CCRDA

CCRDA-AMBO UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA PROGRAM IN DEVELOPMENT
MANAGEMENT

COURSE MODULE ON

DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

PGDM 613

MARCH, 2014

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

COURSE INTRODUCTION

Communication for development is a broad cognitive field of enormous international, national and
regional interest attracting attention as a special field of study by students and researchers across
disciplines. All those involved in the analysis and application of communication for development -
or what can broadly be termed ―development communication‖ - would probably agree that in
essence development communication is the sharing of knowledge aimed at reaching a consensus
for action that takes into account the interests, needs and capacities of all concerned. It is thus a
social process. Communication media are important tools in achieving this process but their use
is not an aim in itself—interpersonal communication too must play a fundamental role.

This course is designed to help employees working with NGOs/ CSOs and public sector to
effectively communicate with stakeholders and play active role in knowledge management. After
finishing the course/ module, students are expected to successfully contribute towards socio-
economic transformation of their country. To this end, different concepts, principles,
methodological approaches, practices, etc, are presented and discussed in detail and in an
understandable manner.

The teaching material is organized into nine chapters. The first chapter presents the nature,
concepts and principles communication. The second is about history of development
communication. The third chapter presents the Process of Communication. The fourth chapter is
about forms of communication. Chapter five explains about barriers to effective communication
and strategies to improve communication effectiveness. Chapter six discusses about Media,
Communication Technology and Development Communication; development communication
models; and common typology of participation in development initiative. The seventh chapter is
concerned with development communication methodological framework. Chapter eight presents
about communication in the NGO Sector. The last chapter (nine) presents about good practices
and knowledge management.

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To facilitate learning, a number of activity and self-assessment discussion/ review questions are
provided across the module. You are advised to read the teaching material carefully and other
related books / texts to have better knowledge.

Specifically,
(1) Take 10-20 munities to answer each activity questions,
(2) As much as possible form a group consisting 3-5 members with your classmates and discuss
your subject (lesson) if possible by meeting physically or if not using internet,
(3) Critically answer all review questions and discuss with your classmates,
(4) Discuss your lesson with colleagues (work) and other friends and ask them for support and
positive critique,
(5) Be transparent, ask your tutor and other people who may help in your study,
(6) Prepare yourself for long critical and argument based writing, and
(7) Always try to link your reading and your study with practical work environment
(evaluate how your organization and any other organization) is/are functioning and analyze the
gap between theory and practice. If you do all these, you will make difference! This is the
beginning. Having a nice time with the reading.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: COMMUNICATION: AN OVERVIEW ................................................................................... 1

1.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1

1.2. WHAT IS COMMUNICATION? ..................................................................................................... 1

1.3. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNICATION ........................................................................... 3

1.4. FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS ......................................................... 7

1.5. IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATION ....................................................... 9

1.6. PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATION ............................................................................................ 13

1.7. MEANING AND NATURE OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION ....................................... 17

1.7.1. DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION ..................................................... 17

1.7.2. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION ........................................................................... 21

1.7.3. TEN KEY ISSUES ABOUT (DEVELOPMENT) COMMUNICATION ...................................................................... 24

1.8. ETHICAL COMMUNICATION ....................................................................................................................... 28

1.9. CHAPTER SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................ 30

CHAPTER 2: HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION....................................................................................... 32

2.1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 32

2.1.1. THE DOMINANT PARADIGM: MODERNIZATION ....................................................................................... 32

2.1.2. THE OPPOSING PARADIGM: DEPENDENCY .............................................................................................. 34

2.1.3. THE EMERGING PARADIGM: PARTICIPATION .......................................................................................... 36

2.1.4. SOCIAL MARKETING PARADIGM ........................................................................................................... 39

2.1.5. MEDIA ADVOCACY ............................................................................................................................ 40

2.2. CHAPTER SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... 42

CHAPTER 3: PROCESS AND ELEMENT OF COMMUNICATION ........................................................... 44

3.1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 44

3.2. ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION ............................................................................................................... 44

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 3.3. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS ................................................................................................................ 45

3.4. CHAPTER SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................ 47

CHAPTER 4: FORMS OF COMMUNICATION ............................................................................................................. 49

4.1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 49

4.2. FORMS OF COMMUNICATION BASED ON MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION ........................................................... 49

4.2.1. VERBAL COMMUNICATION ................................................................................................................. 50

4.2.2 NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION ........................................................................................................... 89

4.3 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION BASED ON ORGANIZATIONAL BOUNDARIES ............................................................. 94

4.3.1. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION .............................................................................................................. 94

4.3.2. EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION .............................................................................................................. 95

4.4. TYPES OF COMMUNICATION BASED ON TYPE OF ORGANIZATION ...................................................................... 96

4.4.1. Formal Communication Networks ........................................................................................................ 96

4.4.2. INFORMAL COMMUNICATION NETWORK ............................................................................................ 100

4.5. TYPES OF COMMUNICATION BASED ON PERSONS INVOLVED IN COMMUNICATION ............................................. 104

4.5.1. INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION ................................................................................................... 105

4.5.2. INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION ................................................................................................... 106

4.5.3. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION ................................................................................................................ 108

4.6. CHAPTER SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. 110

CHAPTER 5: BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION ........................................................................ 116

5.1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 116

5.2. MAJOR CAUSES OF COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN ............................................................. 116

5.3. IMPROVING COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS ......................................................................... 119

5.3.1. TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING COMMUNICATION GENERAL ............. 119

5.3.2. TECHNIQUES FOR THE SENDER ........................................................................................... 120

5.3.3. TECHNIQUES FOR THE RECEIVER ......................................................................................... 121

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 5.3.4. TECHNIQUES FOR BOTH SENDER AND RECEIVERS ........................................................... 121

5.3.5. STRATEGIES OF IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATION ........................ 122

5.4. CHAPTER SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 124

CHAPTER 6: THE MEDIA, COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AND DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNICATION ............................................................................................................................... 125

6.1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 125

6.2. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY .................................................................................. 125

6.3. USE OF MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY IN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION............................ 126

6.4. ADVOCACY COMMUNICATION ................................................................................................................. 129

6.5. PUBLIC AND MEDIA RELATIONS ................................................................................................................ 130

6.6. DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION MODELS/ TYPES / MODES ......................................................................... 137

6.6.1. MONOLOGIC MODEL: ONE-WAY COMMUNICATION ............................................................................... 138

6.6.2. DIALOGIC MODEL: TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION ................................................................................... 139

6.7. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE ........................................................................... 141

6.7. VALUE ADDITION OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION IN PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS........................................ 144

6.9. CHAPTER SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. 144

CHAPTER 7: DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ............... 147

7.1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 147

7.2. COMMUNICATION-BASED ASSESSMENT (CBA) ............................................................................................ 147

7.3. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY DESIGN ....................................................................................................... 149

7.4. IMPLEMENTING THE COMMUNICATION PROGRAM. ..................................................................................... 152

7.5. COMMUNICATION FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATION ............................................................................... 154

7.6. CHAPTER SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. 158

CHAPTER 8: COMMUNICATION IN THE NGO SECTOR .............................................................................................. 159

8.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 159

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 8.2. HOW TO WRITE A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY .......................................................................................... 159

8.3. YOUR ROADMAP TO COMMUNICATION SUCCESS: THE COMMUNICATION PLAN ................................................. 169

8.4. COMMUNICATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS ................................................................................................... 172

8.5. APPLICATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY IN NGOS .............................................. 174

8.6. HOW NGOS MANAGE STAKEHOLDERS ENGAGEMENT? .................................................................................. 178

8.7. COMPONENTS OF A STRONG STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ............................................................... 180

8.7.1. STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION ......................................................................................................... 180

8.7.2. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................. 181

8.7.3. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT............................................................................................................ 184

8.7.4. STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATION ...................................................................................................... 187

8.8. CHAPTER SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. 189

CHAPTER 9: GOOD PRACTICES AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT.............................................................................. 192

9.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 192

9.2. DEFINITIONS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................. 192

9.3. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: PERSPECTIVES OF KM ..................................................................................... 195

9.3.1. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FLOWS/ INFORMATION-BASED PERSPECTIVE ................................................. 195

9.3.2. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY-BASED PERSPECTIVE ................................................................................ 196

9.3.3. CULTURE-BASED PERSPECTIVE / INTERPERSONAL KNOWLEDGE SHARING/ .................................................. 196

9.4. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND KNOWLEDGE ............................................................................. 197

9.5. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................ 199

9.5.1. FACTORS INFLUENCING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ............................................................................. 203

9.5.2. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................. 208

9.5.3. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT RESOURCES ............................................................................................ 212

9.5.4. ORGANIZATION LEARNING AND PROJECTION........................................................................................ 213

9.6. COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE ................................................................................................................... 214

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 9.7. BEST-PRACTICES DATABASE FOR SHARING KM............................................................................................. 215

9.8. APPLICATION ARCHITECTURE .................................................................................................................. 216

9.9. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SHORTFALLS ................................................................................................. 221

9.10 . KEY CONCERNS RELATED TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT........................................................................... 228

9.11. CHAPTER SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 230

GLOSSARY ..................................................................................................................................................... 236

REFERENCE ................................................................................................................................................... 238

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CHAPTER 1: COMMUNICATION: AN OVERVIEW
1.1. INTRODUCTION
Dear student, as it is clearly known different types of communication usually require different sets
of knowledge and skills and thus, affect people and organizations. In this chapter, we shall review
the concepts of communication, its importance and the role it plays in organizations, and the
functions of communication.
Learning objectives
 To be able to understand communication concepts and principles
 To be able to use communication concepts and principles to manage NGO activities

1.2. WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?

Dear student, everyone uses communication and organizations are also using it. Answer the
following questions and compare your response with forthcoming discussions.

1. How do you define communication?

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2. Is personal communication and organizational communication similar or different? What
element/s do they share in common, if any?
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The term communication is derived from the Latin word communis, which means, ―to share‖ that
is, sharing of ideas, concepts, feelings and emotions. Literally it means to inform, to tell, show or
to spread information. Even though we communicate constantly, scholars have not agreed on
definitions of communication. Each definition has elements of truth and utility, but not complete.

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A look at some of the definitions given by specialists will help us see what the general parameters
might be. Some of the definitions as given by the scholars are as follows:

Communication is basis to an organization‘s existence. A manager spends much of his time

communicating to coordinate human and physical element of the organization. The success of the
institution depends very much upon the coordinated efforts of people working at different level to
achieve the common goals. Pertinent information, facts feeling, ideas must be communicated
before meaningful organizational decision can be made. Hence, when communication fails,
organized activity also fails. It is a managerial skill based upon human behavior.

―Communication is the sum of all the things one person does when he wants to create
understanding in the mind of another. It is a bridge of meaning. It involves a systematic and
continuous process of telling, listening and understanding‖ (Allen, 2009)

Communication may be defined as the process of transmitting information. It is the linking

process that enables to information for a variety of reasons: (1) to achieve coordinated action; (2)
to express feelings and emotions; and (3) to share information regarding: (a) organizational goals,
(b) task directions, (c) results of efforts, and (d) decision making. Thus effective communication
may be defined as the process of transmitting information such a way that the message as
received, is as close in terms of meaning as possible to the intended meaning.

According to Ordway Tead (Mishra, 2013), ―Communication is a composite (a) of information given
and received, (b) of a learning experience in which certain attitudes, knowledge, and skills change,
carrying with them alterations of behavior, (c) of a listing effort by all involved, (d) of a sympathetic
fresh examination of issues by the communicator himself, (e) of sensitive interaction of points of
view leading of higher level of shared understanding and common intention.

In the words of Keith Davis (1968), ―Communication is the process of passing information and
understanding form one person to another. It is essentially a bridge of meaning between people.‖

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According to Koontz and Weihrich (1998), ―Communication is the transfer of information from a
sender to a receiver with the information being understood by the receiver.‖

Hence we come to know that communication is the process by which people attempt to share
meaning via the transmission of symbolic messages. Thus, communication:
(i) Involves peoples, and that understanding communication therefore involves trying to
understand how people relate to each other;
(ii) Involves shared meaning, in order for people to communicate, they must agree on the
definitions of the terms they are using; and
(iii) Is symbolic-gestures sounds, letters, numbers, and words can only represent or
approximate the ideas they are meant to communicate.

Communication is therefore the transfer of information and understanding from one person to
another. It is a way of reaching others with ideas, facts, thoughts, feelings, and values. It is a
bridge of meaning among people so that they can share what they feel and know. It always
involves at least two people: sender and receiver.

The following are common elements in definitions of communications:

 Process of understanding and sharing meaning
 The process involves understanding-perceiving, interpreting and comprehending the
meaning of the verbal and nonverbal behaviors of others
 In involves two or more people, it involves the sharing of information and interacting with
people in order to exchange meaning.

1.3. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNICATION

Based on definitions of communication and your own knowledge, list the characteristic of
communication.
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Although communication is too complex a process to sum up in a short, there are several
characteristics shared by all communication. These are as:
A. Communication is a process. Unlike objects, communication is not discrete, static, or
solitary. It involves at least two persons, one sender and the other receivers. There is interchange
of information among persons. It is a systematic and continuous process. As a process,
communication exists in time and changes constantly. Communication involves an interaction
between or among people. The interaction is usually complex. The process, on its most basic level,
communication involves someone who initiates the exchange, usually called a sender or source.
The sender has something to communicate and sends a message to a second person, the receiver.
This indicates one has to be sensitive to the many things occurring all at the same time as well as
over a period of time.

B. Communication uses symbols. The media of communication can be numerous such as oral
media (conversation, meetings, telephone calls and presentations), written media (memos, letters,
reports, language and environmental elements). When we say that communication is symbolic, we
are referring to the nature of messages rather than to the process of communicating. Several of
the definitions of communication given above emphasize the exchange of meaning or the
transmission of messages. If we define communication simply as a process, then we can never get
at the important issue of the exchange of meaning. Human evolution made it possible for us to
develop into complex, interesting creatures by developing our ability to use symbols.

Because of their arbitrary nature, symbols are subject to various interpretations that you and I
might not mean exactly the same thing when we use the same word. The potential for
misinterpretation would include nonverbal languages as well as verbal ones. A gesture made with
the fingers in South America symbolizes good luck and in North America the same gesture is
highly insulting. Despite this fact, the use of symbols in communication implies that the sender
and the receiver share a common symbol system. Without this commonality, a sender and receiver
would be unable to exchange information, which exchange is one of the characteristics of
communication.

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C. Communication is contextual. The shared or common symbol system is part of what we refer
to when we say that communication occurs in a context. All English speakers, for example, share
a certain basic understanding of the world. Other languages provide different contexts. Amharic is
one way that communication is contextual. Our languages are conditioned by our job (specialized
languages; eg Medical Doctors have specialized language), hobbies class (social group), culture,
and educational levels.

This indicates a context in which communication occurs can limit or facilitate communication.
Unless we share a common idea of what is to be done in banks, for example, we will not know
what is appropriate to say and what is not. Additionally, because we know that certain specialized
languages are associated with certain situations, we have to match our vocabulary to the
circumstance in which we hope to communicate. Many miscommunications and
misunderstandings could arise if the sender and receiver of a message do not share the same
context.
D. Communication is purposive. Basically, communication is done for a purpose. We have some
motivation for communicating, even if we may not be consciously aware of it. We turn on the radio
to relax, or because we are lonely, or to cover up the sounds of an argument in the next
neighborhood. We strike up a conversation with new people at work because we think they are
attractive, or because we want to impress them, or because we are curious about their
backgrounds. In other words, we have some motivation behind our communication efforts.
Understanding that communication is purposive and motivational would help to explain some of
the behaviors of both the sender and receiver. What motivates the sender to speak may not be
what motivates the receiver to listen. If one person want to impart information, but the receiver is
hoping to be entertained then conflict can result. Individual differences play a big role in
understanding communication as purposive. What motivates one person may not motivate
another, and what motivates one person one day may not motivate him/her the next day.
Communication is essential to each of the five basic management functions. It is a pervasive
function. In order to plan, organize, staff, lead, and control, managers must be able to
communicate well with other persons.

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E. Communication is two ways. The existence of both a sender and a receiver in a
communication activity presupposes that the communication process is, generally speaking, two-
way. Even in intrapersonal communication, when we are talking to ourselves, communication is
essentially two-way because we are acting both as sender and receiver. Communication
researchers have specific terms to describe the two-way nature of communication exchange.
‗Interactive‘ is the term they use to describe human interactions in which a source and receiver
exchange messages in a predictable fashion. In interactive communication, a specific message
from the sender elicits a predictable response from the receiver.

F. Communication is irreversible. At one time or another, we have all wished we could take
back words we regretted uttering. Unfortunately, this is not possible. Our words and deeds are
recorded in others‘ memories, that we can‘t erase them. As the old saying goes, ―people may
forgive, but they don‘t forget‖. In fact, often the more vigorously you try to erase an act, the more
vividly it stands out. This means you should weigh your words carefully. An offhand comment or a
critical remark uttered in the heat of a conflict can haunt you long afterwards.

G. Communication is not a panacea. It is the indispensable part of management process. An

organization cannot exist without communication. It aims at developing mutual understanding
and cooperation towards the achievement of organizational goals. Although communication can
smooth out the bumps and straighten the road to success, it will not always get you what you
want. If the quality of communication is poor, the results are likely to be disappointing. This
explains why some problems grow worse, the longer they are discussed. Misunderstandings and ill
feelings can increase when people communicate badly.

Even effective communication may not solve all problems: there can be some situations in which
the parties understand one another perfectly and still disagree. These limitations are important to
understand as you begin to study communication on the job. Boosting your communication skill
can increase your success, but it cannot cure all.

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1.4. FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS
Dear student, what purposes does communication serve in organizations? Write your answer here
and compare your responses with the discussion that follows.
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Communication in an organization serves at least one of four purposes. Of course, many
instances of communication serve two or more of these purposes at the same time. The four
purposes are:
To Tell: Job related communication that presents information is common in most jobs.
Sometimes this means explaining how to do a job-for example, how to fill in a purchase
requisition to order supplies, how to use the computer terminal to see whether an order has been
shipped, or how to approach potential customers about a new product your company has
developed. Sometimes you need to explain what is going on in your organization-for example, you
may have to report your progress on an assignment to a client or explain to new employees how
work is trafficked through your department.

To Sell: Where as telling deals almost exclusively with facts, selling also involves feelings and
attitudes. You do not have to have the word ―sales‖ your job title to be a salesperson. In fact,
everyone needs to be persuasive communicator at one time or another. Convincing the boss that
you deserve a raise or more responsibility calls for selling. So does getting approval for a new
project, motivating employees to work their hardest, and convincing a supplier that you need the
shipment today. It doesn‘t take much imagination to see that the success or failure of a career
depends on the ability to persuade others.

To Learn: The ability to understand others might be less obvious and dramatic than telling or
selling skill, but it is no less important. Take a moment to recall the most effective on-the-job
communicators you have known, and you will see that they were almost certainly good listeners.

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To Decide: As you advance in your career, the number and importance of decisions you face will
grow. What is the best approach to a new job? How can we handle these people? Where should we
put the resources we have? Even the highest decision makers in the biggest companies do not
make judgments like the on their own. They trade ideas with others; testing and evaluating. In
other words, good decisions require good communication. The followings are also functions of
communication in an organization.
1. The Emotion Function: It is people who communicate, even when one of the
communicators is a group or organization. People have emotions, which they express to
others through communication. The emotion function of communication is aimed at
increasing acceptance of the organizational goals and actions.

2. The Motivation Function: Communication concerned with motivation (that is, influencing
others) is designed to solicit commitments to the organization‘s objectives. Virtually all
approaches to motivation plus the leadership approach require this type of
communication. Most of the major qualities of leaders, especially those involved in the
implication of plans, ensure communication. Instructing, rewarding, disciplining,
informing subordinates about objectives and defining roles all require communication.

3. The information Function: the Objective of the information function is to provide the
information necessary for decision making. The information involved is often technical.
Financial information, for example, is part of the technical information necessary to make
proper purchase decision. Most of the communication involved in the information function
takes place through the organization‘s formal management information systems. Whenever
a manager is ready to make a decision, he or she needs information – which meeting to go
to, what to do when the plane arrives, where the lecture is to be given, whether
performance is measuring up to standard and the like.

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 4. The Control Function: Report, policy and plan function to control behavior of an
organization‘s member. They define role, clarify duty, authority and responsibility; and
reinforce organizational structure (defined as job and authority to do them). By providing a
means of checking for the achievement of objectives, these types of communication further
the organization‘s mission. For example, communicating control information is especially
important in total quality management programmes.

1.5. IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATION

Dear student, list the roles/ importance of communication in organizations?
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In this age of competition, communication is an indispensable part of the management process.
The organization cannot survive and grow without an effective communication system. Since the
job of a manager is to get things dome though others, he has to spend a major portion of his time
on communication. Thus, it is an indispensable part of management. The success of the
communication system is the success of the business. In the words of Chester I Bernard, ―The
first executive function is to develop and maintain a system of communication.‖ The importance of
communication can be explained by the following benefits:

1. Smooth and Efficient Operation: Communication is necessary for smooth and uninterrupted
working of the organization. It helps the management in explaining the policy, plan and objective
of the organization to the employee. It is through communication that a manager issues order and
instruction, and changes and regulates the behavior of subordinates to achieve the organizational
goals.
2. Basis of Managerial Functions: Communication plays an important role in discharging the
various functions of management. The management function, planning, organizing, directing and
leading, depends on the communication process. And all managerial functions rely heavily on
communication. It is the most effective means of creating cooperation and coordination among

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individual efforts. It helps in controlling the activities of individual, department and group.
Thus, it is an indispensable part of management process. The role of communication in
performing each managerial function is described briefly hereunder.
A. Planning and communication
Planning includes setting goals, determining objectives, and working with others to develop
guidelines and procedures to follow. These activities involve collecting data, both inside and
outside an organization, interpreting these collected data, drawing appropriate conclusions from
the interpretations, and recommending the best course of action. It would be the manager‘s
responsibility to persuade others, and to support the best course of action for the organization.
Here one may use clear organizational manuals, standardized instructions and procedures to
carryout policies and activities, explaining the company‘s internal ―rules of the game‖ among
others. Communication thus, plays a major role to perform planning functions. Alternatively,
planning requires good communication.

B. Organizing and communication

An organizational chart among others shows who reports to whom. The organizational chart
shows the formal channels of communication. A channel of communication is the path through
which communication messages should flow. Official directives traveling downward and official
information traveling upward in the organization generally follow formal lines of communication.
People in an organization also use informal communication channels to deal with day to day
affairs. Managers use communication to organize and coordinate human and non- human
resources. Communication helps them to examine the situation, investigate possible
solutions, decide on the best solution, and implement that solution. In short, organizing requires
good communication.
C. Staffing and communication
Communication is an important part of hiring employees, staff training, evaluating staff
performance, and changing the status of employees in the organization. Managers use written job
descriptions in hiring, they use interview and written selection tests, they use different forms of
communication to orient new staff, they use both formal and informal communication to evaluate
employee performance. Generally, managers rely on communication to perform all human
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resource function from human resource planning to human resource separation. Efficient
communication is crucial to perform all human resource functions.
D. Directing and communication
Managing other people requires technical, conceptual, and human skills. Being able to
communicate and work well with others lets mangers work successfully with their subordinates.
Managers must be able to compose memos and reports and develop policy statements and
workable procedures. However, directing involves much more than communicating only in writing.
An ability to speak clearly and concisely is crucial to a manger‘s success. An ability to listen is
also crucial for managers. A manager is usually called upon to make oral reports to upper-
level managers and to talk with employees about job and personnel matters. Mangers must
participate in business meetings to describe current situations, identify problems and suggest
solutions. All these tasks would require a strong understanding of communication principles and
the ability to apply those principles in speaking and listening. In a nut shell, directing requires
good communication.
E. Controlling and communication
Managers need strong communication skills to control and evaluate employees and organizational
performance. Determining standards, measuring performance, and analyzing the differences
between standards and performance also call for communication skills. And taking corrective
action requires communicating the necessary changes to the workers who will carry out the tasks.
3. Maximum Production at Minimum Cost: Every organization aims at getting maximum output
at minimum cost. For this purpose, it requires an effective communication system. Effective
communication system coordinates the various factors of production, which makes maximum
output with minimum cost possible through establishing good human relations, operating
efficiently and removing misunderstandings among personnel.
4. Prompt Decision and Implementation: In order to make prompt decision, necessary
information must be obtained. Thus, communication is primary requirement. The quality of
decision depends upon the quality of information on which it is based. Again to implement the
decision effectively, the management needs to communicate to all subordinates. The manager may
give warning to subordinates when immediate actions are needed. Common cases that require
warning may include –tardiness, negligence, defiance, tempering with records, mishandling
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equipment and tool, lack of regularity and punctuality, gossiping, pilfering office stationery and
materials etc.

5. Motivation and Morale: Through communication workers are motivated to achieve the goals of
the organization and their morale is boosted. The motivation and morale tend to be high when
they clearly understand what they have to do and how. Morale stands for mental health. High
morale (confidence, enthusiasm, etc.) go hand in hand with productivity. It binds people together
with a sense of cooperation in the organization the manager can also motivate them by effective
communications, clear out instructions, and the way they communicate. In case of order and
persuasion, the communicator enjoys an upper hand. But in motivation, he/she keeps himself in
the background. He/she motivates workers so that they work willingly and eagerly.
Communication enhances motivation by:
 Creating belongings to the organization though participation and sharing of information.
 Clearly stating expected result to workers
 Giving security and healthy social relationships.
 Making supervisors sincere and competent to command respect and confidence of
workers.
6. Sound Relations: It can establish mutual trust and confidence between management and
employee. It enables management to come into close contact with employee. It serves as a bridge
between them and creates team spirit in the organization. Thus, it is a prerequisite of good
employee management relations.
7. Public Relations: In the modern business world, every organization must create and maintain
a good corporate image in the society. It is through communication that management can keep
cordial relations with the government, trade unions, customers, and the community. It increases
the goodwill of the organization. Hence, it is an indispensable means of developing a favorable
public opinion.

The followings are also general purposes of communication:

1. Information: It is passing /receiving information about a particular fact/ circumstance. It is the
major inputs in the decision making process and can involve external or internal information.
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2. Advice: It involves personal opinions for group/individual inside/ outside the organization. It is
given to influence/support the receiver‘s opinion/ behavior. It becomes more and more important
as the complexity of organization involves the growing need for specialized handling.

3. Order: It is a somewhat authoritative communication which is directive to somebody (Usually a

subordinate) to do something; to modify or alter the course of something he/ she is already doing
or not to do something. The downward flow of information is dominated by orders.
4. Suggestion: The organizational member or external entities can make it. It is advantageous over
other means of communication because the person making a suggestion presents it for approval.
5. Persuasion: It is an effort to influence the attitudes, feelings, or beliefs of others or to influence
action based on these attitudes or beliefs. It is an important objective of communication. The art
of persuasion has tremendous use and thus should be practiced by all individuals who get
through to others with their ideas, decisions, to influence the latter.
6. Education: It involves both teaching and learning, extended over considerably longer periods of
time. The purpose may be for-management, employee and outside public.

