, top class executives used to have mobile as they need to make important calls or available on phones all the time as and when a company requires.

But, it was the introduction of email in the late 1990s that revolutionized how we communicate at work. Email has made people life easy and faster without any time zone and extra cost.

By the early 2000’s companies were beginning to use intranets. While originally used for housing internal documents, the intranet eventually evolved to an internal communications platform. We also saw companies begin incorporating video technology into their business. By 2010, new technology entered and the beginning of smartphones occurred. Fax machines, scan machines, PTT replaced with many apps which were launched and the process of communication got changed. Everything was available on one click. These tools have brought companies closer at the global level. The enterprise video technology developed to give human touch technology so that people connect should be there.

Enterprise video technology has been one of the most successful communication technologies in the workplace. Internally, it has changed how companies communicate and interact. For example, large corporate meetings can now be held online. Enterprise video has also improved employee training and onboarding. Best of all, it has reduced a lot of business costs such as travel and meeting room expenses.

2015-and Beyond

Today, we can’t live without technology. Development of technological advancement and an entrance of Artificial Intelligence, IoT, and Machine learning is making human life advanced and complex too. Today, it is everywhere in the business. No doubt, the technology has an impregnable importance in corporate communication and success of a business cannot be imagined without a technical advancement. Skilling and re-skilling of people to prepare better to face the world with technology will enhance their avenues and better prospects in future.

Today’s Communication Technology

Following are the tools used by businesses with technology:

• E-mail: Electronic mail is replacing handwritten correspondence. Businesses use email to communicate with customers and staff. In this, they get a quick response and connect with the concerned person. It saves postage costs and having an internet connection, it is cheaper as well. Many companies like Yahoo, Google, etc. provide free email accounts.
• Social networking sites: Today, all companies are available on various social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Myspace, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. the objective behind their availability on all these sites helps them to connect with an audience and check their likes and preferences on regular basis. Companies also educate, aware and interact with them through this platform and get the real-time feedback of their businesses. The company also use this platform for hiring the best talent for their businesses. Belong.co is an organization who with the use of artificial intelligence helps companies to get the right talent for their organization. When company comes up with their job advertisement, they start using the most active user based on company requirements and suggest an organization to hire them. This is very cost effective and time saving for employees and employers. The effective use of social media in today’s world is a panacea for business to communicate about their existence effectively.
• Online Chat: video chatting is also a good way to connect with masses and give them real-time organization public communication tool. Many companies hold a weekly chat with their internal and external employees and customers to share company’s vision, mission, objective and goals.
• Blogs: Blogs are the short content which is written on the website. It is crispy, short and to the point. The senior executive of an organization uses or write blogs so that consumers get the right information in a specific period of time. It is in a conversational manner and it is basically a system to manage media, employee, etc.
• Cellphones: cellphones are the strongest form of communication. It gives access to public relations practitioners/corporate communicator to know about the current happening in the world and also convey the audience their messages instantly.

Networking

Networking allows users to communicate through traditional voice and video in a secure system. Networking also allows collaboration on reports, programming and other document production, taking communications beyond conversational interaction and into virtual partnerships. Networking is the backbone of modern technology, and forms the core of how most business communication is performed today. The concept of nodes linked together is essential, whether it means connecting to a Web page, cell tower or using cloud-based applications.

The Internet

The Internet allows communication in two ways: static communication through Web pages, and dynamic communication through information being exchanged. Data posted to a Web page, such as product specifications, allow instant access to the same data from anywhere in the world, a static form of communication that frees up company resources which would otherwise be engaged in constantly repeating the same information. Online product orders are a type of dynamic communication, and can be as complex as keeping a real-time inventory, alerting employees of changes in costs or real-time chat between a customer service agent and a customer or field representative.

Web Conferencing

Web conferencing may be used as an umbrella term for various types of online collaborative services including web seminars (“webinars”), webcasts. and peer-level web meetings in general, web conferencing is made possible by internet technologies, particularly on TCP/IP  connections. Services may allow time point communications as well as multicast communications. from one sender to many receivers. It offers data streams of text-based messages, voice and video chat to be shared simultaneously, across geographically dispersed locations. Applications for web conferencing include meetings, training events, lecture, presentations from a web-connected computer to other web-connected computers.

Web conferencing usually allows real-time point-to-point communication as well as multi-task communications from one sender to many receivers in separate locations. Depending on the service, either an application (additional software) is downloaded and installed or a web-based application is launched in the attendee’s browser. The newest open source technology for Web Conferencing is Google’s WebRTC.

