Drafting business communications for organizational change stakeholders

Stakeholders

There are several steps that must be undertaken in order to draft these three business communications. The first step is that the changes must be outlined. It is important to understand the exact nature of the subject of the communications before any of the other steps are completed. Incomplete or erroneous understanding of the subject matter will result in a poorly-drafted communication.

The second step is to understand who the different stakeholder groups are. There are often more stakeholder groups than can be imagined at first. A different group can be defined in terms of how the changes affect that group. For example, "staff" is not a group, since the changes affect managers and sales clerks differently. Each would be its own unique stakeholder group.

The third step is to understand how the changes impact on each different group. It is important to consider what the concerns and questions of each group will be with regards to the changes. A strong communication will answer the most obvious questions regarding the impacts.

These three basic steps form the framework for a strong communication. To these other minor steps will be added, such as providing a section that is generic in nature, such as outlining the changes and providing contact information. However, the three steps listed will go a long way to creating a high quality business communication.

Part II: Email format for the managers:

To: Manager

Subject: Operational Changes

Content: Good morning,

As you know, the economic slowdown has reduced sales volumes considerably in recent months. To maintain profitability, senior management has decided to make some changes with respect to store operation. The full details of these changes are enclosed in the attachment, but the highlights are listed below. We are also providing a memo that you may share with your staff.

Summary of Operational Changes:

All stores will now be closed on Sundays

Monday through Saturday inclusive, all stores will open one hour later and close one hour earlier

All full-time employees, including managers, will have a work week consisting of four ten-hour days.

All part-time employees will work 1-3 ten hour days, with the number of total days and hours at management discretion.

There will be no store closings

There will be a manager conference call with respect to these changes at 9:30am today, after which you will be requested to read the memo to all of the employees shortly before opening at 10am.

There will be no store closings

If there are any questions, your manager will be happy to discuss these changes with you. We believe that our staff are the reason we have been so successful over the years, and that is why we have focused our cost-cutting efforts around solutions that will enable all of you to not only continue to work but to maintain all of your hours as well.

Part III: Letter to Customers

Dear Valued Customers,

We at XYZ Store have always taken great pride in the role we play in our communities. From our Christmas toy drive to our annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Gospel Mission, we have always done what is best for the communities in which we live, work and play. In keeping with the spirit of global community, we are adopting a greener, more environmentally-friendly approach to our operations.

We announce that we are making changes to our operating hours, in an effort to promote more efficient use of the planet's limited fossil fuel resources. With a later opening time and earlier closing time, our staff and customers will no longer need lights to get to our stores, and our hours will better correspond with peak operating hours for public transit. We are also closing on Sundays, so that our employees can spend more time with their families.

These steps may not seem like much, but every contribution we can take towards making this planet a greener, happier place is well worth taking.

Part III: These memos are written in an entirely different style from an academic paper. One of the most striking differences is with respect to the simplicity of the language. An academic paper can be as complex as the material demands. With public relations communications, as a writer I must focus on conveying salient points, rather than conveying information. In particular, the memo to the customers reflects the way in which public relations communications can freely spin information to the point where the facts are conveyed in an entirely different manner to that audience than to the internal audiences.

Each of these different communications has a different tone as well. In academic writing, the tone should be even and free from emotion. Public relations writing often takes emotion into account. For example, the news conveyed here would be considered bad news by at least the customers and the staff. The tone needs to reflect that.

Public relations writing is therefore a more audience-focused form of writing. While the piece begins with information, it is shaped almost entirely by the writer's perception of the audience's needs. Meeting the needs of myriad stakeholders is the most important component of public relations. In academic writing, the information is the most important component and tends to shape the paper.