1.6. PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATION

To compose effective messages, anyone needs to apply certain specific communication principles.
The principles closely related with the basic concepts of the communication process and are
important for both written and oral communications. They also provide guidelines for the choice of
content and style of presentation. The principles are called the ―seven C‘s‖. Any forms of
communication should adhere to the 7C‘s principles of communication. These principles of
communication are discussed below.
1. Credibility. If the sender can establish credibility, the receiver has no problems in accepting
the message. Establishing credibility is not the outcome of a one-shot statement. It is a long-
drawn out process in which the receiver through constant interaction with the sender
understands his/her credible nature and is willing to accept the message as being truthful and
honest.
2. Courtesy. Once the credibility of the sender has been established, attempts should be make at
being courteous in expression. In the business world, almost everything starts with and ends in
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courtesy. Much can be accomplished if tact, diplomacy and appreciation of people are woven in
the message. Courtesy implies consideration. Consideration in communication may be defined as
putting one‘s self in the place of message recipient. It is about art of visualizing readers (or
listeners) – with their desires, problems, circumstances, emotions, and probable reactions and
handling their concern while communicating. It is all about the ―you-attitude,‖ empathy, the
human touch, and understanding of human nature. It does not however, mean that one should
overlook the needs of the organization. Applying integrity and ethics (fair treatment, honesty and
sincerity) helps to become considerate. Furthermore, to become courtesy / considerate/, one
should follow a sincere you-attitude: be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, and appreciative; omit
expressions that irritate, hurt, or belittle; and grant and apologize pleasantly.

3. Clarity. Clarity means getting the message across so that the receiver will understand what
sender is trying to convey without distorting the intended meaning of the sender. The message
must be as clear as possible so that the receiver may interpret it in the same sense and spirit, in
which it is communicated. There should be no ambiguity. Thus, the message to be communicated
must be very clear in the minds of the communicator.

Absolute clarity of ideas adds much to the meaning of the message. The first stage is clarity in the
mind of the sender. The next stage is the Makes comprehension easier transmission of the
message in a manner which makes it simple for the receiver to comprehend. As far as possible,
simple language and easy sentence constructions, which are not difficult for the receiver to grasp,
should be used. Clarity calls for completeness. Completeness is necessary for several reasons:

First, complete messages are more likely to bring about the desired results without the expense of
additional messages. Second, they do a better job of building goodwill. Last, messages that seem
inconsequential can be surprisingly important if the information they contain is complete and
effective. For example, in high-level conferences, in courtrooms, and in governmental hearings, the
battle often centers on an ordinary-looking message that becomes important because of the
complete information it contains. A complete message answers all questions asked (five W‘s (why,
when, where, what and who) and any other essentials), and give something extra, when desirable
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Accomplishing this principle could be difficult because of many reasons of which individual
experiences and words with different meanings can be an example.
Some specific ways that may help to make the messages clear in written communication are:
 Choose short, familiar, conversational words.
 Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.
 Include examples, illustrations, and other visual aids, when desirable.
4. Correctness. At the time of encoding, the sender should ensure that his knowledge of the
receiver is comprehensive. The level of knowledge, educational background and status of the
decoder help the encoder in formulating his/her message. In case there is any discrepancy
between the usage and comprehension of terms, miscommunication can arise. If the sender
decides to back up his/her communication with facts and figures, there should be accuracy in
stating the same. A situation in which the listener is forced to check the presented facts and
figures should not arise. Finally, the usage of terms should be nondiscriminatory. Here one has to
ensure use of correct language, punctuation, tone and word to effectively transmit of message.

The correctness principle comprises more than proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. A
message may be perfect grammatically and mechanically but still insult or lose a customer and
fail to achieve its purpose. In written communication, the term correctness means the writer
should:
i. Use the formal level of language – formal level (for dissertations, master‘s and doctoral theses,
legal documents, government agreements), informal level (for letters, reports, newspapers, and
other communications), and substandard level (that level that should be avoided – unacceptable
in communications)
ii. Check accuracy of figures, facts, and words – Absolute accuracy is essential for effective written
and oral messages. When figures, facts, and some words are incorrectly used, they can cause
serious problems
iii. Maintain acceptable writing mechanics – include correct punctuation, capitalization,
syllabication, and spelling – as well as correct sentence and paragraph structure.
iv. Choose nondiscriminatory expressions – equal treatment of sexes and unbiased attitude
towards people of different races, ethnic origins, and physical features.
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Try to choose nondiscriminatory language when you refer to occupational roles and achievements,
personal characteristics, physical and mental attributes of humanity at large, names and various
title designations.
5. Consistency – The approach to communication should, as far as possible, be consistent. The
message to be communicated should be consistent with the plan, policy, program and goal of the
organization. This will increase the credibility of the message and promote better understanding.
Inconsistent message always creates chaos and confusion in the mind of the recipient. There
should not be too many ups and downs that might lead to confusion in the mind of the receiver. If
a certain stand has been taken, it should be observed without there being situations in which the
sender is left groping for the actual content or meaning. If the sender desires to bring about a
change in his /her understanding of the situation, he/she should ensure that the shift is gradual
and not hard for the receiver to comprehend.

6. Concreteness. Concrete and specific expressions are to be preferred in favor of vague and
abstract expressions. Communicating concretely involves being specific, definite, and vivid rather
than vague and general. The facts and figures presented should be specific. Abstractions or
abstract statements can cloud the mind of the sender. Instead of stating: ―There has been a
tremendous reduction in the HIV/AIDS figure‖, suppose the sender made the following statement:
―There has been reduction in the HIV/AIDS figures by almost 50% as compared to last year.‖ The
receiver is more apt to listen and comprehend the factual details. The following guidelines may
help to compose concrete, convincing messages:
 Use specific facts and figures. Avoid vague and general words such a few, high, low, more,
quick and soon can as they lead to uncertainty, misunderstanding, or confusion
 Choose vivid, image-building words

7. Conciseness. The message to be communicated should be as brief and concise as possible. A

concise message saves time and expense for both the sender and receiver. Conciseness should be
fulfilled without compromising ―C‖ qualities. Weighty language definitely sounds impressive but
people would be suitably impressed into doing precisely nothing. As far as possible, only simple
and brief statements should be made.
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Excessive information can also influence the receiver into either a wrong direction or into inaction.
Quantum of information should be just right, neither too much nor too little. Conciseness
contributes to emphasis and concerned with eliminating unnecessary words.

The following suggestion may help to ensure conciseness principle:

 Stick to the purpose of the message
 Cut out irrelevant words and rambling sentences
 Omit information obvious to the receiver; do not repeat at length what that person has
already told you.
 Avoid long introductions, unnecessary explanations, excessive adjectives and prepositions,
pompous words, gushy politeness.
 Get to the important point tactfully and concisely.

Table: summary of communication Principles

C‘s Relevance

1 Credibility Builds trust

2 Courtesy Improves relationships
3 Clarity Makes comprehension
4 Correctness Builds confidence
5 Consistency Introduces stability
6 Concreteness Reinforces confidence
7 Conciseness Saves time

1.7. MEANING AND NATURE OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

1.7.1. DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

There are many ways to classify communication. The broader typologies include: Corporate
communication, internal communication, Advocacy communication, and Development
Communication.

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Corporate communication is concerned with communicating the mission and activities of the
organization mostly for external audiences. It uses media outputs and products to promote the
mission and values of the institution; inform selected audiences about relevant activities. Internal
communication facilitates the flow of information within an institution/project. Sometimes this
area can be included in corporate communication. It is concerned with timely and effective
sharing of relevant information within the staff and institution units.
It enhances synergies and avoids duplication. Advocacy communication meant to influence
change at the public or policy level and promote issues related to development. It raises awareness
on hot development issues; use communication methods and media to influence specific
audiences and support the intended change. Development communication support sustainable
change in development operations by engaging key stakeholders.

It is concerned with establishing conducive environment for assessing risks and opportunities;
disseminate information; induce behavior and social change. The operational implications of the
emerging paradigm in development have broadened the scope and function of communication in a
way not yet fully understood by all those concerned. While communication specialists are usually
familiar with the different branches of communication, they do not always have the in-depth
knowledge to apply each one of these appropriately to different situations.

For example a political communication consultant may not be the most appropriate person to
design a health campaign in a developing country. A journalist who is working corporate
communication department may not design good communication program for a community-driven
development project. The general rule is that, although most specialists possess a number of
different skills, they usually master one of those broader areas of communication, and each of
those areas requires well-defined professional knowledge, competencies, skills, and specific
sensitivities.

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Dear student based on the forging definitions of communication, how you define development
communication?
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Scholars and practitioners defined development communication in many different ways each
sharing common elements. Some the definitions of development communication are:
World Bank considers development communication as an interdisciplinary field based on empirical
research that helps to build consensus while it facilitates the sharing of knowledge to achieve
positive change in development initiatives. It involves creating mechanisms to broaden public access
to information on reforms; strengthening clients’ ability to listen to their constituencies and negotiate
with stakeholders; empowering grassroots organizations to achieve a more participatory process;
and undertaking communication activities that are grounded in research. That is it is not only about
effective dissemination of information but also about using empirical research and two-way
communication among stakeholders. It is also a key management tool that helps assess
sociopolitical risks and opportunities (World Bank, 2006).

Development Communication is the study of social change brought about by the application of
communication research, theory, and technologies to bring about development.... Development is a
widely participatory process of social change in a society, intended to bring about both social and
material advancement, including greater equality, freedom, and other valued qualities for the
majority of people through their gaining greater control over their environment. —Everett Rogers,
1976

First World Congress of Communication for Development (2006) conceives development

communication as a social process based on dialog using a broad range of tools and methods. It is
also about seeking change at different levels, including listening, building trust, sharing knowledge
and skills, building policies, debating, and learning for sustained and meaningful change. It is not
public relations or corporate communication.

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Development communication is the process of intervening in a systematic or strategic manner with
either media (print, radio, telephony, video, and the Internet), or education (training, literacy,
schooling) for the purpose of positive social change. Interpersonal communication too must play a
fundamental role. The change could be economic, personal, as in spiritual, social, cultural, or
political.

Communication for Development is about dialogue, participation and the sharing of knowledge and
information among people and institutions. It takes into account the needs and capacities of all
concerned in the development process. Thus, broadly development communication refers to the
sharing of knowledge aimed at reaching a consensus for action that takes into account the interests,
needs and capacities of all concerned. It is thus a social process.

Scholars and practitioners may differ in the wording they use to define the subject (development
communication), but their intent is constant. Put simply, development program cannot produce
change without an ongoing, culturally and socially relevant communication dialogue among
development providers and clientele, and within the recipient group itself. Development
communication enables to explore and assess operational situations, building wider consensus
among stakeholders and using communication approaches, methods, and media to promote
change and enhance project effectiveness and sustainability. The importance of Communication
for Development in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and especially those
related to sustainable development, is being increasingly acknowledged by international agencies,
government and NGOs.

Therefore, all those involved in the analysis and application of communication for development
and social change—or what can broadly be termed ‗development communication‘—would probably
agree that in essence development communication is the sharing of knowledge aimed at reaching
a consensus for action that takes into account the interests, needs and capacities of all
concerned. It is concerned with establishing conducive environment for assessing risks and
opportunities; disseminate information; induce behavior and social change. It is a social process.

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1.7.2. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

According to World Bank (2008), development Communication consist the following basic
principles.

1. Dialogic —Dialog is the heart of the new communication paradigm. The professional
application of dialog, the two-way model of communication, is widely endorsed by most
development institutions and should be the basis of any initiative. Development communication
should foster dialog to facilitate mutual understanding, to assess the situation, and to seek wider
consensus. Dialogic approaches guarantee that relevant stakeholders have their voices heard and
that project priorities are aligned with people priorities. Professionally directed, dialog is an
invaluable research tool and is absolutely to build trust, optimize knowledge, minimize risks, and
reconcile different positions. To facilitate dialog professionally and effectively, a communication
specialist must be conversant with proper communication skills, including principles of active
listening.

2. Inclusive —Inclusion is a first step in any situation analysis, whereby Development

Communication identifies, defines, hears, and understands relevant stakeholders. In this respect,
inclusiveness is one of the basic principles of the Development Communication methodological
framework, even if the appropriate strategy might focus only on selected groups of stakeholders.
Omitting a group from the assessment on a basis that might not seem relevant can cause
problems further along and can increase the risk factors in the successful achievement of the
intervention. Two-way communication should always pay special attention to groups that are
marginalized or at a disadvantage in society. Gender issues are always a primary concern in this
context, as well as issues related to the poor, or any other vulnerable group.

3. Heuristic —the investigative use of communication to discover or solve problems during the
initial phases of a development initiative is essential. Communication is often defined as a way of
sharing meanings or ―as a process in which two or more people share information and converge
toward mutual understanding, mutual agreement, and collective action‖.
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This definition denotes the sharing of information and knowledge, which usually generates more
knowledge that in turn can lead to effective collective action. The heuristic and explorative scope
of development communication, strengthened by its analytical and dialogic features, constitutes
its main value-added in addressing and rectifying the past failures in development.
4. Analytical —Going beyond communicating could be a Development Communication motto; a
large amount of its work, such as the assessment of political risks and opportunities, is analytical.
In this context, the communication function is not about relating messages but about uncovering
and generating knowledge to design better projects and programs that lead to sustainable change.
The effectiveness of diffusion and dissemination activities depends significantly on how
appropriately the analytical work is conducted and how effectively people are empowered to voice
their perceptions and opinions.
5. Participatory —While rarely employed in practice to its ideal and fullest extent, participation
is applied in different degrees according to the intervention. Its relevance is echoed in virtually all
development organizations and communities, at the national and international levels. Only
genuine communication can facilitate effective participation, especially in its most advanced
forms. Participation can be applied in different degrees, and there are several classifications
describing the different types of participation. The most common type and levels of participation
include: information sharing, consultation, collaboration, and empowerment.

While the most common mode of operation in development practices can be categorized as
―participation by consultation,‖ Development Communication also operates at a higher level, by
collaboration. This occurs specifically in the research phase, where dialog with relevant
stakeholders is sought and promoted and their input valued, especially in community-driven
development projects. This application is adopted according to the circumstances; although it is a
main feature in communication based assessments, participation is not always a feature of
communication approaches in subsequent activities, such as a campaign to raise awareness
about how to react to an avian flu pandemic.

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6. Contextual —There is no precooked universal formula applied a priori in development
communication. This means ―encouraging participatory processes‖ that are necessarily rooted in
the cultural context of specific countries and their socioeconomic reality. While investigating a
local context and assessing needs, problems, risks, and opportunities, Development
Communication specialists tap local resources to obtain a better understanding of the relevant
situation and to triangulate their findings. Even if the overall process of a communication
intervention (that is, executing communication-based assessment, designing communication
strategies, and implementing and evaluating related activities) is consistently similar, the tools,
content, and modes of applications vary significantly according to the specific situation.
7. Interdisciplinary —To be effectively applied, a development communication body of knowledge
includes a number of principles borrowed from other disciplines. In addition to specific expertise
in the theory and practices of development communication, the specialist in this field is often
required to be familiar with other disciplines, such as ethnography, sociology, political economy,
adult education, and marketing. The specialist might be asked to assess political risks, conduct
negotiations to reduce conflicts, or mediate between opposing views. While sector experts could
address each of these areas with a specific and narrower focus, the cross-cutting nature of
communication makes it an easier and more effective tool to acquire a comprehensive overview of
the situation.
8. Strategic —The principle of strategy, which contains many of the previous elements,
emphasizes the professional and timely application of communication techniques and methods to
achieve intended objectives. At the risk of oversimplification, a strategy could be defined as a plan
to achieve set objectives with available resources in a given time frame. It is surprising how often
the basics of a strategy are overlooked, not only by communication specialists, but by all sorts of
decision makers.

Often this occurs when practitioners jump into strategy design without making sure that the
objectives are technically sound, well understood, and relevant to most stakeholders. If the project
objectives do not meet all these criteria, no matter what strategy one adopts, the initiative is
bound to fail—like building a house on a faulty foundation. The principles of ―strategic‖ imply that
all parts of the process, from setting the objectives to selecting the media, are carefully assessed,
23
triangulated, and, if needed, modified to allow the design and implementation of an effective
strategy. The strategic use of development communication should not be confused with ―strategic
communication,‖ the narrower use of communication to persuade individuals to change
behaviors.
9. Persuasive — At times this term has a negative connotation, mostly due to past uses of
persuasion techniques taken to an extreme and often associated with manipulation and
propaganda. Persuasion per se should not be thought of in negative terms. The renowned Greek
philosopher Aristotle considered it as an effective way to communicate. In development
communication, persuasion can be used to induce voluntary changes in individuals. The
legitimacy for its use is derived from this rationale and the definition of change.

To avoid the manipulation connotations of the past and be ethically appropriate, persuasion
should be based on accurate information and within a context of two-way communication. Each
party can present its points of view with the intention of achieving the most appropriate change.
Healthy two-way persuasive approaches ensure that the best available options among the various
parties are considered and agreed upon, leading to sustainable change.

1.7.3. TEN KEY ISSUES ABOUT (DEVELOPMENT) COMMUNICATION

The 10 points presented hereunder address some of the myths and misconceptions about
communication, especially when related to the field of development (World Bank, 2008). These
misconceptions can often be the cause of misunderstandings and lead to inconsistent and
ineffective use of communication concepts and practices. The first two points on this list are about
communication in general, while the others refer to development communication in particular.

1. “Communications” and “communication” are not the same thing. The plural form refers
mainly to activities and products, including information technologies, media products, and
services (the Internet, satellites, broadcasts, and so forth). The singular form, on the other hand,
usually refers to the process of communication, emphasizing its dialogical and analytical
functions rather than its informative nature and media products. This distinction is significant at
the theoretical, methodological, and operational levels.

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2. There is a sharp difference between everyday communication and professional
communication. Such a statement might seem obvious, but the two are frequently equated,
either overtly or more subtly, as in, ―He or she communicates well; hence, he or she is a good
communicator.‖ A person who communicates well is not necessarily a person who can make
effective and professional use of communication. Each human being is a born communicator, but
not everyone can communicate strategically, using the knowledge of principles and experience in
practical applications. A professional (development) communication specialist understands
relevant theories and practices and is capable of designing effective strategies that draw from the
full range of communication approaches and methods to achieve intended objectives.

3. There is a significant difference between development communication and other types

of communication. Both theoretically and practically, there are many different types of
applications in the communication family. Each type of communication has a different scope and
requires specific knowledge and skills to be performed effectively. Expertise in one area of
communication is not sufficient to ensure results if applied in another area.

4. The main scope and functions of development communication are not exclusively about
communicating information and messages, but they also involve engaging stakeholders
and assessing the situation. Communication is not only about ―selling ideas.‖ Such a
conception could have been appropriate in the past, when communication was identified with
mass media and the linear Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver model, whose purpose was to
inform audiences and persuade them to change. Not surprisingly, the first systematic research on
the effects of communication was carried out soon after World War II, when communication
activities were mostly associated with a controversial concept-propaganda. Currently, the scope of
development communication has broadened to include an analytical aspect as well as a dialogical
one —intended to open public spaces where perceptions, opinions, and knowledge of relevant
stakeholders can be aired and assessed.
5. Development communication initiatives can never be successful unless proper
communication research is conducted before deciding on the strategy. A communication
professional should not design a communication campaign or strategy without having all the
25
relevant data to inform his or her decision. If further research is needed to obtain relevant data, to
identify gaps, or to validate the project assumptions, the communication specialist must not
hesitate to make such a request to the project management. Given its interdisciplinary and cross-
cutting nature, communication research should ideally be carried out at the inception of any
development initiative, regardless of the sector or if a communication component would be needed
at a later stage.

6. To be effective in their work, development communication specialists need to have a

specific and in-depth knowledge of the theory and practical applications of the discipline.
In addition to being familiar with the relevant literature about the various communication
theories, models, and applications, development communication specialists should also be
educated in the basic principles and practices of other interrelated disciplines, such as
anthropology, marketing, sociology, ethnography, psychology, adult education, and social
research. In the current development framework, it is particularly important that a specialist be
acquainted with participatory research methods and techniques, monitoring and evaluation tools,
and basics principles of strategy design. Additionally, a good professional should also have the
right attitude toward people, being empathic and willing to listen and to facilitate dialog in order to
elicit and incorporate stakeholders‘ perceptions and opinions. Most of all, a professional
development communication specialist needs to be consistently issue-focused, rather than
institution-focused.

7. Development communication support can only be as effective as the project itself. Even
the most well-designed communication strategy will fail if the overall objectives of the project are
not properly determined, if they do not enjoy a broad consensus from stakeholders, or if the
activities are not implemented in a satisfactory manner. Sometimes communication experts are
called in and asked to provide solutions to problems that were not clearly investigated and
defined, or to support objectives that are disconnected from the political and social reality on the
ground. In such cases, the ideal solution is to carry out field research or a communication-based
assessment to probe key issues, constraints, and feasible options. Tight deadlines and budget
limitations, however, often induce managers to put pressure on communication experts to

26
produce quick fixes, trying to force them to act as short-term damage-control public relations or
―spin doctors.‖ In such cases, the basic foundations of development communication are neglected,
and the results are usually disappointing, especially over the long term.
8. Development communication is not exclusively about behavior change. The areas of
intervention and the applications of development communication extend beyond the traditional
notion of behavior change to include, among other things, probing socioeconomic and political
factors, identifying priorities, assessing risks and opportunities, empowering people, strengthening
institutions, and promoting social change within complex cultural and political environments.
That development communication is often associated with behavior change could be ascribed to a
number of factors, such as its application in health programs or its use in mass media to
persuade audiences to adopt certain practices. These kinds of interventions are among the most
visible, relying heavily on communication campaigns to change people‘s behaviors and to
eliminate or reduce often fatal risks (for example, AIDS). The reality of development, though, is
complex and often requires broader changes than specific individual behaviors.
9. Media and information technologies are not the backbone of development
communication. As a matter of fact, the value-added of development communication occurs
before media and information and communication technologies (ICTs) are even considered. Of
course, media and information technologies are part of development communication, and they are
important and useful means to support development. Their application, however, comes at a later
stage, and their impact is greatly affected by the communication work done in the research phase.
Project managers should be wary of ―one-size-fits-all‖ solutions that appear to solve all problems
by using media products. Past experience indicates that unless such instruments are used in
connection with other approaches and based on proper research, they seldom deliver the intended
results.
10. Participatory approaches and participatory communication approaches are not the
same thing and should not be used interchangeably, but they can be used together, as
their functions are often complementary, especially during the research phase. Even if
there are some similarities between the two types of approaches, most renowned participatory
approaches, such as participatory rural appraisal (PRA) or participatory action research (PAR), do
not usually assess the range and level of people‘s perceptions and attitudes on key issues, identify
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communication entry points, and map out the information and communication systems that can
be used later to design and implement the communication strategy. Instead, these are all key
activities carried out in a participatory communication assessment.
1.8. ETHICAL COMMUNICATION
Ethics is the study of values, of what is more or less important, of the ―good,‖ of behavioral
guidelines and norms. Ethics provides frameworks and tools for recognizing and assessing
available options and for differentiating between more or less morally justified pathways in any
given situation. Scholars have identified numerous approaches to the study of communication
ethics. In spite this fact, all scholars agree that unethical communication has been one of
humanity's most potentially harmful weapons.

In interpersonal contexts, communication has the power to wound deeply, to undermine

connection, and to thwart healthy human development. Within institutional contexts, unethical
communication has been used to support greed and corruption, to bolster tyranny, and otherwise
to foster oppression. They state that communication has been instrumental in sparking and
justifying economic injustice, violence, war, genocide, and tribal conflicts. At the same time, the
art of communication has been instrumental to the pursuits of truth, wisdom, justice, and peace.
Historically, responsible and effective communication has fostered loving connection, compassion,
and understanding.

All types communication occurs within a context, including goals, means, and occasion. Ethical
communication requires understanding of and responsiveness to each of these three key
elements. What one hopes to achieve through the communication (the ends), how one chooses to
communicate (the means), and the ―real-world‖ outcomes (the consequences) of communication
are particularly important features of ethical communication. Communication ethics is, first and
foremost, about choice. To the extent an individual or group has options available in any given
situation, moral agency is at play. With moral agency-the relative freedom to choose one's
pathway in any given situation-comes responsibility.

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Ethical communication across contexts requires attentiveness to at least the following: one's
intention, the means used to fulfill these ends, and the likely consequences of one's choices. Even
within these parameters, however, differentiating more or less ethical communication pathways is
often difficult. Each set of circumstances is unique, and often the most ethical choice is not
readily apparent. A number of resources are available to address these complexities. No set of
rules or norms can provide certainty regarding the most ethical pathway in specific cases.
Usually, some measure of uncertainty is inevitable. However, people unable to make absolute
decisions nevertheless have the potential to make well-informed, ethical choices.

General guidelines for ethical communication provide tools for discerning more or less ethical
pathways, assisting decision makers in their efforts to make responsible choices. The following
guidelines will help professional communicator to communicate ethically.
1. Professional communicators uphold the credibility and dignity of their profession by practicing
honest, candid and timely communication, and by fostering the free flow of essential information in
accord with the public interest.
2. Professional communicators disseminate accurate information and promptly correct any erroneous
communication for which they may be responsible.
3. Professional communicators understand and support the principles of free speech, freedom of
assembly, and access to an open marketplace of ideas; and act accordingly.
4. Professional communicators are sensitive to cultural values and beliefs and engage in fair and
balanced communication activities that foster and encourage mutual understanding.
5. Professional communicators refrain from taking part in any undertaking which the communicator
considers to be unethical.
6. Professional communicators obey laws and public policies governing their professional activities
and are sensitive to the spirit of all laws and regulation and, should any law or public policy be
violated, for whatever reason, act promptly to correct the situation.
7. Professional communicators give credit for unique expressions borrowed from others and identify
the sources and purposes of all information disseminated to the public.
8. Professional communicator protects confidential information and, at the same time, complies with
all legal requirements for the disclosure of information affecting the welfare of others.
29
9. Professional communicator do not use confidential information gained as a result of professional
activities for personal benefit and do not represent conflicting or competing interests without written
consent of those involved.
10. Professional communicator does not accept undisclosed gifts or payments for professional
services for anyone other than a client or employer.
11. Professional communicators do not guarantee results that are beyond the power of the
practitioner to deliver.
12. Professional communicators are honest not only with others but also, and most importantly, with
themselves as individuals; for a professional communicator seeks the truth and speaks that truth
first to the self.

1.9. CHAPTER SUMMARY

Unlike objects, communication is not discrete, static, or solitary. As a process, communication

exists in time and changes constantly. It does not occur in a vacuum. Being process, use of
symbols, being conditioned by context, purposefulness, being a two way activity, irreversibility
and being not a panacea are defining characteristics of communication. Communication helps
both individuals and organizations. At individual level, besides satisfying practical needs, effective
communication can enhance physical health and emotional well- being.