As per Web Coferencing.org –Web Conferencing has five advantages which are mentioned as it is available on a website to give the better understanding to the audiences. The detail can be accessed on http://webconferencing.org/5-benefits-of-web-conferencing

1. Application and Desktop Sharing
2. Increase Productivity
3. Conduct employee training easily
4. Improve customer relations
5. A business process is no longer constraint by location.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

RSS feed is a form of new media which feeds favorite news and information to deliver to a consumer as soon as they are posted online without consumers having to search for the content. PR defined a customized XML-XPRL (extensible Public Relations Language). XRPL aims to assist practitioners to transfer data or information electronically. Its purpose is to automate information exchange as much as possible, quicker result and higher quality communication, with fewer errors.

The RSS is a useful method for disseminating information because it provides a link to the customers in a shorter volume of time, put users in control and very easy to use.

Good communication matters at work because few jobs are solo acts. It takes communication to work on a team, and even people working alone have to report to their bosses. If you run a business, you have to tell employees what’s expected of them.

Bad communication leads to errors, failure and sometimes lawsuits. Effective communication helps prevent these errors.

Building a Team

Effective, honest communication can bind employees together. If the staff are talking with each other on the job, that’s a major step towards building a good team. Employees who look forward to talking with their colleagues are more enthused about coming to work.

Making Things Clear

Confusing instructions and unclear guidelines are bad for everyone. When communicating with employees, managers have to be clear about what they want and expect. That applies whether the communication is through meetings, instructions, performance reviews or employee handbooks. If workers understand their duties and responsibilities, everything flows more smoothly.

Managing Diversity in the Workforce

Good communication is even more important if the workforce is diverse. With a mix of races, nationalities, genders or faiths on the job, it’s easy for people to accidentally offend each other. If promotion and employee review rules aren’t clear, minority workers may feel they’ve been discriminated against.

Policies that clearly spell out how the company applies rewards and penalties can clear things up. Clear guidelines telling employees how to treat each other helps avoid unwanted conflict.

Dealing with Problems

Bad communication causes all sorts of problems. Two employees receive conflicting instructions. HR issues a warning without finding out what the real issues are. A supervisor doesn’t respond to questions or avoids discussing employee issues.

These are all examples of poor communication. Good communication skills can resolve the problems, or better yet prevent them from developing in the first place.

Surviving Difficult Situations

When the going gets tough, employees get nervous. Will they have a paycheck in six months? How long should they wait before jumping ship? Is the boss leveling with them about how bad things are?

If management fudges the facts or duck’s discussion, it can kill employees’ faith in the company. Talking honestly about the situation can strengthen their trust. The best companies don’t wait until disaster strikes to start communicating. If the company’s been honest and communicating effectively all along, they have a valuable reservoir of trust built up.

Types of Messages

The type of message sent is a major factor in choosing the appropriate communication channel.

Standard operating procedures

There are many ways to communicate policies and procedures staff meetings, employee orientation sessions and one-on-one coaching, for example but employee handbooks are still the best way to deliver a consistent message to all employees with respect to standard operating procedures.

General business updates

General organizational updates may be communicated through newsletters, e-mails or town hall meetings or in small group huddles.

Bankruptcy, downsizing and restructuring

Employers should use several different communications means to announce and update employees when an organization faces bankruptcy, a restructuring or a downsizing. Whether in regular briefings by top leaders through voice mail blasts, e-mail alerts or town hall meetings or in departmental or group meetings, the employer needs to keep employees apprised of whatever information may be necessary to keep the organization running smoothly. See Layoffs Require Communication, Compassion and Compliance.

Benefits changes

Communication regarding employee benefits may greatly affect employees’ perceptions of the value of their compensation package and, moreover, the value of their employment with an organization. Accordingly, benefits communications should be planned carefully using means appropriate to the circumstances: printed messages, virtual or face-to-face meetings, one-on-one briefings, and so on. Major benefits changes such as a new carrier or new options require a more comprehensive approach than the one used for routine updates. See Make Your Benefits Website a Year-Round Hub

Emergencies

Emergencies such as those caused by weather, violent employee behaviors, natural catastrophes or terrorists require quick and effective communication to ensure the health and safety of employees and their families. A comprehensive disaster plan, complete with communication strategies and standard policies for dealing with emergencies, should be a requirement for all organizations.

Merger or acquisition

Communication issues with mergers and acquisitions are a high priority for HR professionals. HR professionals must consider how to communicate new benefits plans, new operating procedures, a new company culture, revised organizational charts and myriad other issues during mergers and acquisitions.

Outsourcing

Organizations may find that some business functions are handled better through outsourcing. Communication is vital to explain the change and the rationale to employees, as well as in developing new strategies for communicating with the outsourced vendor.

Legal Issues

Some communications come with legal constraints and/or guidelines that impact the message being delivered or how the employer delivers the information. For example, employers may face charges of unfair labor practices as a result of how it communicates to employees the company’s desire to remain union-free.

Small businesses don’t always have a dedicated PR department, or even a dedicated person to handle media relations and press. Therefore, it is not always as easy for small businesses to build media relationships because a small business owner must wear so many different hats.

