The alignment factor
Transcript of The alignment factor
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/