Organizational Communication final assignment

Competency Name: BUS 469 Organizational Communication

Competency Statement: Using business knowledge and analytical skills, students will hone professional level oral and written communication abilities. Experiential learning exercises provide opportunities to develop strategic solutions using hypothetical organizations, as well as real-world situations.

Final Assessment Title: BUS 469 Strategic Communication Plan

• BUS BA PLO 1: Our graduates will be able to communicate effectively utilizing professional business-related techniques.

• BUS BA PLO 2: Our graduates will be able to demonstrate a practical and theoretical understanding of managerial and leadership skills across business disciplines.

• BUS BA PLO 4: Our graduates will be able to utilize emerging technologies in order to improve business performance.

• BUS BA PLO 5: Our graduates will develop an understanding of cultural, ethical, and global issues by examining their impact on self, business, and organizations.

• ACC BA PLO 4: Our graduates will be able to use clear and concise communication to convey relevant financial and non-financial information so that decision makers can formulate informed decisions.

Students who successfully complete this course will:

• CLO 1: Understand the best methods, including the use of verbal, nonverbal, and written skills, for achieving effective and efficient professional communication

• CLO 2: Apply strategic communication in virtual, face-to-face, and written professional interactions with a variety of audiences, including customers, colleagues, employees, stakeholders, and leaders

• CLO 3: Construct and deliver high impact messages using appropriate strategies, including developing a strategic professional communication plan

• CLO 4: Demonstrate an understanding of the interpersonal skills needed for professional relationship building and career success, including teamwork, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and cultural awareness - all of which require the ability to communicate well

The BUS 469 Strategic Communication Plan includes a 5–7-page written strategic communication plan and a 4–7-minute recorded presentation and PowerPoint regarding the same plan. The written plan will showcase communication skills related to CLO’s 2, 3, and 4. The recorded presentation and PowerPoint will demonstrate CLO’s 2, 3, and 4. The student adapting their speech between two different mediums will showcase CLO 1.

• 5–7-page written strategic communication plan

• 4–7-minute recorded presentation

• Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow

Students will identify an organization (preferably one they work for) and one of the organization’s goals (internal or external) that they believe is not being fully met, and they will create a strategic communication plan designed to further that organizational goal. The organizational goal must be real or common sense. For instance, employee retention can be assumed to be a goal since it is usually a goal, but a student could not pick the goal “opening a factory in Kansas” when that goal has not been explicitly stated as a goal by company leadership. The purpose of this rule is to keep goals realistic and to avoid made up goals.

Consider that the “real-world” audience for a presentation like this would be supervisors in your organization. Go about this assignment with that audience in mind and make your plan as though making it for them.

The strategic communication plan’s proposals must be based on communication and cannot include other solutions such as opening a new factory, reorganizing hierarchy structures, increasing pay, etc. The only exception is if such an action can be rationalized as directly part of communicating something to an audience and can be directly aligned with communication efforts. For example, if a water bottling company has a goal of being earth-friendly but their bottled water has a bad reputation and is causing their stock price to decrease, you could propose that the company pay a third party to test their water sources and then share the results at their next shareholder meeting. In the end, all solutions or objectives must have a goal of communicating something.

The written plan must include 12 parts: an introduction, the organizational goal, the problem, the objective of this plan, the specific audiences being targeted (at least two), the message(s) to each audience, the method of each message, the owner of each message, a week-by-week timeline with step-by-step actions, the budget, the evaluation process, and a rationale. If you would like to see examples of the below or see each portion described in greater detail, review the course material in Module 4.

Below is a sample outline utilizing APA style headings:

Title

The introduction paragraph can be short, but it should introduce the company, their purpose, other key information about them, and the problem you are trying to solve. Your final sentence of this section should summarize the problem and solution you are providing.

Organizational Goal

The organizational goal section should identify and describe the goal you have targeted. You should explain what the goal is, its history, and its significance.

Problem

The problem section should explain why the goal is not being met, what the problem with that is, and why that problem matters.

Objective

The objective section should describe what you hope your strategic communication plan will accomplish. Describe your plan and project what you believe the outcome will be. Your objective must be communications-based.