That doesn’t make connecting with media professionals any less important. In fact, press relations can help small businesses replace more expensive advertising campaigns, so they deserve some nurturing and attention. Here are 10 great tips for small businesses that want to build strong media relationships but don’t have the dedicated personnel to spend a great deal of time on it.

1. Polish Your Pitch

Don’t assume that you need to write a press release in order to reach media professionals or bloggers. Every small business should have what’s called an elevator pitch ready to go. It is called an elevator pitch because it is short enough to tell someone about your business in an elevator. Take the time to have your pitch in writing, and dedicate a blog post to it so that you can send press and media professionals to it via links on social media. It is also always a good idea to have at least three different length pitches written out: small, medium, and large. That way, you will have a pitch ready to fit any occasion.

2. Find the News Angle

Unless the journalist you are targeting writes specifically about your city, town, or industry, there must be a news angle in your story for it to appeal to them. Find the interest point to help make the media connection. That connection can be location or industry, but consider if your story can tie into current events, trending topics, pop culture, or something else that makes it newsworthy, like a charity angle or being environmentally friendly.

3. Know Which Journalist to Contact

Your story may not appeal to all media professionals. If a journalist is working on a story, or regularly writes about your industry or a topic that is relevant to your business, that is the journalist you should try to reach out to. This will save you time; no need to pitch your story to someone who has little to no chance of being interested. Look for a writer or blogger who focuses on small business, your industry, your city, or similar. Keep your lists handy for future reference.

4. Find Media Contacts Looking for You

Although they may not be looking for you or your business specifically, journalists will often reach out on social media when they are looking to fill a story. Social media tools allow you to easily track specific keyword mentions online and alert you. There is an excellent source called HARO, which stands for “Help a Reporter Out.” You can sign up for free email alerts that will let you know when a journalist, blogger, or reporter is looking for a story that you can relate your business to.

5. Reach out on Social Media

Most reporters and media professionals do not mind at all if you reach out to them on Twitter or whatever social media channel on which they have a public presence. This is where your pitch blog post comes in you can send a tweet that includes a link to your pitch with a short note. Be sure to use a link shortening service like Bit.ly to give you that extra room to compose your tweet.

6. Send Personalized, Targeted Emails

Personalize your email communications and be sure that you are sending them to the right journalists. Your email communications should appear to be individually sent, even if they are not. Tools today allow you to automate personalization in the address field. Beyond that, be sure that you are sending relevant emails to the correct journalist that covers the types of topics you are angling for, that way you will also have less emails to send to only targeted individuals. If your email looks like it was automated or a copy and paste blanket letter, it will not get the same attention that you will garner by making it personal.

7. Connect on Social Media

By connecting on social media, it means being social and engaging with journalists all the time, not just when you need something from them. Occasionally comment, like, and share their articles or blog posts. Don’t only comment or engage when you want their attention. That way, when you do reach out, they will recognize you from previous interactions.

8. Share All the Information

Always share all the news and all of the information you have. Let the reporter edit out what they do or do not want. If there is something you don’t want reported, the best thing is to still let the media contact know about it, but explain that it is “off the record.” That way, you would not run into a problem of them discovering it from another source and printing it. This will avoid an expensive problem for you that can turn into a PR disaster.

9. Be Honest

Honesty is the best policy. We shouldn’t have to say it, but it is important to understand that when dealing with the media, it is extremely important because being exposed for not telling the truth by the media is quite a public affair. This could create a PR nightmare for you that you can’t afford.

10. Learn How to Be Quotable

Make the reporter’s job easier by giving quotable sound bites. The less editing and guess work that a journalist has, the more likely your news or release will get posted. Keep your quotes short and to the point, and offer perspective, not a complete story.

11. Be Timely

Old news is no news. Being timely can have a dual meaning with journalists: It can mean making sure that the news is relevant or put a current events or pop culture spin on your news, and it also means respecting a reporter’s deadlines. Do not assume that just because a reporter is not with a print medium that there isn’t a deadline to adhere to.

12. Be Accessible

When reporters work on deadlines, they might need to follow up with you to ask a question. Give them access to you and set parameters. If you don’t mind them contacting you late, let them know if it is OK. This is likely to help your story get run when a reporter is up late working on a deadline and the corporate crowd may not be accessible.

13. Offer Exclusives

Whenever possible, providing an exclusive to one special media contact will help drive your story or news. This may sound like something that a professional corporation might do, but offering an exclusive can be the small business’s ticket to receiving all the press you need from just one source.

14. Show Personality

Especially when dealing with words or email communications, too often personality gets lost in all of the text. Journalists are people too and they can have a soft spot for those small businesses. The only way for them to know if they like you is to show them a personality. This can be nurtured over time through social connections and by peppering in personal comments and anecdotes.

