The business world is constantly changing and nowhere is this more evident than in the area of communication. Faxes and snail mail have given way to emails and texts, and websites and social media are providing even more dynamic interfaces with potential customers. Today, business communication isn’t business as usual. Small and medium businesses need access to the right tools to be fast, flexible and efficient so they can focus on developing their operations and increasing customer loyalty.
Did You Know?
Research suggests that developing and managing ongoing strategic communications programs provide a wide range of benefits and can help deliver results that can positively impact a company’s bottom line, but that means being in tune with the increasing demands of workplace communications.
According to a 2014 Internal Communication and Technology Survey, conducted by Newsweaver and Melcrum:
- Less than half of respondents believe their team has the digital / technological skills necessary to do their jobs.
- The three most used channels are the intranet (93 percent), email (90 percent) and leadership communications (84 percent).
- The three most effective channels, in order of most effective: email, intranet and leadership communications.
- 50 percent to 60 percent of respondents always use email for the tasks of: employee newsletters, change communications, HR/rewards/pension communications, events, pulse surveys and leadership communications.
- By a large margin, the two most popular new communication technologies to be deployed: Internal social networking tools (46 percent) and Intranets (45 percent).
Consider This
How we communicate is just as important as what we communicate. A study by uSamp, for example, shows that a stunning 95 percent of the respondents chose workplace
communications over in-person meetings. Of this, 48 percent of the respondents preferred emails, while 20 percent preferred calling over mobile phones. Desk phones were preferred by another 10 percent, while 8 percent each preferred texting colleagues or scheduling web meetings.
Over the past decade, unified communications technology has made it possible for non real-time communication platforms to be accessed on a real-time basis. 82 percent of respondents from the study preferred receiving text messages over voicemails; furthermore, as many as 36 percent of those surveyed confided to have deleted voicemails without listening to them.
Read More
In this edition of the Business Magazine, we’ll take a look at the communications industry and how companies, such as weCreate, are carving out a niche in a technological revolution to help businesses and their brands stand out. We’ll hear from Connoisseur Media General Manager Michael Malpiedi on the rapidly changing
communications industry, especially as it relates to broadcast. We’ll also look at the communications resources, such as training and team building, that are essential to communicating with your best brand advocates — your employees.
As a leader in professional development programs for more than 20 years — the Manufacturer & Business Association’s expert trainers deliver the knowledge and skills you need to compete in today’s business world. The MBA’s Marketing & Communications courses, for one, are ideal to help your business excel internally and externally. For instance, our Must-Haves of Effective Communication workshop is geared toward helping you foster an environment where everyone knows what’s expected of them and how to achieve that desired outcome. To learn more, visit www.mbausa.org.