Audiences

The audiences section should describe all audiences you will attempt to reach with your plan. You should select at least two distinct audiences. Each audience should have a subheading and under those subheadings, you should describe that audience. You can include demographics, psychographics, values, and anything else that might be useful. The key is to describe the audience thoroughly enough that a reader could reasonably be able to guess how the audience will react to your message.

Audience #1

Audience #2

Etc.

Messages

This section will describe what message or idea or information you want each audience to come away with. A message could be persuasive, informational, or entertaining but must be strategic and useful to accomplish your objective. The essential question to answer here is “What do I want my audience to know, believe, or feel after they hear my message?” You should have separate subheadings for each audience.

Audience #1

Audience #2

Etc.

Methods

This section will describe your process for getting your message to your audience. This is an important chance to be creative and to ask what the most effective methods will be. Describe the process of how will use each method. Separate descriptions by audience subheadings.

Audience #1

Audience #2

Etc.

Owners

The owners section will assign responsibility for the actions needing to be taken to specific people. This can include yourself or others in your organization. Do not use this section to assign coming up with goals—you have already done that. Stick to assigning specific communication tasks to individuals.

Week-by-Week Timeline

The week-by-week timeline should neatly show what tasks will be completed when. Since strategic communication plans of this size are generally long term plans, it is assumed that multiple weeks will be necessary. Organize using either bullet points or a table and then list what tasks must be completed in each week until the end of your process. The last task to be completed should be the evaluation process. And the first task should not be “brainstorming” or “planning.” Remember that you are doing all the brainstorming and planning in this strategic communication plan.

Budget

The budget section should show a clear listing of all expenses needed for this plan. No salary or benefit costs need be listed unless someone is being contracted outside of normal company expenses. Any software, supplies, travel, or otherwise should be listed. A total cost should be given. Expenses should be organized in a bullet pointed list or table.

Evaluation Process

The evaluation paragraph should include a plan for determining the success of your plan. It should include a way to test the results against your objective and chosen organizational goal. You should propose a way to measure the results quantitatively. Assessment of results should not be based on feelings or generalities.

Rationale

The rationale portion is your opportunity to explain why your plan will be effective. This is a good time to cite sources that have done similar things or that affirm your methods. Essentially you must argue “My plan to do . . . will be effective in accomplishing <my objective> and strengthening <organizational goal> because . . .” This section needs to be convincing and logically argued.

• File must be saved as a Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx)

• Do not exceed 7 pages or subceed 5 pages (not including title page and reference pages)

• Use APA 7th edition formatting but do not include an abstract

You will create a PowerPoint to support your 4-7-minute speech. There are no specific requirements for this PowerPoint. Make sure that it is an asset to your presentation and that it follows best practices for slideshow design.

Here are a few best practices to keep in mind:

• Focus on images whenever possible

• Avoid using too much text but do include key ideas that need to be remembered

• Keep your design (color, layout, etc.) simple and not overwhelming

• Remember your PowerPoint should be supporting your speech, not replacing it

• Use .ppt or .pptx files.

• If you have references, use your last slide as a references slide

Record you giving a 4-7-minute version of your written strategic communication plan (Submission Item #1) to an audience of at least 3 with your slideshow clearly visible in the recording. Consider that your “real-world” audience would be supervisors at the organization you have chosen; plan and give your presentation with this audience in mind.

Your recorded presentation should . . .

• Be rehearsed in advance

• Show you on screen with all of you visible from head to waist at least

• Be 4-7-minutes long

• Be given to an audience of at least 3

• Show your slideshow being used to present to your audience

• Be delivered effectively and confidently making use of verbal and nonverbal skills taught in this course

• Be appropriate to your audience, purpose, and time limit

• .mp4 and .mov video files are preferred.

• If able, keep video size low, preferably under 500 megabytes.

Before submitting, double-check, have you have met the criteria noted below. Did you….

• Meet all time restrictions?

• Cite and list any references used?

• Save files in the right formats?

• Your completed final assessment documents should be submitted through the Final Assessment link of your competency.

• Please note, that you can upload multiple files to the Final Assignment link.

• Make sure the files are converted to a doc, docx, ppt, pptx, mov, mp4, etc. file. (you can share Google Doc and MS OneDrive documents from the “Choose Existing Activities” button)

• To upload a file, click “Upload File” and choose the file(s) from your desktop:

More tutorial resources can be found at the UMPI Student eLearning Hub

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