15. Provide Photos

A small business may not have professional or stock photos, but you have something better—genuine pictures of your small business, your store front, your customers, and your products or services. Those are most valuable for attracting attention in articles, so those types of photos will be what journalists want.

5 “Don’ts”

Small business owners and employees tend to be very passionate about their business. The main lesson here is don’t take it personally. Media professionals, writers, and bloggers live in a world of deadlines and cut offs.

1. Don’t complain in public if a story didn’t get the spin you hoped for or if you are misquoted. If there is an error, correct it politely.
2. Don’t add media contacts to your company newsletter (unless they ask to be added).
3. Do not friend media contacts on Facebook. Connecting on LinkedIn is perfectly fine, but Facebook is off limits.
4. Don’t be too aggressive with your follow up. Respect the journalist’s time and itinerary.
5. Don’t expect that a reporter has to run your story. That attitude will get you nowhere fast.

Communicating with the financial public is known as financial public relations. The financial public/audience are that public who are:

• The registered shareholders
• The investing community including potential shareholders
• The direct financial community consisting of banks and financial institutions
• The employees and audiences who are connected with the organization
• The financial and economic press which includes newspapers, trade journals, and other publications who create interest in economics and finance.

Function of Financial Communication Expert:

• Liaison with executive management: A financial communication expert usually liaise with Board of Directors, Executive and Finance committee, Key officials and department heads, directors of public relations, industrial relations and investor relations.
• Financial publicity: uncovering and developing news as per the interest of stockholders, develop relations with financial editors, create a financial press release, annual reports, and information about mergers, interviewing media financial reporters to determine their needs.
• Stockholder Correspondence
• Conducting stockholder surveys and preparation of stockholder publications: quarterly earnings statements, folders interpreting company policies, preparing biographical digests of executive officers’ members of the board of directors.
• Financial and Educational Advertising: Prepare institutional advertising, including annual reports, advertisements, the announcement of acquisitions, opening and closing of plants and more.
• Planning the annual & regional meeting of the stockholders: organizing program, selecting place of meeting, preparations for answers to questions and criticisms, offering gift packages of company products
• Working with security analysts: questioning analysts to determine the extent of their knowledge of their company and attitudes towards the company, arranging analyst meetings with company’s executives and tours of plants and research facilities, preparing and distributing informational materials to analysts.

Tracing the Growth of Financial Communication in India:

After independence, India has mixed economy models. The focus was on agriculture and industrialization. Many companies set up their business and got the funds through financial institutions to meet the government’s private sector investment targets.

But that was the time as well when India also has to do work in capital markets to create the necessary support and channels to meet investment priorities. Government and RBI acknowledged that India has to work in this area. At present too, people are conscious to invest into the capital markets to support investment in infrastructure, business growth, and other development opportunities. Financial services businesses could do much more to develop investor confidence to build up capital market investment.

After the 1990s, we all know that suggested economic reforms have brought India into the mainstream. The concept of “LPG i.e. Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization had given the major push to businesses and connect India with the global markets with less interference. They have brought significant changes in India’s economy and brought changes in demographics, social and behavioural, and technology. Today, we are the 3rd largest economy in purchasing power index. The rank of India has also increased in the index of “Ease of Doing Business”. Today, India constantly talk about its financial performances, major changes in the economy, boost in the area of employment and opportunities among masses so that investors gain confidence to invest their businesses in India. But, still, challenges are there. Successful financial communication experts know how to promote financial inclusion. But, for that, it is essential for them to use the technology and greater financial literacy.

Financial PR specialist Andy Berry defines that the Financial PR involves,” dealing with both the financial media and the financial community more widely, such as investment bank analysts. The main focus is on communicating a company’s financial performance to these groups. Working with listed companies involves a lot of what is called calendar work, such as communicating quarterly and annual results. This is very intensive, involving managing media and analyst expectations in the run-up to the formal announcement and helping clients to formulate a positive story around their financial results. The other big area of work is around transactions such as mergers and acquisitions or stock market flotations. This can be very high-profile, working not just with clients but also banks and lawyers.”

Audiences for Financial Communication:

The key audience for financial communication specialists ate those who have an ability to make the decisions. Broadly, they are:

Financial Analysts:

Financial analysts work in banks, pension funds, insurance companies, and other businesses. Financial analysts provide guidance to businesses and individuals making investment decisions. They assess the performance of stocks, bonds, and other types of investments. Therefore, it is important to have a responsive, regular and open communications.

Individual stockholders:

Individual stockholders who buy company shares but hold it for better profits. They can be influenced in the following ways:

• Giving them importance as primary customers or important customers.
• Communicating in readable and non-technical language is a must.
• Learn about stock markets.
• Welcome new stockholders and express regret when they face losses.
• Prompt response to stockholder correspondence will give them a sense of belongingness.
• Develop a newsletter which has a readable content and easy to understand.
• A company should hold annual meetings and through PR in finance, they need to explain their actions, accomplishments, and improvement in the suggestions made by their clients in the area of financial related decision.

