Communication System

Course Description

A strong communications system is vital to success. This is true for both internal communications with staff at all levels and in all locations and for external communications with customers, suppliers, the public or other stakeholders. Good communications don’t just happen: They require a systematic, strategic process to be effective.

This course focuses on the important role of a communications system and on how organizations can assess and develop their own strong communications.

This course is designed for the entire leadership team – especially those involved in leadership, strategic planning, human resources management, sales, marketing, and customer service. Ideally, 5-16 of the top leaders of the organization will take this course first, will develop their plans and will then teach it to others as a way to introduce and earn support for the plans.

Learning Objectives

Participants will benefit by seeing how communications play a role in securing, serving and retaining staff and customers. By the end of this course, the participants will:

Understand the importance of a formal communications system or process
Identify the elements of a robust communication system
Assess their own communication system
Identify ways to improve their communications.

This course uses a combination of self-assessment, discussion, examples and lecture to convey the ideas. The participants identify the actions they want to take to strengthen their communications system.

Course Content

The Communications System course focuses on the importance of using communications strategically to unite and retain internal staff and to build relationships with external customers, suppliers and others.

The course outline includes:

Why a robust communications system benefits organizations in many ways.
The key elements of a communication system (goals, audiences, communicators, methods, content, implementation, feedback and sharing).
A specific look at internal communications, including examples of good internal communications and a self-assessment.
A specific look at external communications, including examples and a self-assessment.
Facilitated selection of priorities to improve the organization’s communication system and a written action plan for the top priority.

The course tools include examples of communications plans, methods, materials and barriers to action. They also include forms for action planning.

Timing

This course lasts between 3 hours and 3-1/2 hours depending on the size of the group and the degree of discussion.