Parameters must be created in which relationships are established not only between the people of the organization but also in the areas that compose it, including the management with all the workers.
This in order to apply communication actions to reach the set objectives.
In addition, establish references to know how the organization should relate to its different types of public: its clients, government, press and society itself.
Why have a communications policy?
Having a communications policy means that people related to the organization will find ethical support in it, which will also affect the trust that these people have towards the company, its management and the products or services it carries out.
In the same way, with the policy the selection of personnel can be determined through communication skills and commitment to the values established by the organization. A company does not approve of a value when it itself is not willing to comply with it, the communications policy fails or some of its values when they are not put into practice, the ideal is that the company and the workers move towards the mission and vision established to achieve the objectives.
Values associated with the communications policy:
Transparency
Participation
Respect
Veracity
Diligence
Collaboration
As an administrative evolution to what organizations knew as administration by objectives, management establishes a next step, administering by policies. In this way, once the objectives of the organization have been established, the rules of the game must be established to achieve those purposes. It is there where the communications policy appears as a mediator of relations between the members of the organization and its structure.
Politics, a benchmark for decision making.
The communications policy establishes how the organization expects the tasks to be carried out, but not from an operational point of view such as a function manual or the description of a task or a process, the policy has a superior perspective that should allow Beyond a description of the activities to be carried out, the parameters that the communication actions must take into account, whatever those carried out to stay within a range that also identifies the organization and allows it to differentiate itself from others.
The establishment of a communications policy also allows us to identify that this is an organization based on objectives, with high levels of empowerment, where work networks carry out their work within the same parameters of action.
It is to go from the management that directs and administers of the industrial era (It says what should be done and how to do it operationally speaking) to the management of information where although the management orders, it is who executes the one who manages (The management says what it expects achieve and who executes has the freedom to determine how to achieve it). In other words, it is the change of 21st century management from top-down tax control to the self-controlled responsibility of flat and networked structures.
The communications policy must also contribute so that the interaction of the members of the organization and the different parts that compose it is carried out in a dynamic but directed way, facilitating competitiveness and innovation.
In fact, recent documents have come to propose organizations without defined administrative structures but rather flexible networks that use the same language and that focus their energies towards the achievement of the company's objectives.
What elements should a communications policy take into account?
The communications policy must have the elements from which the different productive interactions of the organization, the directives and workers, the leaders and their teams, the communication between the areas and the business units, in general the communication of the organization with its different stakeholders.
Elements of a policy
The communications policy must be stated clearly and simply in order to obtain its practical application easily, it must also be supported by the commitment of management in order to generate an agreement for its compliance by all members of the the organization.
The lack of a communications policy generally affects the organizational climate given that their absence generates dissatisfaction in workers who feel little taken into account, it also leads to situations of abuse that do not have a point of reference to be controlled can become part of the culture of the organization.
How to put the communications policy into practice?
The communications policy requires a plan to make it known and make it operational, that is, to make it become concrete actions by the members of the organization. This implementation requires a schedule where actions, responsibilities and goals to be met are indicated in a brief way but with enough detail so that its staging is facilitated.
Obstacles that may appear for the implementation of a communications policy.
Abusive leaders who believe that applying the policy will expose their abusive practices.
Solution: Train these leaders in communication and managerial skills so that they can surpass themselves.
Lack of clarity in corporate objectives and how those who make up the organization are expected to achieve them.
Solution:
Clarify the objectives pursued by the organization and once this is done, build rules of the game to achieve them.
Communication policies are aimed at guiding the form and development of the various information media as well as improving the culture and organizational values of companies, in order to increase competitiveness and good job performance.
