Chapter 10

TEAM 2

BA 370 LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS AND NEGOTIATION

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 10 LEADING THROUGH EFECTIVE EXTERNAL RELATIONS

The objectives of this chapter are;

1. To develop an external relation strategy
2. To build and maintain a positive corporate image
3. To work with the news media.
4. To handle crisis communication

This chapter provides guidelines to help manage external relations in day –to-day encounter and in crisis situations so that the company
Project a positive image.

DEVELOPING AN EXTERNAL RELATION STRATEGY
Effective external relations require a sound communication strategy. The step to developing a strategy includes:
1. Clarify your purpose and strategic objectives
2. Identify your major audiences or stakeholders
3. Create, refine, and test your major message.
4. Select, limit, and coach your spokespersons.
5. Establish the most effective media or forum
6. Determine the best timing.
7. Monitor result.

1.) Clarify your Purpose and Strategic Objectives
A company must have a strategy for all of its external relations activities: managing the press and media, establishing relationships with the financial analysts or investor groups, and creating and distributing all publications that touch stakeholders.

2.) Identify major audiences or stakeholders
A company’s external stakeholders consist of any persons, groups, or organization outside of the company that may be affected by the company’s activities or influence by its message and image. Among the stakeholders are: media, community, customers, investor, analyst, board, partners, distributors, suppliers\Vendors, and trade associations. The list should include anyone even remotely touched by the company’s products and services.



3.) Create, refine and test your major messages
Messages meant for external audiences are far more vulnerable to interference, interruptions, and barriers than messages to internal audiences. Many external audiences will be only weakly motivated to attend to your messages, and they will often be ignorant of much of the knowledge you can assume for your internal audiences. For example, while you may be able to assume that an internal audience will know the jargons of your industry, you cannot assume that outsiders will. You must ensure that all of your external messages conform to the following criteria: honesty, clarity, consistency, meaningful.

4.) Select, limit, and coach your spokesperson
Selecting the right spokesperson(s) to deliver external messages can be almost as critical as the messages themselves. Three major rules apply to selecting spokespersons: (a) they must be at the right level for the problem, (b) they must project a positive ethos, and (c) they should have received media training. The rank of the person delivering the message is as important as the message, if a low ranking office deliver the massage it could signal that the company does not view the issue being discussed as important enough.

5.) Establishing the most effective media or forum
Deciding on the most effective media or forum to ensure reaching the identified stakeholders is yet another critical component of external relations. A company will often use several different media to reach external audiences, depending on the important and magnitude of the communication event. Some of the medium includes: press conferences, press release, fact sheets, press or media kits, hotlines, websites, tombstone or advertising statements, and analyst briefings.

6.) Determining the best thing
Depending on the context, the timing of an external message can be critical, you must ask yourself what is going on around your communication event that will influence how your audience receives your message.

7.) Monitoring the result
Measuring the impact of your message on your constituencies is important, but it can also be difficult, expensive, and time-consuming.

Building and Maintaining a Positive Corporate Image
Reputation affects the bottom line, and even the strongest companies will have difficulty surviving damage to their reputations. Leaders of organizations must give high priority to establishing and maintaining a positive corporate image. Some of the medium that can be used in building corporate image includes: media relations, corporate public relations, government relations, and investors relations.

Working with the Media
The mistakes that tarnish a company’s reputation are most often uncovered and publicized by the news media. To increase chances for favourable treatment, it is important for a company to establish a positive relationship with the media and for every senior manager to know hoe to work effectively with them. The following should be considered before a company decides to talk to them:

 Understanding the media’s role and importance
 Deciding when to talk to the media
 Preparing for and delivering a media interview

Handling Crisis Communication
At one time or another, most companies will face a crisis. A situation requiring crisis communication involves a specific, unexpected and non-routine event or series of events that create high levels of uncertainty and threaten or are perceived to threaten an organization’s high priority goals. The following guidelines will help companies respond appropriately in most situations. They include: develop a general crisis communication plan, respond quickly to crisis once it occurs, the right people ready to respond and they will respond with the same message, put yourself in the shoes of your audience, do not overlook the value of the web, revisit your crisis communication plan frequently, build away to monitor the coverage, and perform a post crisis evaluation.

COMMENTS
Perception is becoming important these days because outsiders (external audience) will relate to an organization based on their perception. This chapter worth studying and it impart more knowledge to me. Moses

TEAM MEMBERS ARE; MONDAY, MOSES, BENJAMIN, DORIS, OLUSEYI, ADESHOLA, HASSANNAT, EFOSA, SOPHIE