The Alignment FactorSession 3: February 1, 2016

Organizational Communication in Social ContextProf. Susan J. Stehlik

NYU Stern

Follow your selected document in class today to applyThe concepts of Alignment and Communication Strategy

But first….. What’s in the news?Xerox – Amazon

Facebook on guns

WSJ: what college grads want

WSJ: Job Hunt – Class of 2015 employment expectations (2.1.2016)

What students want:• 93% Personal growth opportunities• 86% job security• 80% good benefits package

"Facebook has never been directly involved in gun selling, but it has been a place where buyers and sellers have negotiated sales," she explains. (Laura Sydell from NPR News)

• Read the course outline and ask questions early (well before the assignment is due!)

• Check the specific assignment wording in the course outline

• Follow directions! (in class, in assignments, in grading rubrics)

• Check emails and updates – especially if you must miss class

• What is due when? Let’s look– Deliverables: Assignments,

Forums, Presentations

And another first, an important word from Prof. Stehlik:

How to get an A in this

class!

And, now to the BIG IDEA

What global changes affect – and are affected by – communication?

How has the world changed?How have organizations changed?How has communication changed?

Global changes in your lifetimes!

What makes these changes important?

How do they affect communication?

How are they affected by communication?

“The real difficulty in changing the course of any enterprise

lies not in developing new ideas, but in escaping old ones.”

– John Maynard Keynes

Innovator of the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics and contributor to the economic policies of governments.

“Communication is a complex process of continually creating and negotiating the meanings and interpretations that shape

our lives.”Prof. Matt Koschmann

Univ. of Colorado Boulder

What we said in the last class

Communication is more than information exchange

• Not linear• Not circular• Not looping• Double helix• What’s the impact

of this view?

It always starts with discovery

Formal Rhetoric

Other models of Communication

noise noise

noise noise

Source: C. Hamilton

Essential elements of communication

Effective communication: strategic thinking

• Understand your task

• Analyze your audience

• Clarify your intent

• Refine your message

• Who are they?Audience

• What do you want them to do?

Intent

Message!

Basic concept of effective communication

• Who are they?Audience

• What result do you want?Intent

Message!

Add task: who wants you to do this?

Task!

Intent

Task

Audience

MessageT+AIM

Intent

Task

Message

Audience

The most important formula in OC:

T+A+I M EffectiveCommunication

Strategy

Consider the communication within cell networks;that lead to curing diseases; it’s complicated

with the right strategy…

Your name here..

What were you expected to do for today?

• Watch the video of Prof. Cees van Riel on the Alignment Factor

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUhkEZbU9uY• Read OC text: The Corporation and its Stakeholders

What is Alignment in business?

“Alignment in business is a mutually rewarding relationship between a company and its key stakeholders – which enables the firm to meet its objectives and realize its purpose.”

Cees Van RielErasmus University

Consider Facebook on guns….are there other companies that need a

second look?

Why is this important for business and society?

Why do we care about alignment?

Business and society need each other

Not in isolation: Constant interaction

Society

Business

Business

Society

How do companies achieve alignment?

With effective strategy!

Strategy? Effective?

You decide.

Our PurposeWe will provide branded products and services of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’s consumers, now and for generations to come. As a result, consumers will reward us with leadership sales, profit and value creation, allowing our people, our shareholders and the communities in which we live and work to prosper.

Toyota: Let's Go places: the BOLD new Camry

Since its foundation, Toyota has been using its Guiding Principles to produce reliable vehicles and sustainable development of society by employing innovative and high quality products and services.

Microsoft:At Microsoft our mission and values are to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.

Microsoft:At Microsoft our mission and values are to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.

How can you manage the complexity ofcommunication in organizations?

Consider what we’ve discussed so far….

• If the elements of communication are:

• And the process is dynamic:

• And constitutive communication pushes us away from flat earth thinking:

• What can strategy do?

A communication strategy can reshape the social reality for

stakeholders

• To achieve an intent with a particular audience for a given task with

• A message: what the communicator wants/needs to tell• A structure: how to organize the content• And specific delivery: how to get the message across with

the optimum medium, channel

A strategy creates a specific plan:

Prepare for Class 4:Watch:• Amy Edmondson talk about Teamwork on the flyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV15JvPwOOE• Steve Jobs talks about teams and managing people at Applehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f60dheI4ARgRead:• http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/opinion/sunday/why-some-teams-are-s

marter-than-others.html?_r=0

Recommended Read:• http

://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2016/01/14/how-companies-like-uber-facebook-and-salesforce-engage-in-team-building-its-not-what-you-think/#7d0ad60d6157

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/upshot/when-teamwork-doesnt-work-for-women.html

Review:• Free app: https://slack.com/ Can it help you in OC?

Want to see more? The job skills gap on Bloomberg

very cool graphic.

http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-job-skills-report/