Communication is the key for organizational success and in organizational setting. No

organizational activity/ managerial functions can be undertaken without communication.
Managers use communication to perform managerial functions. In an organization
communication among others serves to tell, sell, learn, and decide job related agendas. In order to
achieve these purpose organizations should apply the 7C‘s principles: credibility, courtesy, clarity,
correctness, consistency, concreteness and conciseness

Broadly development communication refers to the sharing of knowledge aimed at reaching a

consensus for action that takes into account the interests, needs and capacities of all concerned.
It is thus a social process.
30
Development communication is characterized by dialog, inclusiveness, heuristic, analytical,
participatory, contextual, interdisciplinary, strategic and persuasive features. Besides the features
of development communication, development communication experts should understand ten key
issues about development communication. They and other communication experts in general
should be guided by principles of ethical communication.

Chapter Reflections:
1. Discuss how communication can contribute to organizational development.
2. Evaluate the extent of the application of communication principles in your organization
3. Compare and contrast development communication with other types of communication

31
CHAPTER 2: HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

2.1. INTRODUCTION
As already pin pointed elsewhere communication is a two-way process of giving and receiving
information through any number of channels. Awareness of the different purposes and functions
of various types of communication is the first step toward a better understanding of the field of
development communication and an effective way to enhance necessary quality standards. Being
familiar with the origin of this particular discipline and the major theoretical frameworks
underpinning it can help achieve a much better understanding. The most dominate model are
modernization, dependency, participation, social marketing and media advocacy. Each discussed
below briefly.
Learning objectives
 To be able to understand development communication theories
 To be able use development communication theories to manage NGO activities

2.1.1. THE DOMINANT PARADIGM: MODERNIZATION

This is oldest paradigm, rooted in the concept of development as modernization, dates back to
World War II. It has been called the dominant paradigm because of its pervasive impact on most
aspects of development. The central idea of the old paradigm was to solve development problems
by ―modernizing‖ underdeveloped countries—advising them how to be effective in following in the
footsteps of richer, more developed countries by promoting economic growth spurred by free-
market approaches. It is believed that the best way, if not the only way, to achieve these goals
consisted in the diffusion and adoption of the values, principles, and models that ensured the
success of the way of life in wealthier countries.

At the cultural level, modernization advocated for a change in the mindset of individuals in poor
countries who had to abandon traditional beliefs, considered an impediment toward
modernization, and embrace attitudes and behaviors favorable to innovation and modernity. At
the technocratic level, modernization required people with inquisitive minds who were guided by
faith in the scientific method and rooted in the principles of enlightenment.

32
At the political level, it required staunch advocates of the doctrine of liberalism based on political
freedom and the adoption of democratic systems. Finally, at the economic level, it required blind
faith in the virtues and power of the free market, with no or minimal government intervention.
Here development was equated with economic growth, and communication was associated with
the dissemination of information and messages aimed at modernizing ―backward‖ countries and
their people. Development is conceived as a linear one based on trust in science, reason,
technology, and the free market. The main role of communication was to persuade people to
embrace the core values and practices of modernization.

Among the merits of this paradigm, in addition to a certain number of successes in specific
instances and projects, there was the establishment of a more systematic and rigorous approach
to development initiatives. Overall, however, this theoretical approach to development, with its
related bag of practical tools, did not deliver the expected results. By the end of the 1980s, it
became evident that the promises of the modernization paradigm had not materialized and that
poor peoples‘ conditions across the world had failed to improve significantly. It is acknowledged
(that because of too much focus on economic development) modernization neglected to consider
the relevance of other social dimensions and failed to take into account a number of historical and
broader sociopolitical factors that impeded the autonomous development of many developing
countries.

In the communication field, modernization theory led to the first systematic and rigorous attempts
to research communication applications in the development context. Many scholars were
particularly interested in studying how communication could be used to foster national
development, which at that time was conceived predominantly in economic terms. Communication
was expected to help modernize people‘s attitudes and ways of thinking, which would be
conducive to support of the economic model already adopted successfully by the West, in
accordance with the belief that individuals had to change before development could truly take off.

33
Communication in the dominant paradigm is basically associated with the linear, mass media
model aimed at transmitting information and messages from one point to another or many others,
usually in a vertical or top-down fashion. It relied heavily on the traditional vertical one-way
model: Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver (SMCR). This has been the model of reference for the
diffusion perspective, which has often been adopted to induce behavior changes through media-
centric approaches and campaigns. This idea was rooted in the strong belief in the persuasive
power of media, especially until the 1970s. Development communication was associated with the
use of media to persuade people to achieve, maintain, and strengthen development goals, and
media‘s role was paramount.

The failures attributed, directly or indirectly, to modernization caused a rethinking of the

theoretical models of reference for communication. It has become increasingly evident that media
alone could not change people‘s mind-sets and behaviors. With time, it became progressively more
evident that media impact was not as direct and as paramount as commonly believed, and that
audiences were not as passive, either.

It should be noted that none of the newly emerging theoretical approaches questioned the overall
validity of the one-way, and usually top-down, flow of information. However it is pointed out that
the emphasis placed on tangible communication products neglected the potential of
communication as a dialogic (two-way horizontal model), cross-cutting investigative tool. Thus,
modernization model has been party abandoned (one way model) and its weakness has resulted in
the development of new models.

2.1.2. THE OPPOSING PARADIGM: DEPENDENCY

In the 1960s strong opposition to the modernization paradigm led to the emergence of an
alternative theoretical model rooted in a political-economic perspective: the dependency theory.
The proponents of this school of thought criticized some of the core assumptions of the
modernization paradigm mostly because it implicitly put the responsibility, and the blame, for the
causes of underdevelopment exclusively upon the recipients, neglecting external social, historical,

34
and economic factors. They also accused the dominant paradigm of being very Western-centric,
refusing or neglecting any alternative route to development. Dependency theory claims that the
imbalances in the world‘s state of affairs were mainly owing to the international division of labor
and to the continuation of past patterns of domination. The world was separated into two blocs:
the core, composed of a few rich countries, and the periphery, composed of many poor countries.
According to this perspective, core countries took advantage of their technological knowhow,
superior infrastructure, and economic power to strengthen their lead. The main role of the
peripheral countries was restricted to that of supplying raw materials and cheap labor to the
richer ones, making it impossible for them to ever catch up.

To address this problem, dependency advocates proposed a plan that works on two levels.
Nationally, developing countries on the periphery were to become economically self-reliant and
less dependent on foreign imports. This focus on the adoption of import-substitution policies..
This strategy aimed to protect national industries from outside competition by subsidizing them
and putting high tariffs on imported products. The main idea was to stimulate growth of domestic
industrialization and to reduce or sever dependent ties with richer countries. However, the overall
results of import-substitution policies have been rather unsatisfactory.

It failed to achieve its goals in most countries. Protecting and supporting local industries did not
produce the expected objectives, and it often resulted in poor-quality products and inefficient
processes. Many poorer countries were forced to borrow more, a situation that led to a refined
version of financial and political dependency. Internationally, they would form alliances among
themselves to create a stronger political presence. The ultimate goal would be to change the
overall international set of relationships by forming a bloc of many countries with similar
aspirations.

The dependency theory is criticized for ascribing causes of underdevelopment exclusively to the
centers of international capitalism. Proponents failed to consider relevant internal causes
contributing to the problem such as the role played by national elites. Dependency theories are
also criticized for the little attention they pay to the differences in political-economic status among
35
developing countries (Brazil and India are the same category (DC) but with different socio
economic and political context).

In the field of communication the basic conception remained rooted in the linear, one-way model,
even though dependency theorists emphasized the importance of the link between communication
and culture. They were instrumental in putting forward the agenda for a new world information
and communication order which was at the center of a long and heated debate that took place
mostly in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the
1980s . One of the sharp issues was the demand for a more balanced and equitable exchange of
communication, information, and cultural programs among rich and poor countries. Although the
dependency theory had gained a significant impact in the 1970s, in the 1980s it started to lose
relevance gradually in tandem with the failure of the alternative economic models proposed by its
proponents.

The proponents of the dependency theory vigorously supported rethinking the communication
agenda along the lines of a more balanced flow of communication at the international level. Yet, at
the national level, they often neglected to consider the horizontal component of communication
within countries and failed to give proper attention to the potential of privately owned media and
community media. The dependency theorists remained rooted in the classic media-centric
conception of communication, mostly from the state perspective; the state is expected to represent
the wider public‘s interest (but seldom been the case). Despite significant differences between
modernization and dependency theories, their communication model was basically the same: a
one way communication flow, with the main difference between the two theories being who was
controlling and sending the message and for what purpose.

2.1.3. THE EMERGING PARADIGM: PARTICIPATION

When the promises of the modernization paradigm failed to materialize, and its methods came
increasingly under fire, and the dependency theorists failed to provide a successful alternative
model, a different approach focusing on people‘s participation began to emerge.

36
In contrast to the proponents of modernization and dependency theories, most of the advocates of
the participatory theoretical perspective do not seem particularly interested in defining a grand
theory to provide a universal analysis and interpretation of the world.

They seem more interested in identifying and analyzing drawbacks and limitations of current
development practices, especially at project and community level, and in attempting to identify
normative approaches that could provide operational guidelines in the field. Common features of
this perspective are the emphasis on people, the endogenous vision of development, and the
attention to power and rights issues. People‘s participation has been gaining increasing
recognition and prestige in the development discourse and its practices.

The development focus has shifted from economic growth to include other social dimensions
needed to ensure meaningful results in the long run. Participatory approaches require a shift in
the way individuals are considered, from passive recipients to active agents of development efforts.
Sustainability and people‘s participation became key elements of this new vision. Internationally,
emphasis is being placed on the challenge of sustainable development, and participation is
increasingly recognized as a necessary part of sustainable development strategies.‖

There are many reasons for the adoption of participation in development includes (1) services can
be provided at a lower cost; (2) participation has intrinsic values for participants, alleviating
feelings of alienation and powerlessness; (3) participation is a catalyst for further development
efforts; (4) participation leads to a sense of responsibility for the project; and (5) participation
ensures the use of indigenous knowledge and expertise. It is believed that by engaging
stakeholders who often have been excluded from any form of decision making in their lives and
allowing them to engage in the decision-making process, development communication not only
reduces poor people‘s ―capability deprivation‖ but also facilitates the process of empowerment,
going well beyond the specific initiative in question. Using dialog to engage stakeholders in
probing and assessing the situation can help break the broader vicious circle of poverty, where
income cannot be earned without a proper level of individual capabilities, and individual
capabilities cannot be improved while the individual remains in conditions of poverty.
37
The emphasis on participation in development also implies increased attention to communication,
because there can be no participation without communication, at least without a certain type of
communication. In other words, the added emphasis on participation helps to mainstream
communication in many initiatives, and at the same time promotes a more dialogic and two-way
conception of communication. The model is significantly different from the traditional one, since it
is characterized by dialog and by a horizontal flow, enabling the balanced sharing of perceptions
and knowledge. It is underscored that communication acquires a more interactive connotation
aimed at facilitating participation and empowerment. In other wards meaningful participation
cannot occur without communication. Thus, even when using mass media, messages can be
expected to originate from people themselves rather than from ―outside experts‖

This model emphasizes the application of genuine two-way communication principles and
practices. The participatory communication model takes into account the issues of power and
empowerment. This meant that local people should have the power to take part in the decision-
making process, since power can be conceived as the ability to shape social context.
Communication is increasingly considered as essential in facilitating stakeholders‘ engagement in
problem analysis and resolution. Similarly, there is an increasing recognition that the old, vertical,
top-down model is no longer applicable as a ―one-size-fits-all‖ formula.

While acknowledging that the basic principles behind the Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver

model can still be useful in some cases, development communication has increasingly moved
toward a horizontal, ―two-way‖ model, which favors people‘s active and direct interaction through
consultation and dialog over the traditional one-way information dissemination through mass
media. The horizontal use of communication, which opens up dialog, assesses risks, identifies
solutions, and seeks consensus for action, came to be seen as a key to the success and
sustainability of development efforts.

The new paradigm is also changing the way communication is conceived and applied. It opens up
new spaces for dialog among stakeholders and facilitates the exchange of knowledge, empowering
people to participate actively in the process affecting their own lives.
38
It shifts the emphasis from information dissemination to situation analysis, from persuasion to
participation. Rather than substituting for the old model, it is broadening its scope, maintaining
the key functions of informing people and promoting change, yet emphasizing the importance of
using communication to involve stakeholders in the development process.

2.1.4. SOCIAL MARKETING PARADIGM

Social marketing has been one of the approaches that have carried forward the premises of
diffusion of innovation and behavior change models. Since the 1970s, social marketing has been
one of the most influential strategies in the field of development communication. It applies
commercial marketing techniques to solve social problems. It putts into practice standard
techniques in commercial marketing to promote pro-social behavior. It is also a multi-
disciplinary approach because it concerns education, community development, psychology and
communication.

It is believed that what made McDonald‘s and Coca-Cola a world class can also have dramatic
impact on social problems such as HIV/ AIDS, and child mortality in developing nations. One of
its goals could be s to position a product such as condoms by giving information that could help
fulfill, rather than create, uncovered demand. The process involves the planning, implementation
and monitoring of programs to persuade the acceptance of social ideas. It applies the basic
elements of the process lie on product, price, place, and promotion. Unlike commercial marketers,
social marketers commit themselves to people‘s health and well-being; are not profit-oriented and
are seeking a larger market share.

Social marketing‘s focus on behavior change, understanding of communication as persuasion

(―transmission of information‖), and top-down approach to instrument change suggested an
affinity with modernization and diffusion of innovation theories. Similar to diffusion theory, it
conceptually subscribed to a sequential model of behavior change in which individuals cognitively
move from acquisition of knowledge to adjustment of attitudes toward behavior change.

39
Social marketing has greatly influenced the way communication and information is incorporated
in development programs. Principally, it involves a multi-disciplinary approach. It increases our
sensitivity to the needs for research prior to developing and sending messages and it has shifted
emphasis from the needs of the social change agent to the needs and perspectives of the
beneficiary groups. One may use for example, carefully radio and pictorial print media,
interpersonal communication in the form of community volunteers, traditional birth attendants,
community health workers, and midwives to reach illiterate target groups. Despite this fact,
unfortunately, social marketing has many attackers who equate social marketing with commercial
marketing and especially with its excesses. However, when one gets away from the ‗marketing‘
label the value of the approach stands out.

2.1.5. MEDIA ADVOCACY

Advocacy for development refers to a combination of social actions designed to gain political
commitment, policy support, social acceptance and systems support for a particular goal or
program. It involves collecting and structuring information into a persuasive case; communicating
the case to decision-makers and other potential supporters, including the public, through various
interpersonal and media channels; and stimulating actions by social institutions, stakeholders
and policy-makers in support of the goal or program. Advocacy communication is primarily
targeted at policy-makers or decision-makers at national and international levels. The emphasis is
on seeking the support of decision makers in the hope that if they are properly ―enlightened‖ or
―pressured‘‖, they will be more responsive to societal change. Advocacy communication effectively
promotes key issues to raise awareness and to win support with the public or to influence relevant
policy-making processes.

Advocacy is most effective when individuals, groups and all sectors of society are involved.
Therefore, three main interrelated strategies for action can be identified:
 Advocacy – generating political commitment for supportive policies and heightening public
interest and demand for development issues;
 Social support – developing alliances and social support systems that legitimize and
40
 encourage development-related actions as a social norm;
 Empowerment – Equipping individuals and groups with the knowledge, values and skills
that encourage effective action for development.

Media advocacy is the strategic use of mass media to advance social or public policy initiatives.
Advocacy requires the mobilization of resources and groups in support of certain issues and
policies to change public opinion and decisions. It consists of the organization of information for
dissemination through various interpersonal and media channels towards gaining political and
social acceptance of certain issues.

Media advocacy criticizes social marketing for having an individualistic, behaviorist approach to
health and social problems that narrows interventions to public information campaigns. Media
advocacy espouses a community-level model of intervention in health issues. According to media
advocacy theory, campaigns are not the panacea not only because their effectiveness is
questionable but also because they ignore the social causes of unhealthy behavior.

Media advocacy adopts a participatory approach that emphasizes the need of communities to gain
control and power to transform their environments. It assigns the media a pivotal role in raising
issues that need to be discussed and putting pressure on decision-makers. However, advocacy is
not solely concerned with media actions. The theory assumes that the media largely shape public
debate and, consequently, political and social interventions. To be effective in development
campaign, then, influencing news agendas is mandatory.

41
2.2. CHAPTER SUMMARY

Modernization, dependency, participation, social marketing and media advocacy are the dominate
models of development communication dominate. Modernization theory equated development with
economic growth. Communication in this paradigm is basically associated with the linear, mass
media model aimed at transmitting information and messages from one point to another or many
others, usually in a vertical or top-down fashion and aimed at modernizing ―backward‖ countries
and their people.. It relied heavily on the traditional vertical one-way model.

Dependency theory is rooted in the classic media-centric conception of communication (mostly

from the state perspective) and claims that the imbalances in the world‘s state of affairs were
mainly owing to the international division of labor and to the continuation of past patterns of
domination. The proponents vigorously supported rethinking the communication agenda along the
lines of a more balanced flow of communication at the international level. Both modernization
and dependency theories emphasizes a one way communication flow. The main difference between
the two theories is who is controlling and sending the message and the purpose of
communication.

Participatory approaches to development require a shift in the way individuals are considered,
from passive recipients to active agents of development efforts. This approach to development
gives special attention to communication and underscore that no participation without
communication, at least without a certain type of communication. This model emphasizes the
application of genuine two-way communication principles and practices. It takes into account the
issues of power and empowerment.

Social marketing‘s focus on behavior change, understanding of communication as persuasion

(―transmission of information‖), and top-down approach to instrument change suggested an
affinity with modernization and diffusion of innovation theories. Media advocacy adopts a
participatory approach and emphasizes the need of communities to gain control and power to
transform their environments.

42
Chapter Reflections
1. Discuss the relevance of development communication paradigms for today‘s NGOs.
2. Which type of development communication paradigm is commonly used by NGOs today
and why?
3. The choice of development communication paradigm is conditioned by the type of
program/ project the NGO is running/ operating. Discuses
4. Find any NGO in your surrounding and evaluate development communication practices of
the selected NGO (please use at least two data gathering tools). You can evaluate
development communication practices of the NGO you are working with.

43
CHAPTER 3: PROCESS AND ELEMENT OF COMMUNICATION

3.1. INTRODUCTION
The basic elements of communication are; the sender, the receiver, the message, the channel and
feedback. The sender codes the information or message, chooses an appropriate channel to convey
the message, and then on receiving the information, the recipient decodes it and gives feedback to
the sender. Effective communication necessitates understanding between the sender and receiver.
This chapter briefly discusses elements of communication and process involved in
communication.
Learning objectives:
 To be able to understand communication process and elements of communication
 To be able evaluate communication practice of NGOs
 To be able to use the concepts of communication process and elements in the
management of NGOs
3.2. ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION
Communication has eight basic elements. These are:
1. Sender – Communication begins with the sender who has an idea and who wants to
communicate his idea. Sender sometimes called the communicator or the source. The originator
(initiator) of communication is an organizational framework. The sender is an employee with ideas,
intentions, information, and a purpose for communication. Communicator in an organization can
be managers, non-managers, departments or the organization itself. Each of these communicators
has a message, an idea, or information to transmit to someone or some group.
2. Encoding -The process that translates the communicator's ideas in to a language expressing
the purpose.
3. Message - The result of the encoding process. The function of the encoding process is to provide
a form in which ideas and purposes can be expressed as a message – either verbal or nonverbal.

4. Medium - The medium is the carrier of the message. Organizations provide information to
members in a variety of ways, including face to-face communications, telephone, group

44
meetings, memos, policy statements, production schedules, and forecasts.
5. Receiver - The person to whom the message is sent. Or it is the person whose senses perceive
the sender's message.
6. Decoding - The process of interpreting the sender's message into a meaningful information by
the receiver.
7. Feedback -A channel for receiver's response that enables the sender to determine whether the
message has been received and has produced the internal response.
8. Noise - A noise is anything that reduces the accuracy of communication. It may be any factor
that confuses, disturbs, distorts or diminish or serves as a barrier to the successful
communication and sharing information. Anything (whether in the sender, the transmission, or
the receiver) that hinders communication is noise. Examples of noise are as follows:
 A noise or a confined environment may hinder the development of a clear thought
 Encoding may be faulty because of the use of ambiguous symbols.
 Transmission may be interrupted by static in the channel (e.g. poor telephone connection).
 Inaccurate reception may be caused by attention.
 Recording may be faulty – when wrong meaning may be attached to words the other
symbols.
 Understanding can be obstructed by prejudice desired changes may not occur because of
the fear of possible consequences of the change.

3.3. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Communication is said to be effective or successful only when mutual understanding occurs, that
is, when one not only transmits information, but also makes oneself understood by others. In
most organization, communication is a dynamic and vital process for ease of discussion; the
communication process can be divided into seven steps. Each of the steps in the communication
process is briefly discussed below.
Step 1: the first step in the communication process is ideation (generation or origination of idea).
A sender has information, which may consist of ideas, facts, opinions, and so on. Here the sender
should reduce the idea into essentials with reference to the person(s) to whom the idea is to be

45
communicated. In this step, there involve stimulation – having some idea in mind and motivation
willingness to communicate the idea.
Step 2: This step is encoding where the sender translates the message to be conveyed into a set of
symbols which he/she believes that receiver will understand as intended. That is, at this stage the
sender translate communicable ideas into signal, gesture, facial expression, sound, word etc.

Step 3: The third step is the actual transmission of the message as encoded. It involves the
process through which the encoded message is sent form the sender to receiver. Transmission of
the message could be conducted through a channel/ different forms. The channel must be
appropriate for the message. Mangers can choose among a variety of channels for communicating
with subordinates, managers and other members of the organization. Memos, telephone calls and
face-to-face communication conversations are among the commonly available channels. The
number of possible channels has expended greatly in recent years and now includes video and
audio-tapes, electronic bulletin boards, fax machines, voice mail, computer conferencing and
teleconferencing.

Step 4: Receiving of the message by a person to whom it is intended. In other words, the intended
receiver will perceive the message. It involves the readiness on the part of the receiver and his/her
attention to grasp the message. The decoding depends on these factors.

Step 5: This step is decoding where in the receiver of a massage interprets it. The receiver
perceives the message and interprets them to have a particular meaning. This involves the process
the receiver goes through in trying to convert the message into thoughts, so as to interpret the
exact meaning of the message. In this process, the background, ability and attitude of the receiver
play important both the sender and the receiver attach the same meanings to the symbols used in
the message.

Step 6: Understanding is the sixth step in communication process. Communication is effective

only when mutual understanding results. This is the most critical stage (and largely depends on
all the former stages) without which the communication cannot be justified. It is most critical
46
because it determines whether or not mutual understanding is in the minds of both the sender
and the receiver.

Step 7: The final step in communication process is feedback. After understanding the message,
the receiver sends his response to the sender. Such response is known as feedback. The
effectiveness of communication is measured through feedback. The receiver accepts the message
and transmits either verbal or nonverbal feedback. Verbal feedback refers to a written or a spoken
response whereas the nonverbal feedback is a body movement or actions. We can never be sure
whether or not a message has been effectively encoded, transmitted, decoded, and understood
until it is confirmed.

If the response is positive then the communication is successful. However it should be noted that,
although feedback technically is not necessary for successful (effective) communication, it does
allow a sender to verify that an intended massage has been accurately received. Because of noise,
a message may be inaccurately received, thus, feedback tells a sender to what extent a message
has been understood. Feedback is not desirable then the sender has to change the message or
channel so as to get desired response.

Note: Noise can happen at any stage of communication and thus hinder the effectiveness of
communication at any stage.

3.4. CHAPTER SUMMARY

Communication as a process involves a series of activities. Sender, encoding, message, medium

receiver, decoding, feedback and noise are the major elements of communication. The process of
communication involves seven steps with possibility of overlaps in practice. It begins with the
sender and end ups with mutual understanding between sender and receiver, the feedback
system enhancing the effectiveness of communication.

47
Chapter Reflections
1. Explain the benefit of understanding the elements and process of communication for
development actors (eg NGO staff)
2. Based on your own experience in an organization evaluate the effectiveness of communication
at each stage.

48
CHAPTER 4: FORMS OF COMMUNICATION

4.1. INTRODUCTION
The forms of communication may include verbal, non verbal and graphic. Under these forms of
communication there are several other types of communication which include intrapersonal,
interpersonal, public and mass communication. People communicate in a number of ways that
depend on the message that is to be sent and the context in which it is to be sent.

The general classifications are corporate communication, internal communication, advocacy

communication, and development communication. Corporate communication mostly addresses
external audiences. Internal communication facilitates the flow of information within an
institution/project. Sometimes this area can be included in corporate communication. Advocacy
communication meant to influence change at the public or policy level and promote issues related
to development.

Development communication concerned with sharing of knowledge aimed at reaching a consensus

for action that takes into account the interests, needs and capacities of all stakeholders. There
may be many other types and subtypes of communication. This chapter discuses forms of
communication based on medium of communication, forms/ types of organizations,
organizational boundaries/ scope / and people/ persons involved in the communication process.
Learning objectives
 To be able to understand the concepts of different types communication
 To be able evaluate types communication used by NGOs
 To be able to identify use different types of communication in the management of NGOs
4.2. FORMS OF COMMUNICATION BASED ON MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION
Based on medium of communication to be used communication is classified into two major forms:
verbal communication and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication consists of either
speech (oral communication) or writing. Non-verbal communication consists of body language and
the use of time, space, touch, clothing, appearance, and aesthetic elements to convey the
message. This section discusses verbal communication and non-verbal communication in detail.

49
4.2.1. VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Verbal communications are transmitted by means of two primary channels: hearing (in oral
communication) and sight (in written communication). Oral communication frequently involves
the other channels as well. For example, we see another communicator‘s body movements, eye
contact, and gestures. In verbal communication, we find written communication and oral
communication. Each discussed hereunder in detail.
4.2.1.1. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION.
Written communication is almost totally a function of the word chosen and the structuring of
sentences and paragraphs. It represents memo, letter, report, note, and other circumstance in
which the written word is used to transmit meaning. It is usually more difficult and time
consuming than oral communication. Of different types of written communication this section
presents business letter writing, official correspondence, Memo writing and report writing. Before
dealing with these types of written communication, the general writing process will be discussed
briefly.
THE WRITING PROCESS
Writing will not get done easily. The action of writing is a management process parallel to the
management of any other activity in an organization. For example writing -a memo or letter report,
one has think about the goals of the organization and how could the reader could interpret your
message/ report among others. The approach of writing is generally incremental. Usually it takes
the following basic incremental steps.
 Assess the available resources and secure the needed ones. The resource include time,
information, writing tools, and perhaps access to computer and others
 Divide the project into discrete tasks, each with a deadline. This about setting schedule for
each activity and deadline to accomplish each.
 Establish a control system to monitor progress. This will help get information about how
closely results resemble expectation.
 Expect problems and build in loose time to solve them.
 Write. With the preliminaries covered, one has to begin to drafting message/ report. Here
the writer has to stretch his/her idea a bit before a major writing task (outline major
points to be addressed), use his/ her strengths (play with one‘s own strength), be willing to
50
 change and keep writing and then edit (revise) what is written.
MAJOR TYPES OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATION
Letters, memos and reports are common forms of written communication in organization. Letters,
and memos constitute basic official correspondence. Each forms of written communication will
be discussed subsequently. Letters and memos usually kept to one page or less to ensure greater
readability. Short letters of one page or less are more likely to get your immediate attention. The
formats of letters and memo could differ, but the structure of ideas within most letters and memos
follows one of three basic plans.