Financial Advertising: Financial advertising is done by Financial Institutions, such as Public Ltd. Companies, banks, insurance companies etc. in order to invite public to subscribe to the shares and debentures. These institutions have also to provide project details, details of an issue, closing date etc. in the ads. Agencies like Pressman, Saubhagaya concentrate on financial and public equity issue advertising. The investing public is motivated to invest by suitable body copy, a slogan and a promise of dividends/returns. For example, the advertisements by UTI and ICICI (Financial Institutions).

Oglivy and Mother, a famous PR and advertising firm who has created many advertisements in the field of financial advertising, has listed following 12 points to draft a powerful financial advertising:

• The most important decision: How should you position your financial products or services? For e.g. Merill Lynch is positioned as a total financial services center, not as just a stockbroker. It is important for a company to first decide their position before advertisement. They should do thorough research before to take a leap.
• Build trust: In financial advertising, it is important to build trust by demonstrating company’s stability, identify a spokesperson and train the person accordingly, honest in their offers, show them the face which is handling their money and don’t be whimsy while doing financial advertising.
• Offer a unique benefit and advertise it: American Express is the only brand of traveler’s cheque which guarantees an emergency refund within 24 hours a day. Anywhere in the continental U.S., their advertisement never fails to mention the fact.
• Simplify your offer: The above advertisement of UTI banks have simplified their offers which helps an audience to understand their products better.
• Go on Television: The visibility of TV is faster than any other source of medium to share the information on any channels of media communication because if offset the diversity of its audience.
• Find a unique symbol: A distinctive and memorable visual symbol can give advertisement a hook that will catch prospect’s mind. E.g. The Merill Lynch Bull symbolizes the company’s confidence in the long-term strength of the American economy.
• Go first class: Have a good advertisement. The advertisement should not look cheap and shabby as it talks about the brand of an advertisement.
• Unify your advertising: Even if a company offers different services to different groups of people, they need to unify it based on common theme toward a consumer cause.
• Talk in your customer’s language: Use the language which your customer understands and avoid jargon.
• Make sure that people know that you really want their business: it is important for financial institutions to be sure that they reach to their audience through right communication and be sure that their intention is, to be honest, and need businesses.
• Make the most of news: When there are any financially related announcements, be sure that you act fast and it should be hassle-free. It should not have happened that people face problems because of any undue pressure and create a wrong impression about the business.
• Don’t ‘be afraid of long copy: Financial commitment is intensely interesting to the person about to make it. Be sure to give your prospects a plenty of information. One of the best coupon advertisements for Merill Lynch contained more than 1,415 words: “The more you tell, the more you sell.”

Pre-crisis

• Researching and collecting information about crisis risks specific to the organization.
• Creating a crisis management plan that includes making decisions ahead of time about who will handle specific aspects of a crisis if and when it occurs.
• Conducting exercises to test the plan at least annually.
• Preparing press release templates for the organization’s public relations team in the event of a crisis.
• The chain of command that all employees will follow in the dissemination of information to all publics during a crisis situation.

A rapid response crisis communications team should be organized during the pre-crisis stage  and all individuals who will help with the actual crisis communication response should be trained. At this stage the communication professional focuses on detecting and identifying possible risks that could result in a crisis.

In-crisis

Crisis communication tactics during the crisis stage may include the following: the identification of the incident as a crisis by the organization’s crisis management team; the collection and processing of pertinent information to the crisis management team for decision making; and also the dissemination of crisis messages to both internal and external publics of the organization.

Post-crisis

• Reviewing and dissecting the successes and failures of the crisis management team in order to make any necessary changes to the organization, its employees, practices, or procedures.
• Providing follow-up crisis messages as necessary.

Timothy Coombs proposes that post-crisis communication should include the following five steps:

• Deliver all information promised to stakeholders as soon as that information is known.
• Keep stakeholders updated on the progression of recovery efforts including any corrective measures being taken and the progress of investigations.
• Analyze the crisis management effort for lessons and integrate those lessons in to the organization’s crisis management system.
• Scan the Internet channels for online memorials.
• Consult with victims and their families to determine the organization’s role in any anniversary events or memorials.

In general, Timothy Coombs raises some practices regarding to crisis response strategy based on SCCT that crisis managers should consider carefully.

