Organizational communications can be a powerful instrument to help leaders reach their strategic objectives. However, to be effective in this role, communications cannot be merely a one-way conveyor of information. Instead, it must set broader goals to reach and affect the "whole person." This is not only an individual's level of understanding but his/her opinions, feelings and behaviors as well. Organizational communications must focus on building healthier, more collaborative, more productive relationships between people at all levels in the organization.

More Collaborative, Two-Way Dialog Instead of One-Way Dissemination
To serve an organization's leadership at a strategic level, communications must reach people's hearts as well as their minds. Communications must become more dynamic, emphasizing more two-way, interactive, collaborative communication experiences in addition to the traditional, one-way media channels used for dissemination of information.

Manager/leadership-led communications and collaborative Deep Dialog^SM within and between groups and with organizational leaders should be conscientiously planned and implemented on an ongoing basis by communications professionals in the organization.

Communications need to go beyond packaging and presenting information in a one-way "packaged media" channel. To affect people's feelings, stir their emotions and energize them on a personal level, it is necessary to create two-way, manager/leadership-led communication events. These events should be created at all levels: large group, small group and one-on-one. Managers must be given responsibility for effectively communicating with, teaching, coaching and motivating the people with whom they work - and be held accountable.

These are significantly deeper levels than traditional one-way organizational communications address, yet they are the levels that must be reached to actually affect people's feelings, behavior and job performance.

All information is laden with emotional meaning. This simple truth is often ignored or consciously avoided in organizational communications, yet it is the emotional content, context and implications, which can provide organizational communications with the power to move people to achieve strategic objectives and win in the marketplace.

Collaborative dialog is a more powerful internal communications strategy than published media for effecting, motivating and moving people to higher levels of strategic performance. A synergistic combination of packaged media and collaborative dialog is the optimum solution for communications targeted to move the bottom line.