Correspondence and reports have different purposes. Reports explain, support, and justify
decision; help to make decisions. In contrast, correspondence usually used to communicate
routine, day-to-day information inside and outside the organization. Correspondence used to
produce a clear message in a limited amount of space. This can be made true through organizing
ideas for action and success (being reader oriented) and figuring out what the message will be.
The structure of the message depends on the nature of the message. Message can be classified as
good news or routine message, combination of good and bad news, bad news and persuasive
message. The steps for structuring of the message should vary accordingly.

A. Structuring Good News or Routine Messages.

The three-step approach for structuring both good news and routine messages in correspondence
is:
 Present the main idea.
 Provide any appropriate details or explanation
 End with a positive closing.
B. Structuring Good and Bad News
There are four Steps for structuring good and bad news. These are:
 Begin the message with the good news
 Provide explanation
 State the bad news.
 Close with positive note( thank the receiver)
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C. Structuring Bad News Messages
There are four-steps for structuring bad news messages. These are:
 Presenting a neutral statement.
 Providing explanation
 Stating the bad news.
 Providing an off-the-bad-news ending.
D. Structuring the persuasive Letter
The four-step approach for structuring persuasive messages is
 Gaining the reader‘s attention
 Introducing the product or idea.
 Giving evidence to support value to reader and others.
 Asking for action.

FUNDAMENTALS OF BUSINESS LETTER WRITING

Business letters have business functions and help to clearly and concisely communicate the
message. There are there three styles of business letter: block style, modified block style, and
simplified style. Each style has its own advantages and drawbacks.

Block Style: Block style is the easiest style to use because every letter begins the left margin.
Because it is easy to key, it is also one of the most widely used. However, block style can give the
letter a left-heavy appearance. One may avoid this minor weakness by using the modified block
style. The following figure illustrates the format of block style.

52
 Figure- Block style
Letter Head
Or
-
Return Address
City
Date
-
Addressee‘s Name
Address
City,
-
Salutation:

SUBJECT: THIS LETTER EXPLAINS THE BLOCK STYLE.

(The subject line in this style is optional and often not included.)
-
This letter-style example is presented using block style.
-
In the block style, every letter part used begins at the left margin. This feature makes the block-style letter
one of the easiest and quickest to produce.
-
You will generally prepare business letters in block style on letterhead stationery.
Typing of keying in the return address is not necessary if the business letterhead stationery has the return
address preprinted. For those cases, the date line begins the letter. Present paragraphs in a single- spaced
format. A double space separates the paragraphs.
-
Because of its easy-to-produce features, the block style is among the most widely used letter styles.
-
Complementary close,
-
_ (Signature)
-
Sender‘s Typed Name
Sender‘s Official Title
-
Reference Information

53
Modified Block Style-The modified block style letter uses the basic block format. However, the
following parts of the letter begin at the horizontal center of the page: the return address, the date,
the complimentary close, the signature, the sender‘s typed or keyed name, and the sender‘s
official title. Using the center as a left margin for these elements gives the letter a more balanced
look. (Do not center these on the page; just use the center as the left margin for these items only.)
The following figure shows sample modified block style

54
 Figure-modified block style

LETTERHEAD
-or-
Return Street Address
City,
Date
-
Addressee’s Name
Street Address
City,
-
Salutation:

SUBJECT: THIS LETTER EXPLAINS THE MODIFIED BLOCK STYLE.

subject line in this style is optional and often not included.

-
This letter is presented using modified block style. The detail the paragraphs explains some differences
form the block style.
-
Letters using modified block style begin the return address and the date line at the horizontal center of the
page. The complimentary close, sender’s typed name, sender’s signature, and sender’s official title also
begins at the horizontal center of the page. Vertical spacing is the same as for the block style.
-
In using the modified block style. The writer chooses either to indent the paragraphs or to use blocked
paragraphs. This examples shows the use of indented paragraphs.
-
Many letter writers choose the modified block style because of its more balanced appearance. However,
beginning as many as six lines at the center and indenting paragraphs does take a little move time to
produce.
-
Complementary close,
-
_ (Signature)
-
Sender’s Typed Name
Sender’s Official Title
-
Reference Information

55
Simplified Style-The simplified style lets writers drop traditional letter parts such as the
salutation and complimentary close. Instead of using a salutation to open the letter, the simplified
style letter opens with a subject line. The subject line serves as a title to the letter. The body of
each letter describes its particular style and format features and shows the appropriate vertical
spacing for various elements. Routine or good news situations, the subject line and carry the main
message of the letter. In bad news messages, a more neutral subject line usually works best. The
following figure presents model simplified style.

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 Figure - Simplified Style

LETTER HEAD
or
-
Return Street Address
City, Date
-
Addressee’s Name
Address
City,
-
SUBJECT: USE OF SIMPLIFIDE STYLE,
-
This letter presents the use of the simplified letter style, a less traditional but mort streamlined approach.
-
Two major features are missing in the simplified style when compared to the block or modified block
styles. The simplified style uses on salutation, and it uses no complementary close.
-
In the place of the salutation, it uses a subject line. The subject line serves as the “title” of the message
being presented in the latte,. Although the subject line is optional in block letters, the simplified style
requires its use.
-
The simplified style uses a blocked format, and every feature begins at the left margin. This characteristic
requires no tabbing to the center and not paragraph indentions.
-
Many people do not wish to call their message receivers “Dear, “ or feel that complimentary closes aren’t
sincere. Thus, they many prefer using this matter-or-face, direct approach for formatting their letters.
-
(Signature)
-
Sender’s Typed Name
Sender’s Official Title
-
Reference Information

57
Each letter styles discussed above contain some common elements (see the sample-figure). These
elements generally constitute nine items: Return address, Date, Inside address, Salutation, Letter
body, Complimentary close, Signature, Typed name and title and Reference information. These
elements will help to clearly and concisely communicate the message. Each discussed below.

1. Return Address
You may prepare most business letters on letterhead stationery that clearly identifies the return
address of the sender. For personal business letters that you send from home, place your return
address at the top of the letter. The return address at the top of a personal business letter
includes only the street address and city, region, and postal code information. It doesn‘t need to
include the sender‘s name because the sender‘s name appears at the end of the letter. Including
the return address on the letter is also important because envelopes are often separated from
letters. The return address on the letter serves as a necessary reference for the recipient.
2. Date Line
If the name of the company and return address appear on the letterhead, the letter begins with
the date. On personal business letters that include a two-line return address, the date appears
directly below the line that lists city, region, and postal code. The date can also serve as an
important tracking device for a letter. Both senders and recipients use the date to identify a
particular piece of correspondence and when it was keyed.

3. Inside Address.
Although it may seem unnecessary to include the addressee‘s address on the letter, it is
appropriate and necessary to do so for two reasons:
(1) It is an expected practice by all parties in business practice, and
(2) The inside addresses serves as a future reference on the copy the sender keeps. The
addressee‘s name should also include his or her title in the inside address. An inside address
should appear word for word as the address appears on the envelope, but not in all capital letters
as on the envelope. Place the information included in the address in the standard order, which the
post office will need to deliver the letter.

58
4. Salutation.
Use the salutation for letters presented in block or in modified block style. Do not use a salutation
when using the simplified style. Traditionally, the salutation includes the word Dear with the
addressee‘s name following. If you have a problem calling your addressee Dear, even for the sake
of tradition, consider using the simplified style.

Using the title presents a formal, businesslike tone and is most appropriate much of the time. Use
the person‘s first name in the salutation if you want to be informal and more personalized and if
you know the receiver well enough. In situations where using individuals‘ names is not practical,
consider using the simplified letter style, or salutations such as these: ―Dear Customer,‖ ―Dear
Colleague,‖ ―Dear Student,‖ ―Dear Personnel Director,‖ or ―Dear Customer Service Representative.‖

Another alternative would be ―Ladies and Gentlemen.‖ These methods do assign a general
classification to your readers, but they do not offend. Using a person‘s name is the least offensive
and most personal approach.

5. Subject Line.
The subject line serves as a title of the letter message. It is a requirement in the simplified style.
The subject line is an option with the block and modified block styles. A subject line in your
correspondence has two major advantages. First, it readily identifies to someone the nature of the
correspondence; people may not have to waste time reading the document, because the subject
line identifies who should receive the letter. Second, the subject line, if well written, provides key
words that will help the recipient get to the core of your message quickly. The subject line can also
cue the recipient where to file the document for future reference.

Authorities differ on the method of presenting the subject line; however, since it serves as a title,
treat it as one. Present the subject line in all capital letters. Doing so draws attention to it. In the
block and simplified styles, the subject line begins at the left margin. In a modified block letter,
you may either begin at the left margin or center the subject line horizontally. (Centering looks
best with indented paragraphs.)
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6. Body of the Letter.
The body of the letter carries the actual message you are sending. Ideas should be structure
according to the plans we presented earlier in the unit. Here, we talk about the mechanics of
placing the message on the page.
7. Complimentary Close.
Use the complimentary close in the block and modified block styles. It serves as a polite,
―complimentary‖ transition from the end of the message to your personal signature. Common
phrases used as complimentary closes include the following:
Sincerely,
Sincerely yours,
Cordially,
Cordially yours,
Yours truly,
Yours very truly,
With best wishes,
With best regards,
Some writers feel uncomfortable with using the complimentary close in the same fashion that they
feel uncomfortable with using the salutation. When you think about it, you are not ―yours.‖ You
don‘t belong to anyone, particularly people you don‘t know! So how could you be very truly yours?
Perhaps the best salutation to use, if you choose to use one, is ―Sincerely.‖ When you do choose to
write to someone, no doubt you are sincere about what you write.

8. Signature, Name, and official Title.

Three blank lines are left following the complimentary close before the typed name and official title
appear in single-spaced form. This space provides sufficient room for the signature of the sender.
When presenting the name at the end of the letter, you generally do not include the sender‘s title
(such as Ato, Obbo, W/ro, W/rt, and Dr.). However, the person sending the letter includes his or
her official job title. Put it on the same line as the name, with a comma separating them, if the
title is short. If the title is long, place it on the line beneath the keyed name, In a personal
business letter, where the sender knows the recipient, the title is not necessary. As a matter of

60
habit and consistency, it‘s still often included.
In block-style letters or simplified letters, the name and official title begin at the left margin. In
modified block letters, they begin at the center of the page.
9. Reference Information
Several pieces of reference information may appear at the bottom of a letter. If you need to include
these items, include them in the order you learn them in this section. If you do not need any one
of these, leave it out. They begin a double space below the official title of the sender. For all letters
styles, they appear at the left margin. If anyone reference item uses more than one line, the item is
single-spaced. Double-space between reference items.

Memos: in-House correspondence

People primarily and regularly communicate using memos within organizations. Managers both
send and receive memos. However, sometimes managers may also be sending memos to
individuals in other branches of your organization. Memos are used, among others, to inform
others and to present bad news.

Unlike letters, memos are most often written by and to people within organization. Memos are
written usually in a more informal and candid way. The direct-deductive approach is often used as
staff members (insiders) more interested in purpose of the message. The indirect-inductive
approach would be more appropriate when the message carries bad news (for example staff
termination) .The indirect-inductive approach often works better for people outside the
organization.

Memos have different layouts, and different companies have their own styles and sometimes
specific forms. Most memos, however, include the following elements:

A. Title-the word MEMORANDUM or MEMO (or something to that effect).This is usually centered
at the top of the page or placed at the left margin.
B. ―To‖ and ―From‖ Lines. the memo always includes lines using the words‖ to‖ and ‗From‘ to
quickly show who the addressee and sender are. Titles are not used usually, as the parties usually
61
know one another
C. Date-dates are important for filing and tracking chronology.
D. Subject line-this concisely summarizes the contents of the memo.
E. Body- presents/discusses the message and indicate action needed
F. Closing. Use effective and appropriate close

The first four elements present heading information. The components can be arranged in different
ways. Organizations may have their own formats. Sometimes attachment is used to provide
necessary information and to keep the memo short. In this context the writer should indicate the
attachment in the body part of the memo and properly fix/ staple with the attachment.
The following figure presents sample Memo.

62
Figure . Sample Memo
MEMORANDUM
To: Dr Elias Shibru
From: Dr Wako Gutu
Date: May 15, 20…
SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION TO TERMINATE WORKINEH DESTA
On May 14, Workineh‘s supervisor and I decided to recommend dismissing Workineh Desta. He
has proved to involve in sexual harassment, he has been rude and inconsiderate to his supervisor
and others, and he is a potential danger to himself and others.
Specific events have led us to this decision:
 On Monday, May 4, I came to know Mr Workineh has sexually harassed Ms Chaltu Balcha
form his supervisor. The supervisor has proved the act
 Workineh‘s action violates company policy and endangers him and others. Therefore, I
called his supervisor late on the same day to arrange a conference with him.
 On May 6, Workineh‘s supervisor and I met to discuss Workineh‘s situation. He informed
me Mr Workineh usually accused of sexual harassment at work place
 On May 7, Workineh‘s supervisor proved Workineh has harassed Ms .Chaltu in his
office. He immediately discussed with his the company policy and the employees. He was
supportive and suggested counseling. For the next three days, May 8 through 10,
Workineh did not come to work, and he did not call. All attempts to reach him at home
failed
 On May 13, Workineh returned to work. He refused to talk to his supervisor or others.

General guidelines in writing memos

 Keep the memo as short as possible ( concise it )
 Make the message clear
 Use direct approach for good news and indirect approach for bad news
 De-emphasizing bad news in a memo
 Do not put too much information is one memo

63
WHAT IS A REPORT?
Dear student what is report? What differentiates report from letters and memos? and what are the
similarities?---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Reporting involves regular provision of information to decision-makers within an organization.
Reporting is a fundamental part of the larger movement towards improved operation of an
organization and knowledge management.

Different writers offer different definitions of a report. A report is logical presentation of facts and
information. The information is needed for reviewing and evaluating progress, and planning future
course of action, and for taking decisions.

A report is a formal document written on a subject, to convey information and ideas. Sometimes,
it also makes recommendations. A report is a style of writing that aims to concisely address a
specific issue providing information and analysis about the issue. Generally, findings pertaining to
a given or specific task are written up into a report. Reports travel upwards to supervisors and
management policymakers. They also go downward and horizontally to those who carry out the
work and policies; and outward (outside the organization) to customers, stockholders, the general
public and specific firms or individuals.

A report may be either written or oral. In organizations, reports often provide the basis for
important decisions; they are often the sole way that ideas and proposals are communicated. If
they do not communicate effectively, then opportunities can be lost and gross errors can be made
in business decisions. Reports also affect individual career as individuals who write poor report
cannot be successful in their current and future career. It is, therefore, reports are/is important
for both organizations and individuals.

TYPES OF REPORT
Reports can be classified in six different ways – according to function, subject matter, formality,
64
origin, frequency of issue and type of appearance.
1. Function: whether to inform or analyze. The informational report presents the facts and a
summary. The analytical report presents facts, analyzes and interprets them and then draws a
conclusion.
2. Subject matter: usually in keeping with the department or section from which the report
originates. Examples include accounting, advertising, finance, insurance, personnel and technical.
3. Formality: whether formal or informal. Formal reports are generally long – more than ten pages,
and address complex problems. Informal reports are generally short.
4. Origin: whether authorized or voluntary; also whether private or public. Authorized reports are
requested or authorized by another person or committee. Voluntary reports are written on your
own initiative. The private report originates in a private business firm; public reports originate in a
government, school, or other publicly financed office.
5. Frequency of issue: whether periodic or special. The periodic report comes out at regular
intervals – daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. The special report involves a single or unique
situation.
6. Type or appearance: mainly influenced by report length and formality. Informal, short reports
include memorandum report and the letter report while the formal report belongs to the long
report type.

As you can see from the above discussion, it is difficult to place all reports into mutually exclusive
categories. In fact, one report may have elements of all the categories. For example: an authorized,
monthly, analytical memo report from the marketing department, written in a standardized form.

Reports can be categorized into short and long reports based on length. Both types of reports have
different nature and sub-typologies. This section presents each report types briefly.
1. Short
. reports
Short reports can be divided into informational and analytical report. Each divided further into
different types.

65
A. Informational Reports
The central purpose of informational reports is to inform and to summarize facts, similarly to the
speech that is intended to inform. Obviously, these reports vary widely in content, depending on
type of business, purpose, topics discussed, and readers' needs. While there are many kinds of
informational reports, the following examples illustrate three general kinds often used in
organizations: conference reports, progress reports, and periodic reports.
1. Conference reports
Conference reports ranges from summaries of personal sales call conferences to write-ups of
meetings attended by hundreds of persons. For example a credit or collection manager or account
executive may make reports after conferences with clients. The text of such reports is usually
organized by topics discussed or simply in a chronological progression.
2. Progress Reports
As the name implies, progress reports show ‗progress‘ accomplishments, or activity over time or at
a given stage of a major assignment. The organizational plan is usually inductive, including topics
similar to these:
1. Introduction (purpose, nature of project)
2. Description of accomplishments during the reporting period
3. Unanticipated problems (if any)
4. Plans for the next reporting period
5. Summary (overall appraisal of progress to date)

3. Periodic Reports
Some periodic reports are written to correspond with the company's fiscal year. Others may be
written weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually, or in other regular recurring periods. Most
organizations-business, government, religious, athletic, NGOs etc write annual reports to
summarize activities and financial affairs.
Dear student, in your own words, write the difference between conference and progress reports.---
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66
B. Analytical Reports
In contrast to the informational memorandum report, the analytical memorandum report seeks to
analyze a situation or problem; it may end with or without a specific recommendation. Feasibility
and justification report types fall under this category.
1. Feasibility Reports

Feasibility reports evaluate several alternatives and recommend one of them. Feasibility reports
normally open by explaining the decision to be made, listing the alternatives, and explaining the
criteria. In the body of the report, each alternative will be evaluated according to the criteria using
one of the comparison / contrast pattern. Discussing each alternative separately is better when
one alternative is clearly superior, when the criteria interact, and when each alternative is
indivisible. If the choice depends on the weight given to each criterion, one may want to discuss
each alternative under each criterion.

Whether recommendation should come at the beginning or the end of the report depends on
reader and the culture of your organization. Most readers want the ‗bottom line‘ up front.
However, if the reader will find recommendation hard to accept, one may delay recommendation
until the end of the report until all evidences are given.

2. Justification Reports

Justification reports presents rationale for recommended action such as a purchase, investment,
hiring, or change in policy. Some organization has a standard format for justification reports. In
the absence of the format using the following guideline may help.

1. Indicate what you're asking for and why it's needed. Since the reader has not asked for the
report, you must link your request to the organization's goals.
2. Briefly give the background of the problem or need.
3. Explain each of the possible solutions. For each, give the cost and the advantages and
disadvantages.

67
4. Summarize the action needed to implement your recommendation. If several people will be
involved, indicate who will do what and how long each step will take.
5. Ask for the action you want.

If the reader will be reluctant to grant the request, use this variation of the problem-solving
pattern.
1. Describe the organizational problem (which your request will solve). Use specific examples to
prove the seriousness of the problem.
2. Show why easier or less expensive solutions will not solve the problem.
3. Present your solution impersonally.
4. Show that the disadvantages of your solution are outweighed by the advantages.
5. Summarize the action needed to implement your recommendation. If several people will be
involved, indicate who will do what and how long each step will take.
6. Ask for the action you want.

How much detail you need to give in a justification report depends on the corporate culture and
on your reader's knowledge of and attitude toward your recommendation. Many organizations
expect justification reports to be short- only one or two pages. Other organizations may expect
longer reports with much more detailed budgets and a full discussion of the problem and each
possible solution.

What are the main differences between feasibility and justification reports?
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2. Long Reports

Long reports are divided into different sections each can divided into subsections. The major
sections include; title page, abstract/ executive summary, table of contents, introduction, main
body, conclusion, recommendations, references/ bibliography and appendices.
68
Each discussed briefly hereunder.
Before reading this section, why it is important to divide long report into sections or divisions?
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A. Title page
The title page of the research report normally contains four main pieces of information: the report
title; the name of the person, company, or organization for whom the report has been prepared;
the name of the author and the company or university which originated the report; and the date
the report was completed. You might also include other information on the title page such as
contract number, a security classification such as CONFIDENTIAL, or a copy number depending
on the nature of the report you are writing.

B. Abstract
An abstract is an accurate representation of the contents of a document in an abbreviated form.
An abstract usually refers to academic texts, thesis, papers and dissertations. An abstract can be
the most difficult part of the research report to write because in it, the researcher must introduce
the subject matter, tell what was done, and present selected results, all in one short (about 150
words) paragraph. As a result, researcher should usually write the abstract last.

The purpose of an abstract is identical to an executive summary, but condensed down to usually
a single paragraph. The most common type of abstract is the informative abstract. An
informative abstract summarizes the key information from every major section in the body of the
report, and provides the key facts and conclusions from the body of the report. A good way to
develop an informative abstract is to devote a sentence or two to each of the major parts of the
report.

69
C. Executive Summary

An executive summary is positioned at the beginning of a report, but it can only be written once
the rest of the report is completed. The executive summary needs to be a piece of work, which can
stand alone. The formal report should make sensible reading without the executive summary, and
the executive summary could be read in isolation without recourse to the rest of the report and
still be a legitimate document. The executive summary condenses the whole report into a page of
text, usually of around 250 - 500 words. It should set the scene, why the report was
commissioned and who the intended audience is. It should then outline the rest of the report.
Whilst it is difficult to give precise definitions, as a good rule of thumb each page of the report
should be condensed to one or two simple sentences.

The idea of an executive summary is that people who are too busy to read the whole report can
read the executive summary (and the conclusions), and from this be able to get the main thrust of
the arguments presented. Because of this, the executive summary should not contain any
material that is not mentioned elsewhere in the report, though if a particularly relevant reference
by someone well respected in the field can provide a good start or finish to the executive summary,
this is acceptable.

D. Table of Contents
Most reports will contain a Table of Contents that lists the report‘s contents, and demonstrates
how the report has been organized.

E. Introduction
Every report should have an introduction. This should be a short section that paraphrases the
questions that you have identified and answered in the report. The introduction clearly addresses
background, purpose, and scope. It enables the writer to focus on the questions that he /she will
answer. It also gives the recipient an at-a-glance check to ensure that the report has delivered
what was requested. Note that, the introduction should not replace the executive summary.

70
F. The Body of Report
The body is usually the longest part of the research report, and it includes all of the evidence that
readers need to have in order to understand the subject. This evidence includes details, data/
facts, results, and conclusions. Exactly, what should be included in the body and how it is
organized will be determined by the context in which someone is writing.

G. Materials and Methods

The materials and methods section or the methodology section is similar to an instruction
manual. It describes the apparatus and the procedure used in your research. Almost all research
reports will include a materials and methods section.
All materials and methods sections address the following questions.
 How was the experiment designed?
 On what subjects or materials was the experiment performed?
 How were the subjects/materials prepared?
 What machinery and equipment was used in the experiment?
 What sequence of events did you follow as you handled the subjects/materials, or as you
recorded data?
H. Results: Presenting Data
In this section the researcher presents experimental data, observations, and outcome. This is the
most straightforward of the sections to write, and it may be the simplest and most enjoyable
section. All preceding sections of the report (Introduction, Materials and Methods, etc.) lead into
the Results section of the report, and all subsequent sections will consider what the results mean
(conclusion, recommendations, etc.). Graphs, charts, and tables are used present data. Visual
pictures such as Pie Charts, Bar Charts, Histograms and Line graphs are commonly used.
However, there are times when the use of a graph, chart or table is appropriate simply in order to
allow the recipient of the report to visualize something that is included in the text

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I. Results: Interpretation of Data

It is unlikely to use a separate this section in report. Interpretation of data is usually combined
with presentation of data, will be called ―Results‖ or ―Discussion.‖ Sometimes, presentation of data
and interpretation of data may be split into separate categories, with presentation called ―Results,‖
and interpretation called ―Discussion.‖ Regardless of its title, interpretation of data is also crucial
to a successful research report. It is important because it demonstrates the meaning of the
research. Without this section, readers will not necessarily understand what your research proves,
or they might not see how it differs from or improves on other research.

In this section the researcher will interpret the results and his/her entire research work and
discuss the relationship of his/her findings to earlier research. Interpretation will be most
convincing if it proceeds logically. One basic way to organize information logically is to move from
what you are most certain about to what you are least certain about.
For most research reports, the most certain part will be your data, and many research reports will
develop along this outline:
 begin with a discussion of the data;
 move on to generalize about, or analyze the data;
 consider how the data addresses the research problem or hypothesis outlined in the
Introduction; and
 discuss what can be inferred from the data as they relate to other research and scientific
concepts.

J. Conclusions
Conclusions come at the end of a report. They are where any decisions that the researcher make
are discussed, and any 'next steps' that will be required are discussed. A conclusion is not a
summary of the whole report, it is the major output of the report, and should be researcher‘s
strongest point. A busy executive or manager should be able to read the executive summary and
conclusion, and be able to have a good understanding of what the report covers, what is decided,
and what the executive (or someone else) needs to do next.

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The conclusion is important because of the following reasons.
 It is researcher‘s last chance to convey the significance and meaning of his/her research to
reader by concisely summarizing findings and generalizing their importance.
 It is a place to raise questions that remain unanswered and to discuss ambiguous data.
 Though the conclusions reflect opinions of the researcher, based on the evidence
presented in the body of report, it should not tell the readers what to do or what action
they should take. Save discussion of future action for your section, ‗Recommendations‘.

The most important thing to remember in writing conclusion is making it clear. Conclusion should
not be ambiguous; should not leave doubt in your readers‘ mind.

K. Recommendations

You may or may not need to include a section titled, ‗Recommendations.‘ This section appears in a
report when the results and conclusions indicate that further work needs to be done or when the
researcher has considered several ways to resolve a problem or improve a situation and want to
determine which one is best. The researcher should not introduce new ideas in the
recommendations section, but rely on the evidence presented in the results and conclusions
sections. The researcher should not include a recommendations section simply for the sake of
including one; this will waste readers‘ time and take up unnecessary space in report.