• All victims or potential victims should receive instructing information, including recall information. This is one-half of the base response to a crisis.
• All victims should be provided an expression of sympathy, any information about corrective actions and trauma counseling when needed. This can be called the “care response.” This is the second half of the base response to a crisis.
• For crises with minimal attributions of crisis responsibility and no intensifying factors, instructing information and care response is sufficient.
• For crises with minimal attributions of crisis responsibility and an intensifying factor, add excuse and/or justification strategies to the instructing information and care response.
• For crises with low attributions of crisis responsibility and no intensifying factors, add excuse and/or justification strategies to the instructing information and care response.
• For crises with low attributions of crisis responsibility and an intensifying factor, add compensation and/or apology strategies to the instructing information and care response.
• For crises with strong attributions of crisis responsibility, add compensation and/or apology strategies to the instructing information and care response.
• The compensation strategy is used anytime victims suffer serious harm.
• The reminder and ingratiation strategies can be used to supplement any response.
• Denial and attack the accuser strategies are best used only for rumor and challenge crises.

Strategies to improve trust-based communications during crises

The following tips from Potter (2020), Mazzei and Ravazzani (2011), James and Woten (2005), and Spence, Lachlan, and Griffin’s (2007) work to help you improve trust-based communication during times of crisis in your organization.

• Create and share a clear message. Communicate all changes in expectations clearly. Develop and distribute a document among employees and volunteers that clearly explains what changes they should make in their work due to the crisis.
• Shoot for accuracy and transparency. Share your sources for gathering information on the crisis. Only share facts related to the crisis.
• Make communication consistent. If you are sending out multiple messaging documents, or having multiple employees send out messaging documents, ensure everyone is referring to and using language clearly stated in the original message document.
• Ensure employees and volunteers feel secure. If their jobs or roles are not at stake, clearly and quickly communicate this. Thank employees and volunteers for their efforts, and note the importance of their work in challenging times.
• Ensure clients feel secure. Ensure clients understand the quality of your service will not decrease due to the crisis. However, also explain it will be different. Inform clients about what measures your organization is taking to address the crisis. Thank them for their business and support.
• Encourage collaboration. Seek advice and helpful resources from your organizational partners. Observe how they handle communication related to the crisis. Offer to assist, within reason, with their crisis communication plan if needed.
• Make yourself available to answer questions and listen to concerns among employees and volunteers. Set aside time in your calendar for volunteers and employees to listen to their concerns and address them, within reason.
• Foster a sense of community. At group meetings, ask employees and volunteers to share updates about their lives. Lead teambuilding activities or ice-breakers. Remind your team that you are all in this together.

Crisis communication is a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation. Crisis communication is aimed at raising awareness of a specific type of threat, the magnitude, outcomes, and specific behaviors to adopt to reduce the threat. The communication scholar Timothy Coombs defines crisis as “the perception of an unpredictable event that threatens important expectancies of stakeholders and can seriously impact an organization’s performance and generate negative outcomes” and crisis communication as “the collection, processing, and dissemination of information required to address a crisis situation.”

Meaning can be socially constructed; because of this, the way that the stakeholders of an organization perceive an event (positively, neutrally, or negatively) is a major contributing factor to whether the event will become a crisis. Additionally, it is important to separate a true crisis situation from an incident. The term crisis “should be reserved for serious events that require careful attention from management.”

Crisis management has been defined as “a set of factors designed to combat crises and to lessen the actual damages inflicted.” Crisis management should not merely be reactionary; it should also consist of preventative measures and preparation in anticipation of potential crises. Effective crisis management has the potential to greatly reduce the amount of damage the organization receives as a result of the crisis, and may even prevent an incident from ever developing into a crisis.

Crisis refers to sequence of unwanted events at the workplace which lead to disturbances and major unrest amongst the individuals. Crisis generally arises on a short notice and triggers a feeling of threat and fear in the employees. In simpler words crisis leads to uncertainty and causes major harm to the organization and its employees.

It is essential for the employees to sense the early signs of crisis and warn the employees against the negative consequences of the same. Crisis not only affects the smooth functioning of the organization but also pose a threat to its brand name.

Crisis Communication refers to a special wing which deals with the reputation of the individuals as well as the organization. Crisis communication is an initiative which aims at protecting the reputation of the organization and maintaining its public image. Various factors such as criminal attacks, government investigations, media enquiry can tarnish the image of an organization.

Crisis Communication specialists fight against several challenges which tend to harm the reputation and image of the organization.

Need for Crisis Communication

Crisis can have a negative effect on brand image. Crisis Communication experts are employed to save an organization’s reputation against various threats and unwanted challenges.

Brand identity is one of the most valuable assets of an organization. The main purpose of Crisis Communication team is to protect the brand identity and maintain the organization’s firm standing within the industry.

Crisis Communication specialists strive hard to overcome tough situations and help the organization come out of difficult situations in the best possible and quickest way.

Crisis Communication Process

• Employees should not ignore any of the external parties and important clients Come out, meet them and discuss the problem with them. There is nothing to be ashamed of. If needed, seek their help. Media must not be ignored. Answer their questions. Avoiding media makes situation all the more worse.
• Don’t criticize individuals. Show a feeling of care and concern for them. Share their feelings and encourage them not to lose hope. Encourage them to deliver their level best. Put yourself in their place. Respect them and avoid playing blame games.
• Effective communication must be encouraged at the workplace during emergency situations. Employees should have an easy access to superior’s cabins to discuss critical issues with them and reach to a mutually acceptable solution.
• Information must flow across all departments in its desired form. One should not rely on mere guess works or assumptions during crisis. Make sure the information you have is accurate.
• Crisis communication specialists must learn to take quick decisions. Remember one needs to respond quickly and effectively during unstable situations. Think out of the box and devise alternate plans for the smooth functioning of organization.
• Make sure information is kept confidential. Serious action must be taken against employees sharing information and data with external parties. Such things are considered highly unprofessional and unethical and spoil the reputation of the organization.
• The superiors must evaluate performance of employees on a regular basis. Ask for feedbacks and reports to know what they are up to. Conduct surprise audits to track performance of employees.

Organizations hire crisis communication specialists to overcome tough times as well as to maintain their reputation and position in the market.

Reducing

The apologists will attempt to reduce the offensiveness of the acts by:

• Bolstering by describing positive attributes
• Minimizing to decrease the negative view of the situation
• Differentiation by comparing the act to other similar acts that ended in worse terms
• Transcending by discussion in terms of abstract values and group loyalty.
• Attacking the accuser in an attempt to eliminate credibility
• Offering compensation to victims

Media Relations involves working with media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization’s mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner. Typically, this means coordinating directly with the people responsible for producing the news and features in the mass media. The goal of media relations is to maximize positive coverage in the mass media without paying for it directly through advertising.

Many people use the terms public relations and media relations interchangeably; however, doing so is incorrect. Media relations refer to the relationship that a company or organization develops with journalists, while public relations extend that relationship beyond the media to the general public.

It is possible for communication between the media and the organization to be initiated by either side. However, dealing with the media presents unique challenges in that the news media cannot be controlled they have ultimate control over whether stories pitched to them are of interest to their audiences. Because of this fact, ongoing relationships between an organization and the news media are vital. One way to ensure a positive working relationship with media personnel is to become deeply familiar with their “beats” and areas of interests. Media relations and public relations practitioners should read as many magazines, journals, newspapers, and blogs as possible, as they relate to one’s practice.

Organizations often compile what is known as a media list, or a list of possible media outlets who may be interested in an organization’s information. The media can consist of thousands of magazine publications, newspapers, and TV and radio stations. Therefore, when a “newsworthy” event occurs in an organization, a media list can assist in determining which media outlet may be the most interested in a particular story.

Working with the media on behalf of an organization allows for awareness of the entity to be raised as well as the ability to create an impact with a chosen audience. It allows access to both large and small target audiences and helps in building public support and mobilizing public opinion for an organization. This is all done through a wide range of media and can be used to encourage two-way communication.

Possible reasons an organization may reach out to the media are:

• Launch of a new product/service
• Initiation of new factories/offices
• Financial results
• Organization sponsored events or awards
• Launch of organization promotional campaigns
• Recent disasters, strikes or organizational closures
• Awards/accolades for the company
• Visits from company dignitaries/celebrities
• Involvement in local/community activities
• Community engagement

Media is the bread and butter of a PR agency therefore it is of utmost importance to PR professionals to maintain good and healthy relations with their media contacts. To get their clients’ coverage done, be it in print, online or electronic media, it is the journalists in various media houses that PR executives deal with.

There are various things related to an organisation that need to be informed to the public or sometimes to be curbed down if it has a negative angle attached to it, it is then that a PR firm comes into action. It may be any activity, announcement, inauguration, honour, or any other event that PR persons need to convey to their client’s target audience through media. The sole objective of media relations is to get good and positive coverage for your client without paying anything. It can either be through advertising as well.

It is not that easy for PR professionals to deal with media people as it involves lots of challenges. One of the ways to ensure a positive relationship is to become familiar with the beats they cover and drop in to introduce yourself and your clients with them.

A PR agency maintains a compiled media list consisting up of various newspapers, magazine, electronic, radio and online media. Therefore, upon occurrence of any event specific media people can be contacted and press release can be shared with them to get the coverage done.

Media acts as an intermediary between an organisation and its target public that creates awareness for the organisation with an ability to create a positive impact for the chosen audience. In this way organisations build public support as they are able to reach out to their audience.

PR experts contact media for various occasions related to their client:

• Launch of a new product/service
• Initiation of new outlets
• Organization sponsored events
• Launch of organization’s promotional campaigns/activities
• Recent disasters, strikes or organizational closures
• Awards/accolades for the company
• Company dignitaries/celebrities’ visits
• Involvement in social activities
• Community Engagement

Importance of media relations to business

The main goal of media relations is to maximize positive coverage of organizations, providing a clear voice in public discussions and giving visibility about the field or the organizations Obrien, A (2014). Media relations is important to increase brand awareness, achieve company reputation and to know the customer’s preference and choices.