L. References

It is important to include a References section at the end of a report. Informal or short reports
may not have a references section or only a short one while more formal reports will likely have
reference sections, sometimes very lengthy ones. Reference sections are important because, they
allow other researchers to build on or to duplicate research. Without references, readers will not
be able to tell whether the information that the researcher present is credible and they will not be
able to find it for themselves.

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Reference sections also facilitate other researchers‘ work without reviewing that work in detail.
One should include references that are cited directly in the report. Including secondary materials
that are only slightly related may not need. Reference styles vary greatly. One of the most common
reference styles used for research reports in the social sciences and some other disciplines is that
outlined by the American Psychological Association (APA). Do not assume that this will be the
style you should use, however. Look up the appropriate style guide for your discipline.

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M. Appendices

The researcher/s should place information in an Appendix that is relevant to the subject but
needs to be kept separate from the main body of the report to avoid interrupting the line of
development of the report. Anything can be placed in an appendix as long as it is relevant and as
long as the researcher made reference to it in the body of your report. The researcher should not
include an appendix simply for the sake of including.

An appendix should include only one set of data, but additional appendices are acceptable if you
need to include several sets of data that do not belong in the same appendix. Label each appendix
with a letter, A, B, C, and so on. Do not place the appendices in order of their importance to you,
but rather in the order in which you referred to them in your report. You should also paginate
each appendix separately so that the first page of each appendix you include begins with 1.
Guidelines Preparation before writing long reports

Well – written reports satisfies certain qualities. These include.

 Completeness and Conciseness. Include all relevant facts and avoid unnecessary
repetitions.
 Concreteness, Conviction, Objectivity. Avoid emotional writing and present reliable
evidence.
 Consideration and courtesy. Remain honest, present most meaningful information and
take into account reader's opinions or expectations.
 Clarity. Ensure clarity in writing
 Correctness. Check everything (grammar, objectivity, readability etc...)

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To address the qualities of good reports, all reports require adequate preparation before writing.
One needs to consider the planning steps before begin to write a report.
 Define the Purpose. The first planning step is to analyze the problem involved and know
the purpose of your report. Ask questions relevant questions such as what , when , why,
and how much
 Consider the Audience. Understand the needs and expectations of the audience to which
the report is sent. This will help to decide the style and technical level to be used in the
report.
 Determine the Medium. This covers 'how' the report is to be written. The most obvious
medium is a printed report, but there are a number of alternatives. Nowadays, you may
need to present the report in the form of a web - based report, or provide a presentation
(using PowerPoint for example) to support your findings.

4.2.1.2. ORAL COMMUNICATION

Oral Communication is the ability to talk with others to give and exchange information & ideas,
such as: ask questions, give directions, coordinate work tasks, explain & persuade.
How we use this skill?
 greeting people and taking messages
 reassuring, comforting or persuading
 seeking information & resolving conflicts
 facilitating or leading a group

We probably spend more time in oral communication. Oral communication involves face to face
conversation, telephone conservation, active listing, and interviews meetings. All share a number
of characteristics. For example, whether you speak face-to-face or over the phone, whether you
have an informal talk with a workmate or deliver a formal presentation to a roomful of top-level
managers, several features distinguish the spoken word from the same message in written form.
Each types of oral communication disused below briefly.

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FACE TO FACE CONSERVATION
This is the type of oral communication in which two people discuss matters interest together in
person. The two person usually seat together discuss common agenda. For example a manager
and a subordinate discuss about the progress a ongoing project. This type of communication will
enable both parties to understand each other very well as they can share emotions among others.

TELEPHONE CONVERSATION
This is a type of oral communication that takes between two people using telephone as channel.
The telephone will enable individuals to communicate and clarify confusion immediately. However,
the conservation could be interrupted if the telephone connectivity is not effective or not working
at all.

LISTENING
Listening is much more than just hearing. Effective listening involves interpretation,
understanding and action. It requires hard work and self-discipline. Becoming a good listener
takes patience, practice and persistence. Research findings suggest that we spend as much as 80
percent of our time communicating and of that 45 percent time is spend listening. As a student
you probably spent 60 to 70 percent of your class time listening. Listening is affected by the
quality of tone. Voice tones can be assertive, bashful, aggressive, angry, passive and much more.
Silence – pauses, lack of response, blank stares communicates. If someone pauses before making
a point, the pause tends to attract the listener‘s attention.

INTERVIEWS

This is the way of exchange of information and conversation between interviewer and interviewee.
Interviews are qualitative tools to acquire knowledge or to probe specific issues, usually with one
person at a time. Interview is common practice in almost all organization to conduct employment.
Besides sharing information, the interview also aims to clarification and thus enhances common
understanding between interviewer and interviewee. The content of interview depends on the
purpose of interview.

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There are three types of interview: structured interview, unstructured interview and semi
structured interview. In Structured (Directive) Interview the interviewer uses structured
interview questions and systematic interview procedure to obtain necessary information. The
same questions and pattern of interview is used with all interviewees. Unstructured (non directive)
interview is the condition, which involves the interviewer in asking probing open ended questions.

It is usually free discussions around the topic of interest. Here, interviewees are allowed to talk
much and enable required obtain information. This type of interview is time consuming, may
expose to subjectivity and hence could result in low reliability and little valid.

However, if the interviewer is highly trained and skilled, the approaches may be a good way to
obtain significant information from interviewees. Semi-structured combines elements of
structured and unstructured interview types. In this type of interview only some of the questions
are predetermined and new questions come up during the interview. The interviewers prepared a
list of topics and questions rather than a fixed questionnaire. Semi-structured interviews are used
frequently, since they provide enough space for the respondent to answer freely and provide useful
insights, while keeping a certain rigor and consistency to the issues addressed. In this technique,
the main challenge is identifying the key persons to interview, those who have the most significant
insights or knowledge about the issues of interest.

MEETINGS
Meetings enable face-to-face contact of a number of people at the same time. They provide a
useful opportunity for sharing information, making suggestions and proposals, taking decisions
and obtaining instant feedback. The purpose of meeting include: to coordinate or arrange
activities, to report on some activity or experience, to put forward ideas or grievances for
discussion, to give information to a group of people, to obtain assistance and to create
involvement and interest.

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Meetings are the most popular method of interactive communication. They facilitate direct, face-
to-face communication and are essential at various levels in all organizations. They facilitate
exchange of information, fostering of team spirit and commitment to common goals and objectives.
More importantly, they help in elaborating ideas, clarifying concepts and clearing confusion, if
any, created on account of ambiguous and incomplete verbal and vocal messages.
Misunderstandings arising from unclear memos, circulars, directives, targets, etc. can be cleared
through meetings with the people concerned.

Meetings can categorized as formal meetings, Annual General Meeting (AGM), Statutory
Meetings, Board Meetings, and Informal Meetings. The rules of conduct of formal meetings are laid
down in an organizational policy. The policy must indicate a quorum, i.e the minimum number of
people who should be present in order to validate the meeting. A formal record of these meetings
must be kept, usually by the secretary.

Annual General Meeting is held once a year to assess the performance of the organization over the
year. All shareholders are invited to intend the general meeting but they must be notified in
advance. Statutory meetings are called so that the directors and shareholders ca communicate
and consider special reports. Some organizations/companies are required by law to hold these
statutory meetings. Board meetings are held as often as individual organizations require. They are
attended by all directors and chaired by the Chairman of the board. Informal meetings are not
restricted by the same rules and regulation as formal meetings. Such meetings may take the form
of brainstorming or discussion sessions where strict agendas may not be necessary and minutes
may not be kept. However, it is usually considered good practice for an agenda to be issued to all
members prior to the meetings so that they can be prepare adequately in order to make a valuable
contribution.

When people come together for a common purpose, they are engaging in a meeting. Meetings are a
common part of most organizations. They are useful for providing information, for persuading, for
delivering bad news, or for solving problems and making decisions.

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Employees must attend a variety of meetings to convey and receive information that will advance
individual, departmental, and organizational goals. Meetings allow groups working together to
share information and make decisions about the projects in which they are mutually involved.
Many people dislike meetings because they fell that they are not run properly and that they waste
valuable time. As a rule meetings should be called only when that is the best method for a group
to accomplish a task at hand. Some guidelines that to improve the quality of the meetings you
organize and attend are:

1. Determine the need for the meeting

First, decide what the purpose is for having a meeting and who should participate. Sometimes a
need does not exist for several people to physically meet simultaneously. Consider the
appropriateness and effectiveness of other communication methods such as e-mail,
memorandums, or phone calls, call a meeting only if you really need to and it is the best way to
accomplish your goals and objectives. You will also need to make decisions about how frequently
to hold meetings to accomplish stated goals and objectives. You want to hold enough regular
meetings to keep the process going, but not so many that participants no longer believe they help
get work done. You will also need to decide how much time to allow between meetings in order for
team members to reflect and prepare.

Sometimes you will not choose who needs to attend a meeting: Sometimes you will. You must
make decisions about the size of the group. You want the group to be diverse so you get a variety
of good input. You also want the members to represent those people affected by the group‘s
decisions. However, if the group is too large, you may have difficulty in sticking to your time
schedule or agreeing on issues that come to a vote. Five to nine members is a good size for group
interaction and discussion. Having an odd number of people serving on the group will prevent a
possible tie vote if that is the procedure for making decisions.

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2. Develop an Agenda
An agenda is an outline or a plan of items that those attending the meeting consider. The
individual(s) conducting the meeting should carefully construct the agenda with relevant topics in
a logical order for discussion. A well-prepared agenda gives a meeting a focus, lists the
participants, and gives the topics and time limits for discussion.

The team leader should send the agenda to participants a few days before the meeting so they can
review it and think about appropriate remarks they want to make. This also will give participants
a chance to think about materials they may want to bring or specific actions they should take
before the meeting. Do not send the agenda too far ahead of the meeting as some people may lay
the document aside and forget or misplace it.

Generally, the agenda will include:

1. Major topics of discussion, with a brief summary of their significance
2. The names of people who are responsible for and will present each agenda topic to the group
3. An estimated amount of time to be spent discussing each agenda topic and an estimated
amount of time for the entire meeting
4. Clarification about whether each agenda topic relates to information, discussion, or a decision.
Figure: Sample Agenda form

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 AGENDA
Purpose: Ongoing project review (HIV/ AIDS)
Location; Third-floor conference room
Date; July 18,20–
Time: 2;30 – 4:30 p.m.

Participants: Dr Wako, Mr Bekele, W/ro Azebe, Dr Alemu, W/ro Chaltu

Items to bring: HIV/ AIDS ongoing project report

TOPICS TIME PERSON RESPONSIBLE

1. Check-in 5 minutes Everyone
2. Review of May plan 15 minutes Dr Wako
3. June results 15 minutes Mr Bekele
4. New campaign 15 minutes W/ro Azebe
5. Revise plan 50minutes Dr Alemu
6. Forward actions 10 minutes W/ro Chaltu

3. Take Care of pre – meeting arrangements

Before the meeting, the leader or leader‘s assistant should arrange for a room that is big enough
to hold all participants. The leader should also arrange for necessary equipment such as an
overhead projector and flipcharts if they are needed and make copies of documents for
distribution to those attending.

4. Start the meeting properly

At the beginning of the meeting, the leader must set the proper tone by conveying professionalism
and credibility. He or she should also project the meeting‘s significance and what the group is
trying to achieve. The leader should take control and start the meeting on time. All members will
soon learn that this action rewards those who are on time and penalizes those who are not.
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Most people will not appreciate having their time wasted by a late start. All meeting time should
be effectively and efficiently use. Before the first meeting of a ongoing team, as a leader you might
want to be in the room to greet people when you are ready to start the meeting, provide a vocal
cue such as ―let‘s get started with today‘s meeting‘ If the group is meeting for the first time and
members don‘t know one another very well, you might have everyone introduce him-self or her-
self. A round or oval table or four tables arranged in a rectangular fashion lets all members easily
see and converse with each other.

At the beginning of the meeting the group members should know how they would discuss and
decide various issues and assign ―house-keeping‖ or secretarial roles for moving the meeting along
efficiently and keeping records. Next the leader should review the purpose(s) of the meeting and
provide quick overview of the agenda. He or she should specify the goals and objectives.

Figure: typical meeting room arrangement

Flip charts

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Next the leader can describe special procedures that will be used to make the meetings run more
smoothly. The leader might want to involve group members in deciding what some of the
procedures will be for group operations. These procedures usually involve assigning someone to
take notes and someone to write ideas on flipcharts. Early in the meeting the members should
also discuss the process they will use for adopting various recommendations. Will a majority vote
of the group be necessary to decide important issues, or will agreement by all be necessary?

The leader should discuss his or her role, the role of the group as a whole, and the roles of
individual team members. Open discussions should occur in which all team members have an
opportunity to decide rules and procedures. After the first meeting, later meetings will settle into
an efficient routine where leaders will continue to set agendas and distribute them before each
meeting. Topics not handled from the agenda of the last meeting appear on the agenda for the
current meeting. Before adjourning the meeting, the team leader should summarize what the team
has accomplished, what the goals for the next meeting will be, and what people will be doing
between meetings.

5. Follow-Up After the meeting

After the meeting, the leader can assess how smoothly the meeting went. He or she can involve
other members from the group in this assessment. How did the meeting go? Did the meeting stay
on track? Where the pace and tone appropriate? Was the information presented in the best
sequence? What should have been done differently? Was too much information covered? Not
enough? Did everyone provide input or have an opportunity to do so.

After the meeting, the leader should get a summary of the meeting from the person assigned to
record the information. The summary of the meeting should follow the order of topics in the
agenda. It should clearly note specific actions, recommendations, or decisions. If group members
have assigned tasks or responsibilities, the summary should include names and corresponding
tasks or responsibilities with deadlines for completion. This helps remind people of what their next
actions should be. The group leader should send copies of the meeting summary to all
participants as soon as possible while the meeting is still fresh in everyone‘s mind.
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 MEETING SUMMARY
Purpose of meeting:
Date of meeting:
Location;
Individuals Attending:
Individuals Absent:
Action person(s) Responsible

Summary of Discussion

Figure . Form for summarizing a meeting.

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4.2.1.2. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF WRITTEN AND ORAL
COMMUNICATION
Both written and oral communication has advantages and disadvantages. Oral communication
has at least four advantages. Firstly, speed. Oral communication would enable to share
information with fast rate. Once the sender makes contact with his/her audience, there is no time
lag between the transmission of a message and its reception. A second advantage of oral
communication is it gives control means to the speaker.

Unlike in the written form of communication in which the recipient scan it superficially or not
read it at all, in a conversation, however, speaker have much more command over the receiver's
attention. The listener at least has to pretend to pay attention. Another enormous advantage of
oral communication is that, it permits instantaneous feedback. When the speaker directly
communicates to one or more listeners, he/she can respond to questions as soon as they arise -
an impossible feat in written communication. The speaker can rephrase or elaborate when
listeners seem confused, and he/she can speed up if details aren't necessary.

The speaker can revise hurriedly if he/she noticed he/she has used wrong word or confused the
audience. Fourthly, because of the tremendous amount of feedback available in oral
communication, it has been termed a "richer" communication channel than the written word.
Face-to-face interaction is the richest type of communication since it provides both visual and
vocal cues about the other parties. A telephone conversation lacks the visual feedback that often
reveals how the message is getting across.

The telephone still communicates vocal cues- tone of voice, pause, interruptions, and so on.
Telephone conversations also make it harder to hold the attention of your listener. The drawbacks
of telephone communication are offset by one tremendous advantage: it often helps to contact a
receiver who would be impossible to reach in person. The telephone can even help to get through
to busy people who are nearby.

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Despite its advantages, oral communication isn't a perfect medium. It has disadvantages.
Possibly, the greatest disadvantage of speech is its transience. All communication is fragile, but
the spoken word is, especially, prone to being forgotten or misunderstood. Listeners quickly forget
much of what they hear, half of a message almost immediately and half of the remainder two days
later. Thus, a customer might forget three of the five product features you mentioned, or am
manager might forget exactly why a team leader need more staff support, and only recall the
Dollar amount the leader requested.

Even if they remember an oral message, listeners are likely to distort it. There is also the problem
of serial transmission - the way a message changes as it passes from one person to another. Some
details drop out with each telling. Facts and figures change. Receivers may even invent variations
on the truth, just to make the story more interesting or to make it fit to their own idea of what
ought to have happened. The farther the message travels in space and time from its original
sender, the greater the chance of distortion.

Similarly, written communication has advantages and disadvantages. It has at least four major
advantages. Firstly, written communication provides a permanent record of the exchange. The
record usually saved for future reference. Even if the receiver has lost or forgotten the message, he
can refer to written remarks later. can always supply a copy from your files. The sender can also
send the receiver a copy of written message incase the receiver could able to access the message.
Secondly, written communication often n quite accurate information.

This is so because, the sender can take the time to collect and assimilate the information and can
draft and revise before it is transmitted. The receiver can take the time to read it carefully and can
refer to it repeatedly, as needed. For these reasons, it is generally preferable when important
details are involved. At times it is important to one or both parties to have a written record
available as evidence of exactly what took place. Thirdly, along with its permanence, written
communication can be easier to understand than speech.

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Readers can study complex passages as many times as necessary, a luxury they do not have when
the same message is delivered orally. They can take a break if they are interested and, after a cup
of coffee or a quick stretch, come back to what they were reading refreshed and ready to go on.
Fourthly, perhaps the greatest advantage of written communication is that, one can compose it in
advance. The sender can take as much time as necessary to shape a message just as he/she
wants it, pondering every word if necessary. He/ She can try out several versions on test readers
to anticipate the reactions of his/her real audience, and one can make changes until he/she get
the desired response. Finally, written messages are less likely to be distorted in the transmission.
Even the best -rehearsed oral presentations can go awry.

One can misplace an important set of papers, forget to mention a key idea, or come down with a
sudden cold on the big day. Furthermore, the spontaneity that makes spoken communication so
effective can backfire. Ones attempt to improve might sound confusing or lame, and the joke one
thought would make the perfect ice-breaker might fall flat. Every speaker has thought, hours after
a conversation, "If only I'd said..." When you communicate in writing, one has time to choose
exactly the right words.

Disadvantages of written communication among others include it is usually more difficult and
time consuming than oral communication. Furthermore, feedback usually takes long period in
written communication than oral communication. So which channel to use? The best medium will
be determined by the situation. Oral communication is often preferred when the message is
personal, non-routine, and brief. Written communication is usually best when the message is
more impersonal, routine, and longer.

One can also combine media to capitalize on the advantages of each. For example, a manager can
call a meeting using memo or formal letter. His secretary can make a follow up telephone call to
remind all of them for the meeting a day or 2 days before the date of the meeting. It would be more
effective. The following table presents the difference between oral and written communication and
conditions under which they can be used.

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ORAL COMMUNICATION WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

More personal More formal

Greater control over when and how thoroughly Little control over if, when and how thoroughly
message will be heard. message will be read

Immediate feedback. Delayed or nonexistent feedback.

Transitory, off the record. Permanent record.

Effective for relatively simple ideas. Effective for detailed, complex ideas.
Most effective for messages with visual or Less effective for visual or hands-on messages
hands – on elements

Most effective when seeking immediate, Most effective when seeking delayed,
emotional response thoughtful response.
(motivation, sales, and so on).

Possible loss of accuracy when message passes Ensures accuracy when message is passed from
through several people. one person to another.

Requires listener and speaker to be in same Does not require reader to be in same place at
place at same time. same time as writer.

Much nonverbal information available. Little nonverbal information available.

4.2.2 NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Nonverbal communication means "communicating without words." Nonverbal forms of
communication such as body language accompany oral communication. It includes Tone of voice,
sighs, screams, vocal qualities (loudness pitch, and so on), and gestures, movement appearance
facial expression and so on. Body language if we know people fairly well, we would be able to
detect the meanings of their body language – their facial expressions, eye contacts, hand gestures
and body postures. Body language can take many forms and have many meanings. It provides
clues to the real meaning of a speaker‘s words.
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As communication expert Norman Sigband has noted, when nonverbal messages conflict with
verbal messages, most of the time you should probably believe the nonverbal ones.

4.2.2.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

The following are the features of nonverbal communication.
A. Nonverbal communication exists. It always exists even when there is no conversation.
Style of dressing for example communicates something about the person.
B. All non verbal behavior has communicative value. Each nonverbal communication type
enables to communicate some value.
C. Nonverbal communication is culture – bound. Nonverbal communication is conditioned by
culture. It varies based on cultural norms.
D. Nonverbal communication is primarily relational. Non verbal communication is especially
well-suited to convey messages involving relational dimensions such as liking, respect, and
control. It is less effective at conveying thoughts or ideas.
E. Nonverbal communication serves many functions. Verbal and nonverbal communications
are interconnected elements in every act of communication. Nonverbal behaviors can
operate in several relationships with verbal messages. They can be used for repeating,
substituting, complimenting, accenting (emphasize oral messages), regulating (controlling
the flow of verbal communication), and contradicting.
F. Nonverbal communication is ambiguous. Verbal messages are easily misunderstood; but
nonverbal messages are even more ambiguous. However, not all-nonverbal behavior is
equally ambiguous.

4.2.2.2. TYPES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

The followings are types of nonverbal communication:
A. Body orientation. Body orientation indicates - the degree to which we face toward or away
from someone with our body, feet, and head. By observing the way people position themselves,
one can learn a good deal about how they feel.

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B. Posture. Posture furnishes information about how people feel about themselves and each
other.
C. Gestures. Gestures present signal/ emblem interesting to other party. Lack of gesturing may
signal a lack of interest, sadness, boredom, or low enthusiasm.
D. Face and Eyes. Face and eyes flash of emotions. The face and eyes are probably the most
noticed parts of the body, but this doesn't mean that their nonverbal messages are the easiest to
understand.
E. Voice. The voice itself is another channel of nonverbal communication. Social scientists use
the term paralanguage to describe nonverbal, vocal message. The way a message is spoken can
give the same word or words many meanings. For example, note how many meanings come from a
single sentence just by shifting the emphasis from one word to another.
F. Touch. Touch can communicate many messages and signal a variety of relationships. The
touching and avoidance of touching play a role in communication. A handshake, a slap on the
back, a tender touch on the arm or body – all convey messages.
Some examples are; functional/professional (dental exam, haircut), Social/polite (handshake),
friendship/warmth (clap on back), sexual arousal (some kisses, strokes) and aggression (shoves,
slaps).
G. Clothing. Besides giving protection, clothing style communicates about individual /
individuals. Among others clothing conveys to others about; educational level, trustworthiness,
social position, level of sophistication, economic background, social background, educational
background, level of success and moral character.
H. Proxemics. Proxemics refers to the space/ distance between people. There are four types of
distance / proxemics between people. These are: intimate distance (indicate how people are
emotionally very close to each other), personal distance (ranges from its closest point to its
farthest), social distance (ranges more formal and impersonal situations), and public distance
(refers to the farthest zone). Organizations communicate their respect and concern for their
employees by their use of space. Large, nicely appointed offices, and offices on upper floors,
usually go to top managers. Likewise, the amount of space between two people reveals quite
accurately the degree of intimacy of their communication, their status and the respect the accord
each other.
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I. Territoriality. Whereas personal space is the invisible bubble we carry around as an extension
of our physical being, territory remains stationary. Any geographical area such as a room, house,
neighborhood, or country to which we assume some kind of "rights" is our territory.
J. Physical environment. This refers to physical settings, architecture, and interior design that
affect communication. For example you may feel more comfortable in some homes than others no
matter how friendly the hosts are. Workers generally feel better and do a better job when they are
in an attractive environment.
K. Time. This is about people orientation about time. Time is not equally valued by all people.
Punctuality is critically important in the west, while ―Ye-Abesha ketero is the case in Ethiopia.
Culture of waiting in Ethiopia indicates status. Waiting time for low-status people is uncommon or
less.

4.2.2.3 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VERBAL AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

There are differences between verbal and nonverbal communication. The differences include the
followings.
A. Single versus Multiple Channels. Most verbal messages-words, sentences, and paragraphs-
reach the receiver at a time. In fact, it's physically impossible for a person to speak more than one
word at a time, unlike the spoken word; however, nonverbal messages don't arrive in such an
orderly, sequential manner. Instead, they bombard us simultaneously from a multitude of
channels. Consider the everyday act of meeting a stranger for the first time. In verbal
communication relatively little information is exchanged while a person could be overwhelmed
with a number of information in nonverbal communication as other people's expressions,
postures, gestures, clothing style and distance etc presents different information sometimes
contradictory one.

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B. Discrete vs. Continuous. Verbal messages-words, sentences, and paragraphs- form messages
with clear beginnings and endings. In this sense we can judge whether or not others are
communicating verbally [speaking or writing]. Unlike the written and spoken word, however,
nonverbal communication is continuous and never ending. Even the absence of a message (an
unanswered letter or an unreturned phone call] is message.

C. Clear vs. Ambiguous. While verbal communication can be confusing, most nonverbal cues are
even vague. Nonverbal messages are not completely ambiguous, of course: It is probably accurate
to guess that a frown signifies some sort of negative feeling and that a smile indicates a positive
emotion. But we often need language to tell us why others feel as they do. Is the boss smiling
because she likes your idea or because the finds it amusing, although completely impractical? The
best way to find out is to ask for a verbal clarification, not to depend on your reading of the
nonverbal cues.

D. Verbal versus Nonverbal Impact. When we are exposed to both verbal and nonverbal messages,
research shows that we find the nonverbal signals much more powerful. In a variety of settings
(including job interviews, therapy sessions, first meetings), adults rely more on nonverbal
messages than on words when interpreting the messages of others. Nonverbal cues are especially
likely to carry weigh when they contradict a speaker's words.

E. Deliberate versus Unconscious. Most nonverbal messages are not deliberate. Of course we do
pay attention to some of our nonverbal behavior: smiling when we want to convince others we're
happy, or making sure our hands shake is firm to show that we're straightforward and decisive.
But there are so many nonverbal channels that it's impossible to think about and to control all of
them. Thus, our slumping shoulders might contradict our smiles, and our sweating palms might
cancel out all the self-confidence of our firm handshakes. The unconscious nature of most
nonverbal behavior explains why it offers so many useful cues about how others are feeling.

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4.3 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION BASED ON ORGANIZATIONAL BOUNDARIES
Based on organizational boundaries with in which communication takes place and purpose of
communication, organizational communication can be classified as internal communication and
external communication.

4.3.1. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Internal communication is the process of exchanging information between and among the people
of different level or internal participants within the organization. It denotes a type of
communication within the organization. It refers to communication transactions between
individuals and/or groups at various levels and in different areas of specializations that are
intended to design and redesign organization to implement designs, and to co-ordinate day-to-day
activities. This is also known as inter-communication. When the inter communication takes place
between the employees of the same department, it is called inter departmental communication
and when it takes place between the employees of different departments of the same organization,
it is called intra-departmental communication. The internal communications includes letters,
face-to-face casual conversations. Formal meetings, phone calls memos, notices, instructions and
orders.

Communication within an organization is a key to success. An organization‘s adaptability to

external changes relies on efficient communication internally. It was found that internal
communication operates five roles: communicator, educator, change agent, communication
consultant an organization strategist (Berger, 2008). Alignment of the goals of individual
employees to organization goals is seen as an important task for internal communication. This
alignment is necessary in order to build a strong organizational culture. It is not possible to
perform managerial activities without using internal communication.