• Increase brand awareness and achieve company reputation

The company product and services in the blog or in online social sites provide information to the customers. The good information, advertisement, news are preferred by the people and it makes a positive impact on people about the company which results to make company image better. Many people physically do not connect with the organizations that why they prefer to listen to information and giving feedback through the media. Communication plays a vital role in effective media relations. The organization that creates good media relations they must ensure that they are receiving feedback and information correctly so this will help to give reviews and communicating back to the people.  If the product or services is seen on online by viewer it is shared more and like by more people so, the information helps to increase purchasing power (Lake 2018). Media relation is an important tool for providing information to its audience.  Nowadays, customer’s problems are taken as an important part of corporate communication. The customers give feedback and their opinion in companies’ blogs, and article which help the organization to improve in their services and product. Johnston, J (2012), believes that the power of the media is to provide information and create awareness about the companies’ ideas, products, and services.

• To find the customers preference and choice

Mahoney (2013), says that interacting with the audience in media like receiving comment and opinions on the Facebook, blog, and articles help the company to find out the choice of their target customers and what type of product they want. For instance, most of the people use social site nowadays to communicating with the organization, for expressing their views in the comment box of facebook and mention which design, size, and color they want. Understanding the preference of customers helps to increase sales. The media relations allows the organization to reach the large audience choices for fairly low cost at a time by reading and analyzing the feedback online ( Cherwick, Z 2018). The organizations should develop a strong relationship with media by communicating effectively so that the media would always support the company to post right and correct news to attract its target customers and meet their choices.

Employee communication is often defined as the sharing of information and ideas between the management of an organization and employees and vice versa.

It is essential for an organization’s success that there are many different channels available to communicate with your employees as well as your customers. Social media definitely has certainly increased the scope of communication.

With the advent of social media, the number of options for communication has increased. You can share information among your employees almost instantaneously. As the speed of communication increases the challenges for communicating effectively also change.

Email, face-to-face communication, live chats there are so many different channels for effective employee communication. But also, what works for one organization may not work for the others. You need to identify what mode of communication works perfectly within your organization.

Employee communication has changed over the years, in the past decade most parts of the communication was face-to-face. Now we have a plethora of different channels of communications.

Effective communication is where your employees are well informed and all the functions run smoothly in the organization. Organizations need to create a world-class, engaging communication program. They should leverage feedback received from the Human Resources department to improve their internal channels.

Modes for employee communication

There are multiple channels that can be used for employee communication, but

1. Traditional methods

Traditionally communicating with your employees has been a top-down process. Management creates policies, procedures, etc. and they are circulated amongst the employees. These traditional methods are only one way of communication.

To achieve desirable results it is important, channels of communication should be two ways. Papers and memos and traditional ways are all good, but the world is evolving and so should your practices.

2. Email

All most all organizations across the globes communicate with their employees via emails or instant messaging for their daily communications. From updates to latest organizational developments your employees can stay informed and up to date at all times.

The advantage of emails messaging is the speed of communication and the ability to communicate with everyone in the organization at the same time. A big disadvantage though could be people assuming the tone.

3. Cell phones and social media

Your employees carry a very powerful tool of communication with them and that is the cell phone. These days phones are no longer attached to the desk. Cell phone technology enables your employees to stay in touch with whatever that is happening within the organization even if they work remotely.

One powerful platform that organizations have adopted as a part of employee communication is social media. Your employees can access these platforms from literally anywhere. These sites are definitely increasing the usage of handheld devices also allowing everyone to be constantly in touch with anything that goes around within the organization.

Importance of effective employee communication

Employee communication is no rocket science, but if not done correctly can surely have a negative effect. But let’s not go that way, let’s keep things positive, here is how having effective employee communication benefits:

• Employee engagement: If you communicate regularly with your employees and in an effective manner, they are much more engaged with the organization and have a more positive attitude towards their work and the organization.
• Consistency: If your employees understand know what they are wanting to achieve in a particular in the organization, you as an organization can see a much more consistent approach and less tendency of people coming up with interpretations of what they think of what you have said.
• Feedback: Regular communication invites people to get into a healthy discussion. Communication is a dialogue after all and dialogue would need two people communicating, expressing their concern or giving feedback. This facilitates a culture of sharing ideas and knowledge.
• Understanding of organizational goals: Effective communication helps employees understand how they can align their professional goals with that of the organization. They can understand how they can fit into a bigger picture.
• Change is the only constant: If the employees are communicated to effectively about the change around them, they respond positively to it. It also helps identify champions in your organization, ones who are willing to accept change and rise.