Internal communication incorporates both – official and unofficial communication. Official

communication constitutes memos guidelines, polices, procedures, etc. Unofficial
communication extends in all directions among line staff members, meaning exchange of ideas,
opinions, development of personal relationships and proverbial conversations (ctb.ku.edu).
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Several scholars have proven the empirical evidence on the positive relationship between internal
communication and organizational effectiveness. The main benefits of internal communication
are: improved productivity, reduced absenteeism, higher quality of services and products,
increased levels of innovation, fewer strikes and reduced costs.

4.3.2. EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION

External communication is a formal exchange of information and messages between an
organization and other organizations, groups or individuals outside of the organization. It occurs
between those within the company and those in the outside world. External communication is
needed for smooth conduct and the progress of the business. This form of communication takes
place through personal visits, telephones and postal services. External communication focuses on
audiences outside the organization as consumers, investors, regulatory bodies etc. it can takes
place through different means such as fact sheets, press kits, newsletters, magazines, brochures,
news releases and annual reports. Also tactics as speeches, conferences, open houses and tours,
public projects include tactics directed to external audiences.

Companies/ organizations with good external communication activities would exhibit traits and
characteristics of visionary organizations- those who are innovators, showing consistent
improvements in their performance. The following table summarizes important differences
between internal and external communication.

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4.4. TYPES OF COMMUNICATION BASED ON TYPE OF ORGANIZATION

Organizations can be classified into formal and informal based on relationships. Formal
organizations are deliberately created by managers while informal (shadow) organizations are
spontaneously created by members (social groups). Formal organization shows formal
relationships among different units / people in an organization while informal organization shows
informal relationships between among people in an organization. Therefore, based on relationship
communication in an organization can be divided into formal communication network and
informal communication network. Each discussed below.

4.4.1. Formal Communication Networks

Formal networks are systems designed by management to dictate formal communication. In a
small organization, networks are so simple that they may hardly be noticeable; in a larger
organization, networks become more intricate. Organizational charts-sometimes called tables of
organization- represent formal networks. Information circulates through formal communication
network in several directions. It occurs through official channels. It is sanctioned by the
organization, memos, policies, procedures, and reports of committee meetings are the example of
formal communication. The formal communication network consists of vertical–upward and
downward, horizontal and diagonal communication, each discussed below.

Vertical communication
Patterns of Vertical communication have received a good deal of attention, primarily because they
are vital in organizational operations. In the organization, vertical communications involve both
upward and downward flows
i. Downward Communication
Downward communication takes place whenever a supervisor sends a message to one or more
subordinates. It flows from individuals at higher levels of the hierarchy to those at lower levels.
The most common downward communication is job instruction, official memo, policy statement,
procedure, manual, and institutional publication. In large organization, a trained staff of
communication experts undertakes communicating with employees often.

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The usual function of the staff is to produce a publication aimed at three purposes:
1. To explain the organization‘s plans and programs as they are implemented.
2. To answer complaints and criticisms.
3. To defend the existing strategy and those who are responsible for it.
Downward communication takes several types. Among others it includes:
 Job instructions. Directions about what to do or how to do it. ―When you restock the
shelves, put the new merchandise behind the old stock.‖
 Job rationale. Explanations of how one task relates to another task. ―We rotate the stock
like that so the customers won‘t up with stale merchandise.‖
 Procedures and practices. Information about rules, regulations, policies, and benefits.
―Don‘t try to argue with unhappy customers. If you can‘t handle them yourself, call the
manger.‖
 Feedback. Information about how effectively a person is performing. ―You‘re really catching
on fast. If you keep up the good work, you‘ll be an assistant manager by the end of the
year.‖
 Indoctrination. Information aimed at motivating employees by impressing the mission of
the organization upon them and specifying how they should relate to it.

Problems with Downward Communication

Even the best organizations often don‘t use downward communication as effectively as possible. In
some cases there isn‘t enough information, and in others the messages that do travel down aren‘t
clear or complete. These problems fall into several categories.
 Lack of awareness.
 Insufficient or unclear messages.
 Message overload.
B. Upward Communication
Upward communication occurs when messages flow from subordinates to superiors. It consists of
messages from subordinates to superiors. Many leading NGOs/ businesses attribute their success
to the emphasis on upward communication in their organization. A high-performing organization
needs effective upward communication. However, it is often necessary for sound decision making.
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Widely used upward communication devices include suggestion boxes, group meeting, reports to
supervisors, and appeal or grievance procedures. In the absence of these flows, employees find
ways to adapt to nonexistent or inadequate upward communication channels.
Types of Message in Upward Communication:
1. What subordinates are doing highlights of their work, achievements, progress and future job
plans.
2. Outlines of unsolved work problem on which subordinates now need or may acquire help in
future.
3. Suggestions for improvements within the departments/organization as whole.
4. How subordinates think and feel about their job, their associates and their organization.
Problems with Upward Communication
Some Problems in Upward Communication:
1. To make message more acceptable to superiors. It subordinated believe that disclosure of his
feelings, opinions or difficulties may lead a superior to block or hinder that attainment of a
personnel goal.
2. When subordinates have significantly less power and status.
3. When trust between parties is weak. I.e. lack of confidence (by subordinates) in their superior.

Most of the responsibilities for improving upward communication rest on managers. The place to
begin for mangers is to announce their willingness to hear from subordinates. A number of
vehicles facilitate upward messages; to name a few, an ―open door‖ policy, grievance procedures,
periodic interviews, group meetings, and the suggestion box, to name a few. Informal types of
contact can often be most effective; chats during breaks, in the work place, or at social gatherings
can sometimes tell more than planned sessions. Both managers and employees can play to
improve upward communication.
Making Upward Communication:
(a) Management should
1. Create an informal climate that encourages upward communication.
2. Make the formal structure of information flow as much effective as possible.
3. Reward employees‘ initiatives to communicate up wards.
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4. Develop an environment of mutual trust in the organization.
(b) Subordinate should
1. Alert superiors in advance to potential bad news in areas in which they are responsible.
2. Information their superior, without delay, of problems which may affect his/her job or
reputation with the boss or peers.
3. Advise their boss for the substantiate decision, they have made which may come to his/her
attention.
4. Keep their superior aware of their department‘s significant achievement.
5. Tell their boss of any major mistakes they have made and the corrective action taken.
6. Consider the initiative for upward communication as having significant effect on organizational
performance as a whole.

Horizontal Communication

Horizontal (sometimes called ―lateral‖) communication consists of messages between members of

an organization with equal power. The most obvious type of horizontal communication goes on
between members of the same division of an organization; office workers in the same department,
co-workers on a construction project, and so on. In other cases, lateral communication occurs
between people from different areas; accounting call maintenance to get a machine repaired,
hospital admissions calls intensive care to reserve a bed, and so on.

Although vertical communication flows are primary considerations in organization design, effective
organization needs horizontal communication. Horizontal communication is especially important
in organizations for the following purposes:
1. To coordinate tasks when several employees or departments are each working on part of an
important project.
2. To solve problems such as how to reduce waste or how to increase the production.
3. To share information such as an easier way to perform a task or the result of a new survey.
4. To resolve conflict such as disagreements between coworkers.
5. To save time and cost by shortening the length chains of communication.
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Factors inhibiting horizontal communication
Despite the importance of these five functions, several forces work to discourage communication
between peers.
 Rivalry.
 Specialization.
 Lack of motivation.
 Information overload.
 Physical barriers.

Diagonal Communication

It refers to the flow of messages between the superior of a certain department and subordinates of
another department. For example the management may allow the manager of the finance
department to directly communicate with manager of HIV/ AIDs division, with legal affairs unit,
and with production plant, which actually are under line command of the production department.
Diagonal Communication is the least used channel of communication in an organization. It is
important in situation in which members cannot communicate effectively through other channel.

4.4.2. INFORMAL COMMUNICATION NETWORK

Informal channel consists of the communication chain and networks created by friendship and
social association within the work environment. Feeling, attitude, and concern can be transmitted
and received through the informal channel. Informal communication grows out of the social
interaction among people who work together. It occurs outside formal channels. It does not appear
as formal patterns of relationship. It serves to provide communication routes to the member of
small group. It takes place continuously and includes impromptu discussion and conversation
among friends. Informal communication may be limited to two persons or more. Informal
networks develop for several reasons. Some are based on physical proximity. Despite their
distance on an organizational chart, some people communicate simply because they spend time
close to one another. The office workers who overheard the layoff information fall into this
category. Other networks from around the shared career interests of their members, as in the case
of the management trainees who use computer.
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Finally, some networks are based on personal friendships. Sometimes these friendships would
exist even if there were no working relationship between the members. In other cases, the
friendship is more of a means to an end for one or both of the parties. And communication experts
indicated that about 90 percent of what goes on in a company has nothing to do with formal
events. Thus manager must be attuned to the nature of informal communication, the amount of
information flowing, and the accuracy.

4.4.2.1. Importance of Informal Communication

There are several reasons why informal networks are so important. These include:
A. Amount of Information- Informal networks carries a tremendous amount of information.
Managers spent a great deal of time with people who were not direct subordinates, superiors, or
peers- people with whom, according to the official chain of command, they had no need to deal.
Many of these people seemed relatively unimportant to outsiders: secretaries, lower-level
subordinates, and supervisors with little power. Despite their unrelated job descriptions and low
official status, successful managers all seemed to cultivate these contacts.

B. Speed- Since they are not forced to follow official channels, these informal sources often
provide information much faster than official methods. While a memo announcing a new policy is
being typed and duplicated, a series of telephone calls from one person to another can spread the
news throughout an organization.
C. Accuracy- Informal contacts often provide more accurate information than official channels.
Research has demonstrated that informal networks are consistently accurate-between 80 and 90
percent according to many studies. Informal messages are relatively accurate because their face-
to–face nature allows more clarification than the written, one-way, serially transmitted messages
that come via formal channels. However, as the emotional impact of a message grows, the chances
of its being distorted increase.

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4.4.2.2. Forms of Informal Communication

Grapevine and rumor are the major forms of informal communication. Grapevine is an informal
communication network. It coexists with formal communication system. Grapevines are found in
all organizations except the very smallest. The grapevine in organization is made up of several
informal communication networks that overlap and intersect at a number of points. Grapevine
does not always follow the same patterns as, nor do they necessarily coincide with formal
channels or authority and communication.

Furthermore, it is not possible to predict the speed, accuracy, or final content of a message
carried by the grapevine. Messages may be abbreviated, magnified, restructured, elaborated, or
generally trusted all out of shape. Sometimes official messages must be issued to counteract the
inaccuracies of the grapevine. At other times it can spread information very quickly and
accurately. No matter how well it ―works‖ or does not, it cannot be eliminated, controlled, and
systematized. The message invariably carries the personal impression and emotional reaction of
each person.

Research has identified several kinds of grapevines. The gossip chain and cluster chain are most
commonly found in the organization. The gossip chain occurs when one person spreads the
message to as many others as possible. Each of these people, in turn, may either keep the
information confidential or pass it on to others. It is likely to carry personal information. The other
common grapevine is the cluster chain, in which some person may pass the information to a
selected few individuals and the rest may keep it to them.
Features of the grapevine are:
- Fast
- Flexible
- Personal
-Influential
-Short-lived

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The use of the grapevine
Even though the grapevine‘s reliability can never be determined with complete certainty, it does
serve useful functions. Among other these include:
1. It satisfies a need, employee has to enjoy friendly relation with his fellow employee.
2. It helps the employee to make sense out of his work environment, especially in interpreting
unclear order form superior.
3. It acts as a safety value. When person is confused and unclear about what is going to happen to
them, he uses the grapevine to let out his anxiety. When he feels powerless to direct his destiny,
passing a rumor along the grapevine is a way of expressing and releasing negative energy.
4. When people gossip about someone who is not present, they often pass judgments. Some
people pass judgment on other to find out where they stand.

The word rumor is used as a synonym for the whole grapevine, but there is some difference
between the two terms. Rumor is grapevine information that is communicated without secure
standard of evidence. It may be unverified and untrue part of the grapevine. The rumor would give
poor reputation. Generally people spread rumor, who are interested in the subject. In the course
of a day, the details of a rumor may change, but the theme will remain the same. Sometime it
plays as an agent for wish fulfillment. The problem with rumor is that it is especially subject to
distortion because people are interested in the subject matter. They filter and distort those details
that do not interest them and enlarge and elaborate the one that do.

Manager should try to stop only important rumor that affects morale and productivity. The rumor
should be clarified as quickly as possible. Face-to-face conversation or group meetings are the
best method for stopping dangerous rumor from spreading. It cannot be controlled, no matter how
well it works. The best thing is to try to understand it.

Informal networks have several advantages. Among others informal communication can provide
valuable information and advice without formally engaging in a long process. Informal
communication can supplement the formal channels and they create a healthy interpersonal
environment. Informal communication enhances interpersonal confidence within the organization
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4.4.2.3. Why Special Attention is needed in Informal Communication
Special attention is needed in informal communication because of the functions in the informal
communication serves. Informal communication serves several functions. Among others these
include:
A. Confirming- Some informal communication confirms formal messages. You have probably
heard this sort of confirmation yourself: ―The boss is really serious about cutting down on long–
distance calls this time. I heard him yelling about it when I walked past his office.‖
B. Expanding- Informal communication can fill in the gaps left by incomplete formal messages.
You might say to an experienced co–worker: ―The invitation to the office says ‗casual dress.‘ What
does that mean-jeans and T-shirt or sport coat and tie?‖
C. Expediting- Informal networks can often deliver messages more quickly than official channels.
D. Contradicting- Sometimes informal networks contradict official messages. You might learn from
a friend in accounting department that the deadline for purchases on the budget of this year isn‘t
as firm as it sounded in the controller‘s recent memo.
E. Circumventing- Informal contacts can sometimes help you bypass official channels that are
unnecessarily cumbersome and time-consuming.
F. Supplementing- Sometimes even a management realizes that informal communication can get
the job done better than the more formal variety. Paradoxical as it seems, many companies elevate
informal communication to an official policy by encouraging open, unstructured contacts between
people from various parts of the organization. Enlightened organizations do everything possible to
encourage constructive, informal interaction. Some firms mingle workers from different
departments in` the same office, convinced that people who rub elbows will swap ideas and see
themselves as part of a company-wide team.

4.5. TYPES OF COMMUNICATION BASED ON PERSONS INVOLVED IN COMMUNICATION

Communication occurs in a context, a set of circumstances or situations. It can occur between
two friends, among five business acquaintances in a small group setting, and between a lecturer
and an audience that fills an auditorium. The importance of the context is less obtrusive in some
situations would and of greater importance in others. The number of people involved in
communication could affect the kind of communication that occurs.

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Based on the persons involved therefore, communication can be categorized as intrapersonal,
interpersonal and public communication. The differences among these situations/types would
affect our choices of the most appropriate verbal and nonverbal cues.

4.5.1. INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Intrapersonal communication is the process of understanding and sharing meaning within the
self. It is the process of sensing, thinking, perception, evaluating and interpreting events within
the self mind of an individual. For intrapersonal communication, different persons may respond
differently to a single message because of differences in their perception and thinking. Why would
we need to communicate with ourselves? Suppose you and your husband share the same attitude
toward education and a future career. You plan to attend school together next year and later
operate your own business.

One day, your husband informs you that he intends to work after graduation in NGO. This action,
in your opinion, will seriously limit your future together. When you begin to share your feelings
with your husband, your husband, becomes angry and replies that it is just one more example of
your narrow-mindedness. You probably feel a certain amount of psychological discomfort. What
do you think is likely to occur?
(1) You could dismiss your husband‘s remark and the change of plans as irrelevant and act as
though nothing has happened to alter your relationship.
(2) You could dismiss your husband from any interactions with you.
(3) You could decide you were wrong to prejudge your husband‘s change of plans and that your
husband was correct in pointing it out to you. None of these outcomes is immediately likely,
however. Instead, you are more apt to consider these alternatives- and others-as you try to
understand what has occurred.

You are thus, engaged in communication within yourself. Intrapersonal communication occurs, as
this example suggests, when we evaluate or examine, the interaction that occurs between
ourselves and others, but it is not merely limited to such times. This form of communication
occurs prior to, and during, other forms of communication as well.

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Intrapersonal communication is not restricted to ―talking to ourselves‖; it also includes such
activities as internal problem solving, resolving internal conflict, planning for the future, and
evaluating ourselves and our relationships with others. Intrapersonal communication involves
only the self and it must be clearly understood by the self before it is the basis for all other
communication.

Continually engaged in intrapersonal communication, we might become more easily observed in

talking to ourselves when we are alone – walking to class, driving to work, taking a shower – but
most of us would be involved in this form of communication in crowded circumstances as well –
during a lecture, at a party, or when visiting friends. Think about the last time you looked at
yourself in a mirror. What were your thoughts? Although intrapersonal communication is almost
continuous, we seldom focus on our communication with ourselves.

4.5.2. INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Interpersonal communication refers to the personal process of understanding and sharing

meaning between at least two people when relatively mutual opportunities for speaking and
listening occur. It involves exchanging information, ideas, opinions, feelings relating to the
personal, social, organizational, national and international matter who are located in the same
place. Like intrapersonal communication, interpersonal communication occurs for a variety of
reasons: to solve problems, to resolve conflicts, to share information, to improve our perception of
ourselves, or to fulfill such social needs as the need to belong or to be loved. Through our
interpersonal communication, we are able to establish relationships with others, including
friendships and romantic relationships. Interpersonal communication is further divided into
dyadic communication and group communication.

Dyadic communication, a subset of interpersonal communication, simply refers to two-person

communication and includes interviews with an employer or a teacher; talks with a parent,
spouse, or child; and interactions among strangers, acquaintances, and friends. Small group
communication, another subset of interpersonal communication refers to purposeful
communication in limited-sized groups in which decision making or problem solving occurs.

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Small group communication occurs in social organizations, such as clubs, civic groups, and
church groups, and in business settings. The addition of more people could greatly complicate
communication. Although each of us holds conflicting perceptions, beliefs, values, and attitudes,
the differences between two people are generally far greater than those within an individual. In
addition, we all have different ways of expressing what we feel. Consequently, the possibility of
successful communication decreases.

Interpersonal communication is generally considered to be the most influential form of

communication and the most satisfying to the individuals involved in it. Interpersonal
communication often occurs in an informal setting and generally involves face-to-face verbal and
nonverbal exchanges and a sharing of the roles of source (speaker) and receiver (listener). The
following table presents important differences between interpersonal (just when two persons are
involved) and intrapersonal communication.

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4.5.3. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION
Public communication may be understood the process of understanding and sharing meaning
with an audience, whereby one person is generally identified as the source (speaker) and others
are recognized as receivers (listeners). The speaker adapts the message to the audience in an
attempt to achieve maximum understanding. Sometimes, virtually everyone in the audience may
understand the speaker‘s message; at other times, many people could fail to understand the
speaker.

Public communication, or public speaking, is recognized by its formality, structure, and planning.
We become frequently the listeners of public communication in lecture classes, at convocations,
and at religious services. Sometimes, we are speakers: when we speak with a group, when we try
to convince other voters of the merits of a particular candidate for office, or when we introduce a
guest speaker to a large audience. Public communication most often informs or persuades, but it
can also entertain, introduce, announce, welcome, or pay tribute.

To conclude, the various contexts of communication – intrapersonal, interpersonal, and public-are

described on the basis of the number of people involved, the degree of a setting‘s formality or
intimacy, the opportunities for feedback, the need for restructuring messages, and the degree of
stability of the roles of the speaker and the listener.

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 Case on Interpersonal Communication
Wt. Almaz, a second year post graduate diploma student at Ambo University, worked thirty
hours a week at a local NGO’s department store – a very busy schedule. Almaz wanted to
spend more time with her coworkers but her study has not allowed her to do so. Other
workers usually have lunch together, but Almaz has to study during lunch break four days a
week. She usually could not participate in social life. Almaz become increasingly quiet at
work and felt more alienated as time passed. Her coworkers began to suspect that “she” was
avoiding them because she felt superior. Therefore, they began to plan activities that
excluded Almaz. Despite this fact, Almaz’s work was found to be exemplary, and she
became eligible for promotion to supervisor.

Her boss told her promotion depends on whether the other workers would accept her
leadership and cooperate with her. However, Almaz’s coworkers were resentful of the
possible promotion of a person who has so little experience at the store. They also felt she
was being “pushed ahead” because she was a postgraduate student. At lunch, that day, they
decided that Almaz should not get the promotion if they had anything to say about it. One of
the employees offered to tell the boss how they felt. Two days later Wt. Almaz was called in
to the office. Her boss explained that she wasn’t going to be promoted because she didn’t
seem to be getting along well with the others, and it did not look as if they would cooperate
with her. What made her coworkers feel that Almaz thought she was superior to them? Why
did the misunderstanding between Wt.Almaz and her coworkers grow to this level? Why did
they not discuss their differences? Is Wt. Almaz: situation realistic? Identify a similar
experience in which you had a misunderstanding with another person or with other people.
How did you resolve it?
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4.6. CHAPTER SUMMARY

Communication can be divided into different types based on different criteria. The general
classifications are corporate communication, internal communication, advocacy communication,
and development communication. There may be many other types and subtypes of
communication.

Based on medium of communication to be used communication is classified into two major forms:
verbal communication and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication consists of either
speech (oral communication) or writing. Non-verbal communication consists of body language and
the use of time, space, touch, clothing, appearance, and aesthetic elements to convey the
message.

Verbal communications are transmitted by means of two primary channels: oral communication
and written communication. Oral communication frequently involves the other channels as well.
In verbal communication, we find written communication and oral communication. Written
communication is almost totally a function of the word chosen and the structuring of sentences
and paragraphs. It represents memo, letter, report, note, and other circumstance in which the
written word is used to transmit meaning. It is usually more difficult and time consuming than
oral communication.

Letters, memos and reports are common forms of written communication in organization. Letters
and memos constitute basic official correspondence. Correspondence and reports have different
purposes. Reports explain, support, and justify decision; help to make decisions. In contrast,
correspondence usually used to communicate routine, day-to-day information inside and outside
the organization. Business letters have business functions and help to clearly and concisely
communicate the message. There are there three styles of business letter: block style, modified
block style, and simplified style. Each letter styles generally constitute nine items: Return
address, Date, inside address, Salutation, Letter body, Complimentary close, Signature, Typed
name and title and Reference information. These elements will help to clearly and concisely
communicate the message.
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People primarily and regularly communicate using memos within organizations. Memos are used,
among others, to inform others and to present bad news. Unlike letters, memos are written
usually in a more informal and candid way. The direct-deductive approach is often used if staff
members (insiders) more interested in the message while the indirect-inductive approach would be
more appropriate when the message carries bad news. Letters and memos usually kept to one
page or less to ensure greater readability. The formats of letters and memo could differ, but the
structure of ideas within most letters and memos follows one of three basic plans.

A report is a formal document written on a subject, to convey information and ideas about an
issue/s. In organizations, they often provide the basis for important decisions; they are often the
sole way that ideas and proposals are communicated. Reports can be classified in six different
ways – according to function, subject matter, formality, origin, frequency of issue and type of
appearance. Reports may be also classified as short and long reports based on length. Both types
of reports have different nature and sub-typologies. Short reports are divided into informational
and analytical reports. The central purpose of informational reports is to inform and to summarize
facts, similarly to the speech that is intended to inform.

Obviously, these reports vary widely in content, depending on type of business, purpose, topics
discussed, and readers' needs. Conference reports, progress reports, and periodic reports are the
common types of informational reports. In contrast to the informational memorandum report, the
analytical memorandum report seeks to analyze a situation or problem; it may end with or
without a specific recommendation. Feasibility and justification report types fall under this
category. Long reports are divided into different sections each can divided into subsections. The
major sections include; title page, abstract/ executive summary, table of contents, introduction,
main body, conclusion, recommendations, references/ bibliography and appendices. Each
subsections serve different purpose. The title page of the research report normally contains the
report title; the name of the person, company, or organization for whom the report has been
prepared; the name of the author and the company or university which originated the report; and
the date the report was completed.
An abstract commonly used in academics while an abstract is used for non- academic writing.
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Both presents summarized information and written after the rest of report is completed. The
purpose of an abstract is identical to an executive summary, but condensed down to usually a
single paragraph. Table of contents presents list of items/ contents in the report and shows how
the report is organized. An introduction part of the report gives introductory information that can
guide readers. Every report should have an introduction. The body part presents detail
information. Conclusion come at the end of a report and indicates the position of the researcher
about the situation/ his/her findings. It is not a summary of findings rather what the findings are
implying. Recommendations tell what action should be taken to address the problem / gap.

One needs to consider the planning steps before start writing a report. This planning process is, of
course, much more detailed for long, formal reports than for shorter presentations. Nevertheless,
for all reports adequate preparation before writing involves defining purpose, determine audience
or reader and medium. Well written reports fulfill the principles of completeness, conciseness,
concreteness, conviction, objectivity, consideration and courtesy, clarity, and correctness. Oral
communication involves face to face conversation, telephone conservation, active listing,
interviews and meetings. All share a number of characteristics.

Telephone conversation is a type of oral communication that takes between two people using
telephone as channel. Effective listening involves interpretation, understanding and action.
Interview is the way of exchange of information and conversation between interviewer and
interviewee. Meetings are the most popular method of interactive communication. It provides a
useful opportunity for sharing information, making suggestions and proposals, taking decisions
and obtaining instant feedback.

Both written and oral communication has advantages and disadvantages. The choice of the
medium of communication depends on the context. Oral communication is often preferred when
the message is personal, non-routine, and brief. Written communication is usually best when the
message is more impersonal, routine, and longer. One can also combine media to capitalize on the
advantages of each.
Nonverbal communication means "communicating without words." Nonverbal is a form of

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communication without using wards Tone of voice, sighs, screams, vocal qualities (loudness pitch,
and so on), and gestures, movement appearance facial expression and so on. Body language can
take many forms and have many meanings. Body orientation, posture, gestures, face and eyes
contacts, voice, touch, clothing, proxemics, territoriality, physical environment and time are the
major types of nonverbal communication each having different meaning in different context.

Based on organizational boundaries with in which communication takes place and purpose of
communication, organizational communication can be classified as internal communication and
external communication. Internal communication denotes a type of communication within the
organization. The internal communications includes letters, face-to-face casual conversations both
official and unofficial forms. Formal meetings, phone calls memos, notices, instructions and
orders. Internal communication enables organizations to adapt itself with eternal environment.
External communication is a formal exchange of information and messages between an
organization and other organizations, groups or individuals outside of the organization. It occurs
between those within the company and those in the outside world. It is needed for smooth
conduct and the progress of the business as it focuses on audiences outside the organization as
consumers, investors, regulatory bodies etc.

Based on relationship, communication in an organization can be divided into formal

communication network and informal communication network. Formal networks are systems
designed by management to dictate formal communication. It occurs through official channels. It
is sanctioned by the organization, memos, policies, procedures, and reports of committee meetings
are the example of formal communication. The formal communication network consists of vertical,
horizontal and diagonal communication.

Downward communication flows from individuals at higher levels of the hierarchy to those at
lower levels. Upward communication occurs when messages flow from subordinates to superiors.
It consists of messages from subordinates to superiors. Horizontal communication consists of
messages between members of an organization with equal power.
Diagonal Communication occurs when message follows between the superior of a certain

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department and subordinates of another department. It is the least used channel of
communication in an organization. It is important in situation in which members cannot
communicate effectively through other channel.

Informal channel consists of the communication chain and networks created by friendship and
social association within the work environment. Informal communication grows out of the social
interaction among people who work together. It occurs outside formal channels. Informal
communication has got attention because of many reasons of which tremendous amount of
information it provides, speed of communication and accuracy of information (mostly accurate)
are worth mentioning. Grapevine and rumor are the major forms of informal communication.
Rumor is unverified and untrue part of the grapevine.

Based on the persons involved, communication can be categorized as intrapersonal, interpersonal

and public communication. Intrapersonal communication is the process of understanding and
sharing meaning within oneself. Interpersonal communication refers to the personal process of
understanding and sharing meaning between at least two people when relatively mutual
opportunities for speaking and listening occur. It involves exchanging information, ideas,
opinions, feelings relating to the personal, social, organizational, national and international matter
who are located in the same place. Public communication may be understood the process of
understanding and sharing meaning with an audience, whereby one person is generally identified
as the source (speaker) and others are recognized as receivers (listeners).

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Chapter Reflections
1. Briefly discuss verbal and nonverbal communication; formal and informal communication;
internal and external communication; intrapersonal, interpersonal and public communication.
2. Compare and contrast verbal and nonverbal communication; formal and informal
communication; internal and external communication; intrapersonal, interpersonal and public
communication.
3. Obtain samples (at least 5) of memos, official letters, and reports and critically examine the
elements, styles and content of the message.
4. Evaluate meeting management practice in your organization
5. Compare and contrast memos, official letters/ business and reports

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CHAPTER 5: BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

5.1. INTRODUCTION
Communication breakdown can occur because of the interference of several causes that reduces
mutual understanding at any point in the process. Several factors may disrupt the
communication process or serve as barriers to effective communication. A communication
breakdown or barrier may occur at any point in the communication cycle. The cause may be
ascribed to the speaker, the message, the channel, or the receiver. Furthermore, a barrier may
arise from the environment in which the communication process takes place.

Learning objectives
 To be able to understand the effective of communication breakdown and
methods/strategies of improving communication effectiveness
 To be able to improve communication effectiveness while managing NGO activities

5.2. MAJOR CAUSES OF COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN

Physical barriers, semantic barriers, organizational size, conflicting frames of reference,
interpersonal (psycho-social) barriers, language difference, lack of interest, information overload,
filtering, loss by transmission and poor retention are the major causes for communication
breakdown.
Each discussed below briefly.
1. Physical barriers: They are communication interference that occurs in the environment in
which the communication takes places. It includes noise distance and time.
A. Noise:
 Distracting noise that temporarily drowns out a voiced message.
 Poor telephone connection.
 Illegible written document.

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B. Distance: Physical distance, especially when modern media of communication is unavailable.
C. Time: Apparent (easily seen or understand; plain) in organizations. For example where shift
working hour is adopted.

2. Semantic Barriers: Semantic refers to meaning of words/ phrases in a language. Since

communication involves the transmission of information and understanding through the use of
symbols (words), the meaning attached to words is very important.

A. Words with several meaning (context): Words have several meanings according to the context of
their uses. For example the word ―round‖ has 110 different meanings (Webster‘s third new
international dictionary) – 23 as adjective, 42 as noun, 16 as verb, 13 as preposition and 16 as
adverb. People can interpret and understand works differently.

B. The use of technical jargon and by-passed instruction: Occupational, professional and social
groups often develop words and phrases that have restricted meaning. These restricted/
specialized meanings which are called technical jargons may facilitate communication within the
group; however, they hamper communication with another group.

3. Organizational Size: the more hierarchical levels and separate units involved, the more difficult
it is to have effective communication. In large organizations, there is a large volume of paper flow
hence there is a chance that a message will get lost. Satisfaction with communication is likely to
decrease as number of organization members increase and as the hierarchical levels increase.

4. Conflicting Frames of Reference: Frame of reference refers to one‘s background which results
from his experience knowledge, types of work and which affects the extent of his/her familiarity
with various signals used in the encoding and decoding process.
- Difference in educational background.
- Difference in jobs and occupation.
- Difference in the level of management.

5. Interpersonal (psycho-social) Barriers: Communication breakdown may also occur due to

psychological and sociological causes. They are as follows:

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A. Attitudes and opinions: The information we read or hear agrees with our views and attitudes,
we tend to accept it and react favorably towards it.
B. Emotions: Emotions also result in miscommunication when personal or business upsets occur,
people sometimes unjustly take out their problems on others. To be good communicators, we
must realize that people may react inconsistently when they are influenced by their emotions. We
should select a normal state of mind.
C. Status Consciousness/ power: This barrier is most evident in organizations, where pyramid
structure distinguishes differences in status and positions. Such explicit status distinction
restricts interactions by subordinates upward to their superiors - the effect extending even to
informal/ social interactions.
D. Source Credibility: This refers to the trust, confidence, and faith that the receiver has in the
words/ actions of the communicator. This level of credibility directly affects how the receiver views
and reacts to the words and actions of the communicator.
E. Poor Listening: Listening skill is the major factor for effective oral communication However one
may have marginal attention in which case he/she cannot fully listen to what is being
transmitted.
6. Language Difference: Language difference is often closely related to differences in individual
perception. When the same symbolic meaning is not shared between sender and receiver, there
will be no effective communication.
7. Lack of Interest: The recipients‘ interest in the contents of the message will depend on their
prior attitude towards the sender, the content, and the implications of the message.
8. Information Overload: The individual is leaded with more information; he may face a problem of
effectively processing each information.
9. Filtering: The concept of communication filtering suggest that as information flows downward
or upward, the chain of command, content of critical nature reflecting on the state of affairs in
―filtered out‖ at each level of the hierarchy.

10. Loss by Transmission: Loss by transmission results when information is relayed from one
person to another continuously. The information becomes less and less accurate because it is
filtered and finally loses its authenticity.

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11. Poor Retention: It is naturally difficult to retain information without repetition. Such failure to
retain messages results in miscommunication and distortion, often necessitation of the messages.

5.3. IMPROVING COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS

Manager striving to become better communicator has to separate task. First he/she must improve
his/ message the information he/she wish to transmit. Second, he/she must improve his /her
own understanding of what other people are trying to communicate to him/her. He/she must
become better encoder and decoder. He/she must strive not only to be understood but also to
understand.

5.3.1. TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING COMMUNICATION

GENERAL
A. Follow Up; it involves assuming that you may have been misunderstood and whenever possible,
attempting to determine whether you intended meaning was actually received.
B. Regulating information Flow: it ensures an optimum flow of information to managers, thereby
elimination the barrier of communication overload. Both the quality and quantity are controlled.
C. Feedback; it is an important element in effective two-way communication. it provides a channel
for receiver response, enabling the communicator to determine whether the message has been
received and has produced the intended response.
D. Empathy: it is the ability to put oneself in the other person‘s role and to assume the viewpoints
and emotions of that other person. This ability involves being receiver oriented rather than
communicator oriented. The form of a communication should depend largely on what is known
about the receivers. It requires the communicator to place himself in the receiver‘s position for the
purpose of anticipating how the message is likely to decoded.
E. Simplifying language: Complexity of language has been identified as a major barrier to effective
communication. The student often suffers when his instructor uses technical jargon that
transforms simple concepts into complex puzzles. In an organization, the manager must
remember that effective communication involves transmitting understanding. If the receiver does
not understand, then there has been no communication.

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The management focus indicates that simplifying and using correct language is taken seriously by
the organization.
F. Effective listening: Just listening is not enough; one must listen with understanding. Numerous
pointers for effective listening are useful in organization settings. For example, ten
commandments for good listening; stop talking, put the speaker at ease, show the speaker you
want to listen, remove distractions, empathize with the speaker, be patient, hold your temper, go
easy on argument and criticism, ask questions, and stop talking. Such lists of guidelines can be
useful for manager. However, more important than these lists is the decision to listen. The
preceding guidelines are useless unless the manager makes the conscious decision to listen. The
realization that effective communication involves being understood as well as understanding
probably is far more important than lists of guidelines. Then and only then can such guidelines
become useful.
G. Utilizing the Grapevine: The grapevine is an important informal communication channel that
exists in all organizations. It basically serves as a by passing mechanism and often is faster than
the formal system it by passes. In most cases, manager can count on the fact that the grapevine is
fast, efficient, and accurate and fulfills peoples need to communicate. Because it is flexible and it
is usually involves face-to-face communication. It is capable of transmitting information rapidly.

5.3.2. TECHNIQUES FOR THE SENDER

The manager can resort to several techniques for improving communication. The sender should
bear in mind four elements that can improve communication effectiveness feedback, awareness,
credibility, and sensitivity.

1. Encourage two-way communication: Two-way communication allows the receiver to ask

questions, request clarification, and express opinions that let the sender know whether he or she
has been understood. In general the more complicated the message, the more useful two-way
communication is.
2. Beware of language and meaning; the sender should be aware of the meanings that different
receivers might attach to various words.

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For example, when addressing stockholders, a manager might use the word ‗profits‖ often. When
addressing labour leaders, however, he may choose to use ‗profits‘ less often.

3. Maintain credibility: The sender should try to maintain credibility. This can be accomplished by
not pretending to be an expert when one is not, by ―doing one‘s homework‖ and checking facts
and by otherwise being as accurate and honest as possible.
4. Be sensitive to the receivers‘ perspective; The sender should try to be sensitive to the receiver‘s
perspective. A manager who must tell a subordinate that she has not been recommended for a
promotion should recognize that the subordinate will be frustrated and unhappy.

5.3.3. TECHNIQUES FOR THE RECEIVER

There are two especially good especially good techniques that manager can use to develop his
effectiveness as receiver–being a good listener and being sensitive to the sender‘s perspective.

1. Develop listening skills: being a good listener requires that the individual be prepared to listen,
not interrupt the speaker, concentrate on both the words and the meaning being conveyed, be
patient, and ask question as appropriate. Delta IBM and Unisys organize training for managers in
better listeners.
2. Be sensitive to the receiver‘s perspective: Another technique for the receiver is to be sensitive to
the sender‘s point of view.

5.3.4. TECHNIQUES FOR BOTH SENDER AND RECEIVERS

Three useful ideas can enhance communication effectiveness for both the sender and the receiver.
1. Follow up: it involves checking at a later time to be sure that a massage has been received and
understood. After a manager mails a report to a colleague, she might call a few days later to make
sure the report has arrived.
2. Regulate information flow; It means that the sender or receiver takes steps to ensure that
overload does not occur. For the sender, this could mean not passing too much information
through the system at one time. For the receiver, it might mean calling attention to the fact that
he is being asked to too many things at once. Manager trains a secretary to screen phone calls
and visitors.

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3. Understand the richness of media; Both parties should also understand the richness associated
with different media. The message should be delivered in person, when a manager is going to lay
off a subordinate temporarily. A face-to-face channel of communication gives the manager an
opportunity to explain the situation and answer questions. The written communication may be
more objective and precise, when the purpose of the massage is to grant a pay increase.

5.3.5. STRATEGIES OF IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN

ORGANIZATION
The organization must create the proper interaction Climate, to achieve productive and positive
communication with employee, customer and other there are two methods:
A. Structural Approaches; Structural approaches attempt to change the organization‘s structure
in order to improve communication by changing job content, creating new or different jobs,
changing the way jobs are grouped or altering the distribution of authority within organization.
Improved communication systems usually call for increased delegation of authority, equalization
of power and participation by subordinated in decision making processes, the following are
approaches;
1. Employee assistance program action line, and counseling; some firms call them employee
action lines; other call them counseling program. They are programs designed to help employees
solve personal problems. Many firms employ full or part-time psychologists to counsel employees.
2. Grievance Procedures: These are formalized ways for employees to present grievances against
the organization and its managers. If these procedures are not effective, employees are likely to
decrease their productivity through absenteeism, shoddy work, tardiness, balking at orders and
the like from the viewpoint of the organization, therefore, effective grievance procedures are vital.
3. Attitude surveys; it is to organize the employees‘ attitude survey questionnaire and interview.
This system would enable management to remain aware of employees‘ perception of major factor
within the organization.
4. Ombudsman; A position or department created to handle employee questions, complaints and
problems. Usually the person in this position often filled ombudsman, reports directly to the head
of the organization, keeping communication with employees confidential.

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5. Open door policy: Managers, who keep ―open doors‖ indicates to his subordinate that he/she is
available to listen to problems and complaints at any time. It indicates a climate of trust and
willingness to communicate.
6. Suggestion program; it can make significant contributions to an organization. They provide a
channel through which employees can contribute their ideas.
B. Informal Approach; Informal approach attempts to improve organizational Communication
primarily dissemination information. Occasionally new job is created in this process, but usually
established position simply expands his information function. This approach includes as follows:
1. Periodic meeting with employee: periodic meeting with employee, whether held daily, weekly, or
at longer interval is extremely important. Such meeting gives employee a chance to learn what the
organization is all about, what it is accomplishing, and what it hopes to accomplish.
2. Television broadcast. Information broadcast through television can also be used to reduce the
costs and fatigue of travel. It depends upon the size of organization.
3. Publication and bulletin board: Management can make employees feel that they are important
simply by printing their names in company newsletters and newspapers. Video bulletin boards
using television monitors are becoming popular as means of communicating such information.
4. Athletic program: Company athletic program communicates positive message to employee.
Such program shows, ‗We are a team. We need to stick together. The organization cares about
your health and your friendships. The company that plays together and stays together.‖
5. Memo and handbook. The organization uses memo and handbook to communicate its
employee. The firm uses handbook to tell employee what the company is all about; discusses
history philosophy and purpose.

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5.4. CHAPTER SUMMARY
Communication breakdown can occur because of the interference of several causes that reduces
mutual understanding at any point in the communication cycle process. The cause of breakdown
may be ascribed to the sender, the message, the channel, or the receiver. Physical barriers,
semantic barriers , organizational size , conflicting frames of reference, interpersonal (psycho-
social) barriers, language difference, lack of interest, information overload, filtering, loss by
transmission and poor retention are the major causes for communication breakdown.

Continuous follow up, regulating information flow, encouraging feedback, empathy, using
simplified language, effective listening and utilizing the grapevine are the general techniques for
improving communication effectiveness. The sender should in particular should encourage two –
way communication, be aware of language and meaning, maintain credibility and be sensitive to
the receivers‘ perspective to be effective in communication. The receiver on the other hand should
develop listening skills and be sensitive to the receiver‘s perspective to be successful in
communication. Both sender and receiver should continuous practice follow up, regulate
information flow, and understand the richness of media to enhance communication effectiveness.
At organizational level managers can use different techniques to improve communication. Among
others these include redesigning organizational structure; using employee assistance program
action line, and counseling; effectively using grievance procedures; conducting attitude surveys;
appointing staff who serve as ombudsman; using open door policy; using suggestion program and
informal approach are the major techniques.

Chapter Reflections

1. Discuss with managers and employees about the major cause of communication barrier in your
organization and identify major strategies they are using to improve communication effectiveness.
2. Evaluate communication policy of your organization.

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CHAPTER 6: THE MEDIA, COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGIES AND DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

6.1. INTRODUCTION
Chapter Six of the Development Communication course focuses on the role of information
communication technologies in development communication, advocacy communication, public
and media relations, development communication models/Types/modes, community participation
in development initiative and major types of communicate participation, value addition of
development communication in programs and projects.
Learning objectives:
 To be able to understand the role of ICT in development communication
 To be able to understand development communication modes and value addition of
development communication in programs and projects
 To be able to identify the rationale of community participation in development programs,
and types of community participation there implications in development communication
 To be able to use ICT, development communication modes and community participation
concepts in the management of development endeavors.

6.2. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

All of us would agree that living in a modern society without ICT is unimaginable. Think about
how many times and how often we are using the internet, mobile phones, and computers. The
technologies that enable this have been integrated in every aspect of our business activities and
daily lives. ICT accessibility and affordability has increased exponentially. As a result,
opportunities for utilizing ICT solutions for e-services and for reaching all groups of society,
including the poor, users in remote areas, and other disadvantaged groups, have transformed the
landscape for development. There are many publications dealing extensively with media and
information and communication technologies (ICTs; the Internet, satellites, mobile phones,
wireless computers, and so forth). Information communication technologies often play a major role
in development communication initiatives.
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6.3. USE OF MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY IN DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNICATION
In development the utilization of media may be treated at two levels: mass media, often using
television, radio, and print media in campaigns aimed at inducing the adoption of innovations or
other changes in behaviors; and community media, mainly using radio and other folk expressions
such as theater, concerned with giving voice and representation to the various segments of local
communities.

In the past, media systems were considered key elements in supporting the national development
of poorer countries. During the 1980s the role of communication and, especially, media was at the
center of a heated debate that reached its highest level of visibility and controversy at UNESCO.
The impact of this debate, while having a number of implications for media policies and
international relations, affected the field of development communication and its on-site
applications only in a limited way.

There can be little doubt that media are instrumental in increasing knowledge and influencing
attitudes and behaviors, but this influence is not as strong as originally believed, especially if it
does not take the local context into account. For instance, the vibrant world of community radio
that has emerged in recent years is often more empowering and influential than the more
celebrated medium of television, at least at the local level.

The blind faith placed on media in the past as a means to push or even leapfrog development in
poorer countries resembles the current hype for ICTs. The rise of more sophisticated
communication and information technologies, such as satellites or the Internet, has opened new
horizons and opportunities. The potential of the new technologies has not only increased the
penetration of mass media, for instance, through satellites, but it has also created new
opportunities to enhance communication at the local level utilizing technologies such as the
Internet or mobile telephones. The establishment of ―telecenters‖ in rural areas is spreading in
many countries as a way to support local development in the social and economic dimension.

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New media and ICTs are gaining increasing attention in development and are considered of great
help in achieving some of the main challenges, such as the Millenium Development Goals.
Whenever information is part of the solution, they become crucial. However, to avoid past
mistakes, media and ICTs, powerful as they are, should always be considered as tools to be used
within the context of the broader social and communication environment.

Communication technologies are still looked upon by some with suspicion, probably because of
past experiences when media were often used to ―spin‖ arguments and impose change on people.
The effectiveness and value of ICTs and other new communication technologies are determined by
the way they are selected and utilized. Even if technologies are not the panacea for every
communication problem, they are valuable tools to address specific needs, especially when used
in a way compatible with and relevant to specific local needs.

Research on communication strategy is crucial to determine the best and most effective use of
media and ICTs. Even if the Internet, satellites, mobile phones, and wireless computers appear to
constitute the new frontier in communication, there are some critical factors to consider before
adopting them. These factors can be divided in three basic categories: economic, technological,
and cultural. From an economic point of view, there are high costs associated with the software
and the hardware components of ICTs for individuals in developing countries, placing these
commodities outside the reach of most people. In the case of the Internet, there are also access
and connectivity costs to consider.

Other costs related to ICTs include the establishment and maintenance of reliable infrastructure
for telecommunications. It should also be noted that the wave of liberation and privatization
taking place in this sector in many developing countries can be a limiting factor for marginalized
sectors of society. In this respect First World Congress on Communication for Development noted
that ―The development of ICTs by the private sector fails in bridging the gap between the rich and
the poor. The poor who are marginalized and in some cases physically isolated remain
disconnected from the rest of society and what development opportunities there might be.

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From a technological point of view, it is difficult to ensure the proper operation of such
technologies in places where there are no phone or electric lines. Even where those services are
guaranteed, regular maintenance and updates, and issues of compatibility among different
standards, become major issues. Technical support is a necessity for individuals in richer
countries and would be even more necessary in countries where people are less technology-
literate. In many countries, users need basic training in computer use, and prior to that, literacy
skills to communicate effectively on the Internet.

From a cultural point of view, there are also a number of constraints. The language in which most
of the information is available on the Internet can pose a barrier. In 1999, a survey concluded that
about 86 percent of all Web pages are in English, thus preventing access to information for many
users. Additionally, given the high illiteracy rate of many areas of developing countries, many
potential users are excluded from the start. Even when language barriers are overcome, often
cultural issues remain crucial in gaining fundamental knowledge and the needed frame of mind in
order to take full advantage of the power of these technologies.

The concept of cultural capital draws attention to what shapes the use of information and
communication technologies by groups of individuals with different backgrounds. It is not easy to
predict how poor farmers in a rural village in Africa will use and eventually benefit from having
access to a computer that allows them to connect with the rest of the world. This is not to say they
will not benefit, but it should not be considered as a given that they will.

Many studies on the digital divide show that the information poverty gap between the have and
have-nots is still a wide one (Thussu 2000), and it does not seem to be decreasing in any
significant way. The optimism of the 1990s regarding ICTs and related expectations has not been
justified so far. Despite such shortcomings, however, media and ICTs can and do play a major role
in development communication. In addition to the widely used information dissemination
functions, technologies such as the Internet also have the potential to support the horizontal
processes of communication.

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The same potential has been demonstrated by other less technologically sophisticated media, such
as community radio and even participatory video, in promoting people‘s participation and
empowerment. The challenge in these instances is to effectively promote and use communication
technologies to facilitate local stakeholders‘ participation within the broader process of
development.

With their quantifiable and fast exchange transmission flows of information and their capacity for
overcoming time and space, there is no doubt that ICTs and media can have a stronger appeal
than participatory processes, which appear more complex to manage and require longer and
closer interactions. Yet, the lessons of the past teach that communication technologies are more
effective when used within proper cultural frameworks and in processes that engage stakeholders
in the selection of the objectives, key issues, and appropriate channels. ICTs and media can
certainly play a key role in development communication, but they are not a panacea capable of
solving all problems and of filling all gaps related to knowledge and perceptions.

6.4. ADVOCACY COMMUNICATION

Advocacy communication may be defined as the continuous and adaptive process of gathering,
organizing and formulating information and data into argument, which is then communicated to
policy-makers through various interpersonal and mass media communication channels. Through
advocacy, NGOs/ international organizations seeks to influence policy-makers, political and social
leaders, to create an enabling policy and legislative environment and allocate resources equitably
in order to create and sustain social transformation.

Public advocacy enable to communicate programs, policies or perspectives to target audiences to

win their support. The most common public advocacy objectives are to: inform people about an
issue, policy or program, influence their opinions or attitudes about an issue, policy or program,
and influence their behavior in relation to an issue, policy or program. Influencing attitudes
requires a more sustained effort; because it requires reinforcement, strengthen or change an
opinion, which someone may have held for a considerable period of time.

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To succeed in public advocacy one must be: convey relevant message to the people, credible and
consistent, ongoing so it achieves recognition and support, supported by appropriate funding and
staff effort. Successful public advocacy begins by defining as precisely as possible the audiences
or the people someone need to reach. Public advocacy typically involves: monitoring political,
economic, social, cultural, international and other developments that may impact on or influence
communications strategy, identifying who can communicate with (audiences), being precise and
succinct about what to tell them (messages), identifying people who can help carry the messages
to particular groups (key influencers), selecting the most appropriate activities and platforms to
deliver messages to specific audiences, re-sourcing the public advocacy process (assigning staff
and allocating budgets), developing a timeline, and measuring and evaluating the quality and
impact of communications strategies.

Successful advocacy depends on following a few core principles:

 Clearly define the issue
 Determine specific goals and objectives
 Understand which kinds of evidence are available (quantitative/qualitative/mixed
methods)
 Develop clear evidence-based messages
 Establish a multi-sector advocacy team
 Evaluate messaging through participatory approaches and validate with third party
endorsement and partnership

6.5. PUBLIC AND MEDIA RELATIONS

Public relation (PR) is the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or
an organization and the public. Public relations may include an organization or individual gaining
exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require
direct payment. In other words, Public relation (PR) is a planned and sustained effort to establish
and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics. PR
has many elements, publicity being one of the most important.

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This seeks to inform readers, listeners or viewers, and to be effective must have news value,
something the media and PR professionals call news worthiness.

If a story is of little or no interest to the audience, it will not interest the reporter or editor, even if
he or she is someone you know very well. Another element of PR is promotion, which also aims to
inform, although existing mainly to project the benefits of a program or product, and is more akin
to advertising than publicity; this is why promotional articles are more difficult to place in the
news media, since they usually lack a strong ‗news angle‘. PR can also have elements like lobbying
to build and maintain relations with government primarily for the purpose of influencing
legislation and regulation. There are different elements of public relations related to its application
in different fields. For instance, public relations in nonprofit organizations has the element of
development that aims to build and maintain relationships with donors and members for the
purposes of securing financial and volunteer support.

One of the reasons why public relations practitioners use media relations to get their message
across is the media‘s role in forming public opinion. By selecting the stories which go on the front
page or are included in nightly television news programs, the media determine what people think
about. For the public relations practitioner, getting something onto the media agenda is the first
step. Practitioners of public relations use printed words, spoken words, images, and combinations
of all these communication forms. They use different media to communicate with their
organization‘s many publics. A good working relationship with the media is imperative for any
successful communication program. It is essential in securing good publicity coverage.

Journalists and the public relations practitioner are developing a community of interest.
Journalists recognize that public relations departments are a source of genuine news and
technical information, and that they are helpful in developing news stories, pictures, articles, and
background material. Public relations professionals are acquiring a better knowledge of mass
media, their editorial needs and policies, audiences, and operating problems. The public relations
professional handles media relation issues professionally and competently and serve as the link
between the organization and the media.
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Media relation is a two-way communication. It is the link between an organization and the press,
radio and television news. In dealing with media, PR professionals need to apply several rules. For
instance, when a journalist telephones with an enquiry, the PR officer should ensure that the call
is returned as soon as possible; when a journalist is invited, the PR officer should make sure that
all the relevant departments/personnel are informed in advance.

Tools used in media Relations

There are many tools used in media relations. The major tools include the followings.
1. Press (News) Releases
Press releases are the most usual way of issuing or writing newsworthy information to the media.
The news agencies will edit the press release when writing news on the story it tells. It can take
place when either an organization wants to supply media with certain information by itself or
when an organization is requested to provide information on a certain issue by media.

The foundational component of the press (news) release is the news aspect. A good story must be
newsworthy for it to be considered. While there are thousands of ways to present a news release,
there is no one ―correct‖ way of doing it. There are as many different ways to present a news
release as there are publications out there.

2. Press Conference

Journalists and media representatives generally attend organizational events and meetings when
called upon to do so by organizations. These could be occasions like launching of a new service
and product, or laying of a foundation stone or simply giving out some special news. The holding
of a press conference has become an accepted means of issuing information to the press and it is
very effective if used with discretion.

3. Photography
The use of photography as a tool in public relations needs special attention, as many people do
not know the full potentials of photography. Photographs always lend authenticity. Everyone
knows that can be misleading as statistics, but nevertheless they are generally accepted as
authentic proof of facts or events. The PR department needs to keep record of good photographs
that can be used for different purposes.
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4. Exhibitions
Exhibitions are one modern accepted tool of public relations. They may range from small
educational displays to prestige international show. ‗Seeing is believing‘ and a picture is worth a
thousand words. An exhibition is a public show of works of an organization, artists, and
manufacturer or of an idea. Its main function is to present the advancement achieved in various
spheres of the organization and to attract people so that they can see for themselves the exhibits
displayed and judge the merits.
1. Film
The film is a powerful tool of public relations, and its use dates back to the increasing popularity
of the documentary film. There is a very important place for film in public relations as a tool of
communication, instruction, marketing, research, etc. It is important for PR personnel to be
trained film makers, and to have an adequate appreciation of film techniques in order to be able to
advise on the use of film in an organization and to act as a liaison with film production companies
when a film is being made.
2. Advertising
Under modern conditions, it is not enough to make a good product or service, to market it, and
promote and sell it efficiently. Even a good product or service may not succeed if the policies of the
manufacturer are weak or misunderstood by the public. It is necessary for a company to be a good
member of society, and to let it be demonstrated to the public at large that it is playing a useful
part in society. This is the reason behind the so-called ‗prestige‘ or ‗institutional‘ type of
advertising.

Advertisement in PR means the dissemination of information concerning an idea, service or

product for the accomplishment of a definite purpose with the ultimate objective to create a
favorable image of an organization. The objectives of advertisements are varied – from just an
announcement, to imparting specific information, to communicating the organization‘s stand on
an issue. The objectives can also include launching a new service, product or project or plant,
installing confidence, and building image of corporation among its target group.

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In using the above tools mass media people and development communication experts should
uphold the following ethical principles.

Truth-telling: The ordinary meaning of truth is the absence of falsehood or lies. A lie on its part is
the deliberate misrepresentation of reality in order to deceive. Truth abhors misrepresentations. A
half-truth is a lie, for all practical purposes. They need to seek truth and report it as fully as
possible by Informing themselves continuously so that they can inform , engage, and educate the
public in clear and compelling ways on significant issues, being honest, fair and courageous in
gathering, reporting and interpreting accurate information, giving voice to the voiceless, and
holding the powerful accountable.

Objectivity: One meaning of objectivity is avoidance of bias. Objectivity requires avoiding one‘s
own opinions in communication that might make it appear biased, one-sided, or unbalanced.
Objectivity also has an element of ―impartiality‖ in a sense that the content of development
communization message should show no partiality toward any political party.

Objectivity has come to be defined as thorough and accurate reporting of verifiable facts with
fairness and balance, without prejudice, and without personal involvement in what is reported.
Impartiality and objectivity are often taken to be much the same thing and used interchangeably.
Although there is some relationship, they rest on rather different world views. Whereas
impartiality is taken to include notions of fairness, even-handedness, and accuracy, objectivity is
philosophically a tougher issue. It‘s predicated on the notion that there are observable things
external to the mind; that there are independently verifiable ‗facts‘ that can be separated from
subjective value.

Independence: Independence in development communication means freedom from all obligations

that might interfere with the loyalty to the public interest. An honest development communication
expert must not promote any private interest contrary to the general welfare. Partisanship in
editorial comment which knowingly departs from the truth is also not the spirit of good
development communication expert.
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Minimizing harm: The most obvious justification for prohibiting speech arises when the speech
causes significant harm. Speech may directly harm particular, specifiable people; that are the
case with speech that libels individuals. It may, on the other hand, harm general social interests
without harming any specifiable individuals; that will often be the case with speech that harms
national security. Both are harms that the government has a legitimate interest in preventing, and
so both can, in principle, generate legitimate restrictions on speech. The latter, for obvious
reasons, are likely to be more problematic than the former. In principle, it is permissible for the
government to restrict speech in order to protect any of the following: national security, territorial
integrity, public safety, public order, public health, the reputation or rights of others, private
information received in confidence, the impartiality of legal proceedings and the protection of the
public from crime.

Accountability: Although media should be free, they also need to be responsible. In a democracy,
media organizations are accountable to their audience and to the wider society. The failure of
monitoring institutions to perform according to democratic norms and in the true interest of
society would erode their credibility and, therefore, damage their ability to serve as legitimate
watchdogs over state activity. Thus, the mass media, while serving as autonomous agents of
accountability, are themselves, not immune from operating within the parameters of its principles.
It is important that the media be held answerable to the various publics that they serve and be
subject to necessary sanctions if they stay in the discharge of their responsibilities.

There is a notion called ―the public interest‖ and that the media are one of the institutions
entrusted with the responsibility of protecting that interest and upholding the values on which the
society is built. This assignment of responsibility comes with expectations that the media will go
about performing their functions in a manner that is consistent with the ideals and values of the
societies in which they operate. These expectations provide the standards on the basis of which
the media are evaluated and required to answer for their activities. The process of compelling the
media to conform to the standards of society and holding them answerable to those standards is
what media accountability.

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Confidentiality: Of all the valuable commodities cherished by the media, a long contact list of
reliable sources is one of the most important. The system by which sources of information and
contacts are built up is based on mutual trust and cooperation. In circumstances where a person
provides accurate information on the understanding that he/she will not be compromised or
named, it is a fundamental rule of development communication expert / journalist that his/her
identity remains confidential.

Confidentiality is the practice of media professionals to keep secret the names of those who
provide them with information. An obligation of confidence can arise by the terms of an agreement
between a reporter and information source, whether in written or oral form. Development
communication expert/ Journalists even need to think that even if there is no term relating to
confidentiality, the confidential nature of the agreement may be so obviously intended by the
transaction that a duty of confidence will be imposed. If they feel that releasing the names of the
information source can have some negative consequence on the information provider, they have
the professional responsibility of protecting their sources by not revealing them.

Avoid Attacks on individuals and organizations. Attacks on individuals and organizations related
to mass media usually takes place in the form of defamation and malicious falsehood. Defamation
is the communication of a statement which ruins or diminishes the reputation of an individual or
organization. The tendency to cause damage is a prerequisite to the cause of action. It is not
defamatory to make a critical statement which does not have a tendency to cause damage, even if
the statement turns out to be untrue. Malicious falsehood is a type attack on individuals and
organizations which is related to tort, wrongful act, where a false statement does not damage
someone‘s reputation but causes or is likely to cause the person financial loss. Malicious
falsehood about a certain statement is proved when: the statement is false, it was published
maliciously, and it caused financial loss or, in cases when the statement is written or reflects on
the person‘s business or profession, it is likely to cause financial loss.

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Avoid Obscenity. Obscenity is any act, writing, depiction, or representation, which is deemed to be
deeply offensive and violate community standards of morality and decency. It is generally a
sexually offensive picture, language or behavior. Materials are usually considered obscene if they
appeal predominantly to a prurient interest in sexual conduct, depict or describe sexual conduct
in a patently offensive way, and lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. Such
material is not protected by the free speech guarantee of most constitutions.

An entire publication could be considered obscene if any portion, no matter how small, could
―deprave and corrupt‖; and the work was obscene if it would deprave and corrupt the minds of
even the most sensitive and easily influenced individuals, including children. Obscenity is not
limited to sexual matters. Depictions of brutality and violence aimed at young people and drug
abuse have been held to be capable of ‗depraving and corrupting‘. However, if material is so
unpleasant or disgusting that it would actually discourage a person from indulging in the material
activity, it will not ‗deprave and corrupt‘ and cannot be considered obscene.

6.6. DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION MODELS/ TYPES / MODES

There are two basic modes, or families of approaches development communication: the
―monologic‖ mode, based on the classical one-way communication model associated with
diffusion, and the ―dialogic‖mode, based on the interactive two-way model, associated with
participatory approaches. Being familiar with these two modes helps one to better understand
which to apply under what circumstances. They serve different purposes, but they are not
mutually exclusive and can often be used in a complementary way. These models are discussed
briefly hereunder.

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6.6.1. MONOLOGIC MODEL: ONE-WAY COMMUNICATION
The monologic mode is linked to the development communication perspective known as
―diffusion.‖ It is broadly equivalent to the diffusion perspective and is based on the transmission
model. It adopts one-way communication to send messages, disseminate information, or impart
knowledge aimed at increasing awareness of knowledge or changing attitudes and behaviors. In
the monologic mode, the scope of the communication program is set from the beginning of the
process; it is expected to inform and persuade people to adopt innovations or change behaviors.

That is its main intentions can be divided into two different types of applications: (1)
communication to inform; and (2) communication to persuade. ―Communication to inform‖
typically involves a linear transmission of information, usually from a sender to many receivers. It
is used when raising awareness or providing knowledge on certain issues is considered enough to
achieve the intended goal (for example, informing a community about the activities of a project or
informing the public about a reform coming into effect). In other instances, the dissemination of
information is only a temporary stage to be reached in a longer process aimed at achieving
behavior changes. This modality can be labeled ―communication to persuade.‖ Approaches in
communication for behavior change use methods and media to persuade individuals to adopt
specific practices or behaviors.

These approaches are frequently used in health initiatives. The aim is to foster positive behavior;
promote and sustain individual, community, and societal behavior change; and maintain
appropriate behavior. Its underlying assumption is that individual attitudes and behaviors can be
changed voluntarily through communication and persuasion12 techniques and the related use of
effective messages. Since the approaches, methods, and media used for this modality rely mostly
on the one-way model, the mode of reference is monologic communication. In many cases,
approaches to persuade still rely on the classic notion of one-way communication. The primary
objective is for the sender to be able to persuade the receivers about the intended change. In this
model the feedback is a sort of tune-up, allowing the sender to refine its persuasive message. A
common approach closely associated with this communication mode is strategic communication,
which is often used in development initiatives to support management objectives.
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6.6.2. DIALOGIC MODEL: TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION

The dialogic mode is associated with the emerging participatory paradigm. It is based on the
horizontal, two-way model of communication, creating a constructive environment where
stakeholders can participate in the definition of problems and solutions. The main purposes of
this model can be divided into two broad types of applications:

(1) Communication to assess; and (2) communication to empower. This categorization helps one to
understand the way in which the ultimate scope of the communication interventions shapes the
choice of communication approaches, methods, and models of reference. Both of these types of
applications take a radical turn away from the common conception of communication, since they
do not involve any dissemination of information or messages. Even if these two types of
communication cannot be easily positioned in a sequence because their scope is often closely
intertwined, the use of dialogic communication to ensure mutual understanding and explore a
situation often becomes the best tool to facilitate empowerment.

―Communication to assess‖ is used as a research and analytical tool and because of its
interdisciplinary and cross-cutting nature; it can be used effectively to investigate any issue, well
beyond those strictly related to the communication dimension.
The power of dialogic communication is applied to engage stakeholders in exploring, uncovering,
and assessing key issues, opportunities, and risks of both a technical and political nature. The
use of two-way communication engages experts and local stakeholders in the problem-analysis
and problem-solving process leading to change.

Dialogic communication is not only effective as a problem-solving tool, but it also builds
confidence, prevent conflicts, and addresses the issue of poverty by engaging the poorest and most
marginal sectors in the process concerning issues of relevance to them. By involving the poor in
the assessment of problems and solutions, by engaging them, and not just the experts, in the
decision-making process, and by making the voices of the poor heard, the dialogic mode can
address and reduce one key dimension of poverty: social exclusion.
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The overall goal of the dialogic mode is to ensure mutual understanding and to make the best use
of all possible knowledge in assessing the situation, building consensus, and looking for
appropriate solutions. By facilitating dialog with key stakeholders, this type of communication
enhances the analysis and minimizes risks. On the other hand, the primary scope of the
monologic mode emerges especially when information needs to be packaged and disseminated to
address specific needs and gaps.

The difference between these two modes is reflected in how each perspective defines or conceives a
communication objective and the relative implications for evaluating the impact of the
intervention. In monologic or diffusion approaches, the communication objective is something that
requires changes at the level of awareness, knowledge, attitude, and, ultimately, behaviors or
practices of specific groups of people. The impact of the communication intervention can be
assessed by carrying out a baseline study before the intervention, and then a similar survey after
the intervention.

The difference between the pre- and post-survey should provide the measurement of the impact,
or change that is due to the communication intervention. In dialogic, participatory approaches,
the main scope relates to the engagement of stakeholders in assessing risks, identifying
opportunities, preventing problems, and identifying or confirming the needed change. In other
words, in most cases the objectives cannot be specifically defined beforehand because they are the
results of a heuristic process that provides new knowledge and valuable inputs for better strategy
design. The following table provides a further clarification of the two approaches (monologic and
Dialogic) by contrasting their scope, basic functions, and main differences.

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Basic Features of Communication Modes

Monologic Mode Dialogic Mode

Compare and Communication to Communication to Communication to Communication to
contrast Persuade assess empower
inform
Main Purpose To raise awareness To change To assess, probe, To involve
of increase attitudes and analyze the stakeholders in
knowledge of key and behaviors of situation decisions over key
key issues
audiences
audiences
Model of reference One-way model One-way model Tow-way model Two-way model
(monologic) (dialogic) (dialogic)
(monologic)
Preferred Methods Predominant use Predominant use Wide range of Use of dialog to
and media of mass of methods to promote
media media investigate issues participation

6.7. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

Active community participation is key to building an empowered community. Not only is

participation a requirement for empowerment programs, but it is also critical to community
success. A major obstacle to effective performance of development activities in most developing
countries is the excessive centralization of decision making within central decision-making body.
Central decision-making bodies commonly perceived to be geographically and socially remote from
the people and often take decisions without full knowledge or concern about actual problems and
preferences at the grass root level. Community participation a term conceptualized today as the
rock up on which development activities either founded or find fundamental support is the
popular remedy for such problem.

Community sociologically, defined as a group of people living in the same defined area sharing the
same basic values or basic interest and who have a sense of identity or a feeling of belonging. It is
also defined as spatial or territorial unit of social mobilization in which people have a sense of
identity and a feeling of belonging.

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A community is characterized by:

(1) Membership-a sense is identify and belonging,

(2) Common symbol systems- Similar language, rituals and ceremonies,
(3) shared values and norms,
(4) Mutual influence- community members have influence and are influenced by each other,
(5) Shared needs and commitment to meeting them; and
(6) Shared emotional connection- members share common history, experiences, and mutual
support.

The word participation in development has various interpretations and there could various
definitions of participation. For example, participation in rural development means, involvement of
all rural people in the process of rural transformation and development. It involves people‘s
involvement in decision-making process in implementing and sharing the benefits of rural
development programs. Participation in politics and economic terms can be seen as a process of
empowerment of the deprived and the excluded. In this sense participation necessitates the
creation of organizations of the poor, which are democratic, independent and self-reliant.

From rural development perspective, community participation could be defined as a dynamic

process where by a group of rural people living in the same defined area sharing the same basic
value or interests and the active involvement of these people in the process of rural transformation
and development. Community participation could be broadly defined as dynamic social process
where by a group of people living in the same defined area sharing the same basic value and
interests and the active involvement of these people in all matters that affect their livelihood. Many
reasons why community participation is deemed desirable in development activities in way or
another: fall either in economic, administrative or political objectives.
To mention some of the reasons:
- Community participation is important for effective and appropriate development planning and
increased monitoring support by beneficiaries in planning and decision making (Administrative
aspect)

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- Community participation is more conducive to both the formulation and the implementation of
development plans (economic aspect)
- Community contribution (financial, labor, material etc) in support of development activities will
be high when development activities are identified and implemented at the grass root level.
- Community participation enhances effective mobilization of resources and ensures efficient
delivery of services.
- Community participation enables timely reaction to unanticipated problems
- Community participation increases citizen‘s sense of belonging to state. This is because; in
politics it is believed that, people have that people have a right to participate in decision- making
which directly affects their living conditions.
- Community participation enables to overcome alienation and lack of a sense of ownership from
the part of community due to centralization of decision-making authority.
- Community participation enhances the speed of change in transforming negative cultural and
social Values, attitudes and practice in the society. In other words community participation
enhances the speed of social-development.
- Community participation also helps to reduce workload.

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6.7. VALUE ADDITION OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION IN PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

The history of development has included failures and disappointments, many of which have been
ascribed to two major intertwined factors: lack of participation and failure to use effective
communication. It is noted that the success or failure of any development project is often
determined communication and people‘s involvement. It is always valuable, and often essential, to
establish dialog among relevant stakeholders. Dialog is the necessary ingredient in building trust,
sharing knowledge and ensuring mutual understanding even for a project that apparently enjoys a
wide consensus. This is because a top-down management approach to development is less
effective than a participatory one. Development communication supports the shift toward a more
participatory approach, and its inclusion in development work often results in the reduction of
political risks, the improvement of project design and performance, increased transparency of
activities, and the enhancement of people‘s voices and participation.

Adopting two-way communication from day one is essential. When not involved from the
beginning, stakeholders tend to be more suspicious of project activities and less prone to support
them. Conversely, when communication is used to involve them in the definition of an initiative,
their motivation and commitment grow stronger. The involvement of stakeholders in defining
development priorities has advantages other than just gaining their support. It gives outside
experts and managers valuable insights into local reality and knowledge that ultimately lead to
more relevant, effective, and sustainable project design.

6.9. CHAPTER SUMMARY

Information communication technologies and media often play a major role in development
communication initiatives. With their quantifiable and fast exchange transmission flows of
information and their capacity for overcoming time and space, there is no doubt that ICTs and
media can have a stronger appeal than participatory processes, which appear more complex to
manage and require longer and closer interactions. Media and ICTs have the potential to support
the horizontal processes of communication.

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Less technologically sophisticated media, such as community radio and even participatory video,
helps to promote people‘s participation and empowerment. Despite these facts one should note
that communication technologies are more effective when used within proper cultural frameworks
and in processes that engage stakeholders in the selection of the objectives, key issues, and
appropriate channels. It is also important to understand ICTs and media are not a panacea
capable of solving all problems and of filling all gaps related to knowledge and perceptions. It is
also challenging to effectively promote and use communication technologies to facilitate local
stakeholders‘ participation within the broader process of development particularly in the context
of Africa because of unaffordable cost of ICT, and media and information communication
breakdown for many reasons among others.

Advocacy communication is concerned with continuously gathering, organizing data and

articulating data and information into valid argument and communicating the same with policy
makers and thereby creating enabling environment economic, political and social transformation.
Policy advocators use various interpersonal and mass media communication channels to convince
policy makers.

Public relation (PR) is a planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and
mutual understanding between an organization and its publics. It enables to connect the
organization with many actors and get necessary support needed. Media relation is a two-way
communication. It is the link between an organization and the press, radio and television news.
The major tools used in media relations are Press (News) Releases, press conference, photography,
exhibitions, film and advertising.

There are two basic modes, or families of approaches development communication: the
―monologic‖ mode, based on the classical one-way communication model associated with
diffusion, and the ―dialogic‖ mode, based on the interactive two-way model, associated with
participatory approaches. In the monologic mode, the purpose of the communication program is to
inform and persuade people to adopt innovations or change behaviors. The main purposes of
dialogic model are to assess the situation and empower people.
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Lack or inadequate community participation in development programs is the major challenge in
developing countries. Excessive centralization of decision making within central decision-making
body is a common practice in most developing countries. Despite this fact many authors and
practitioners argue that community participation is deemed desirable in development activities.
Community participation as a means will enable to achieve economic, administrative and political
objectives. There are different types and levels of community participation.

Chapter Reflections
1. Discuss the role and potential limitations of media and ICTs in development communication.
Based on your analysis what recommendations do make for NGOs in using media and ICTs and
why? Support your discussion and analysis with argument and examples.
2. Critically evaluate the content and practice of communication policy of your organization
3. Evaluate public and media relations practice of any NGO in your surroundings. Use at least two
data gathering tools and support your analysis with argument and examples.
4. Discuss the relevance and implications of the monologic‖ mode, and ―dialogic‖mode of
development communication for today‘s NGOs
5. Critically explain conditions under which each forms community participations can be used by
NGOs and elaborate why development communication experts emphasize self-mobilization form of
community participation. Discuss also why self-mobilization community participation is difficult
in practice particularly in Africa / Ethiopia and give potential recommendation to overcome the
challenges.

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CHAPTER 7: DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION
METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
7.1. INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, our main focus is on the methodology of development communication programs
can be divided into four stages, or phases, each of which build on the previous one but maintain
its own specific scope, methods, and set of tools. These phases are: communication-based
assessment; communication strategy design; implementation; and monitoring and evaluation.
They are described briefly here under.

Learning objectives:
 To be able to understand development communication methodological framework
 To be able to assess the application of development communication framework in the
management of NGO activities
 To be able to use development communication framework while managing NGO programs
7.2. COMMUNICATION-BASED ASSESSMENT (CBA)

This phase offers a comprehensive investigation of a situation and should be the first step of any
development initiative, regardless of the sector. It illustrates how to select and use appropriate
communication research methods and techniques, as well as how to engage stakeholders in the
investigation of the sociopolitical context before examining specific technical issues. Regardless of
the sector of intervention, Development communication work facilitates achieving sustainable
results through the preliminary assessment of the situation. Naturally, empirical research is most
effective when performed during the initial phases of the intervention. Nevertheless, even when it
is included halfway through the project cycle, CBAs can play a significant role in supporting the
project‘s objectives.

Given its interdisciplinary and cross-cutting nature, communication-based assessment is of

particular value in exploring and assessing the overall circumstances, building trust, and
minimizing sociopolitical risks. CBA addresses the what, who, and why of each situation
investigated by involving all relevant stakeholders.

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It utilizes the principles and tools of the development methodological framework, facilitating
dialog, building trust, analyzing political risk, and assessing conditions to identify entry points for
the communication strategy.
A CBA is a flexible instrument and thus these steps minimize possible risks and enhance projects‘
chances for success and sustainability. The following table shows major steps involved in CBA.
Basic Steps Activities Outputs

1. Become acquainted with
key issues
Identify, define, and engage
key stakeholders (building
trust)
Assess communication
networks and capacities
Probe problems, causes,
risks, and opportunities
5. Assess and rank options
and solutions
6. Validate extent of the
problem(s)
7. Transform best options(and
define impact indicators)
Review of relevant documentation Identify knowledge gaps needed to
about the project, its objectives, and be probed during the CBA
the
problem that it is trying to address
Identify, engage in dialog, and Relevant findings
explore stockholder’s perceptions on
key issues
Identify and analyze the Relevant findings
communication and information
systems of relevant stakeholders
Explore the causes of the problems: Relevant findings
assess political, technical, and
economic risks and opportunities
Analyze and discuss possible Relevant findings
solutions
to achieve the intended
Use surveys or other quantitative Relevant findings
techniques to validate and assess the
extent of the problem on key issues
for the relevant audiences or
stakeholder groups
Synthesize all information and Define, validate, or refine project
transform data into usable accounts objectives and define
to define or confirm proper (project communication objectives
and /or communication)objectives
and indicators to asses impact)

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7.3. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY DESIGN
This refers to the problem-solving or strategic thinking that designs the best way to achieve the
identified objectives. This phase defines the type of change needed and helps to select the most
appropriate communication approach for each initiative. The following list illustrates some of the
most common approaches.
A. Social marketing is an approach rooted in the principles of marketing applied to social issues.
It has been widely used, especially to promote health practices, such as immunization campaigns,
sanitation, and others.
B. Advocacy is mainly applied to promote a specific issue or agenda, generally at a national level.
It is often directed at changing policies or supporting policy-making changes, either addressing
policy makers directly or winning the support of the public opinion.
C. Information dissemination and campaigns refer to the targeted dissemination of information to
fill specific knowledge gaps. This approach relies heavily on diffusion models through media
campaigns, which can be applied in a number of circumstances, either for broader national
audiences or for populations in specific areas. Different from the past, where they tended to rely
heavily on a single specific medium, campaigns nowadays take advantage of a mix of different
media.
D. Information, education, and communication (IEC) refers to a broader set of tactical approaches
aimed at disseminating information and educating large audiences. It is based on the linear
transmission model where information is disseminated through a number of media.
E. Education and training is an approach applied in programs requiring instructional design,
usually based on an interactive modality, often at an interpersonal level. Educational approaches
are generally aimed at increasing knowledge and comprehension, while training approaches are
usually focused on improving professional skills.
F. Institutional strengthening is directed at strengthening the internal capacities of an institution
(for example, through training) and eventually also at positioning and improving its image with
external audiences.

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G. Community mobilization is an approach that implies a systematic effort to involve the
community to take active part in the resolution of specific issues related to their well-being.
Sometimes it can require the formation of groups designated to participate in the decision- making
process and to follow up on specific issues (for example, monitoring the activities indicated by a
project work plan).

H. Nondirective participatory communication occurs when two-way communication is used not

only to assess the situation but also to jointly define objectives and design strategy. It is based on
dialog that seeks consensus on social change considered meaningful and relevant by all local
stakeholders. The added term ―nondirective‖ emphasizes the genuine use of participation from the
beginning of the process and its being open to various outcomes.

These approaches are not mutually exclusive and can stand alone or in combination with each
other. The planning done in this phase emphasizes the strategic selection and application of
methods, techniques, and media resulting from research-based findings and objectives. At this
stage development communication staff/ expert will assist in transforming the findings of the
communication based assessment into valuable inputs for the strategy design. The following table
shows main steps in communication strategy design.

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Basic steps
1. Definition of SMART
objectives (reviewing focal
problem and its cause)
2. Definition of primate
stakeholders
3. Definition of type/level of
change
4. Define communication
approaches or tactics
5. Select Channels or media
6. Design messages or content
topics
7. Expected results once the
strategy is carried out
Main Activities
Solutions transformed into
objectives in a feasible and
measurable way
Define and probe main groups of
interest or audiences, including
those indirectly related to the
issues
Define if change is related to
awareness, knowledge, attitudes,
behaviors, mobilization
Select the most effective
communication approaches
(linear or interactive mode)
Select most appropriate media
form 1SHs and 2SHs
Define key content/message and
the most effective way to
package them
Set goal form 1SHs; a change in
behaviors or practices to reduce
forest destruction set goal for
2SHs: raising the awareness
about the importance of
conservation
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Practical Example
Reduction in the incidence of
forest lost due to uncontrolled
fires by 80% within next two
years
Local farmers (their cultural and
socioeconomic context), their
families, other local actors,
NGOs and governmental
agencies
For 1SHs improve knowledge
and skills of fire control
techniques. For 2SHs raise
awareness raising media
campaign
For 1SHs capacity building
technical training For
2SHs awareness raising media
campaign
For 1SHs use preferred sites and
venues to provide information
For 2SHs messages for raising
awareness and knowledge
For 1SHs instructional design
key technical issues
For 2SHs messages for raising
awareness and knowledge
1SHs adopt more secure
techniques to reduce incidence of
uncontrolled fires
2SHs become more aware of the
importance or benefits of
preserving the forest
7.4. IMPLEMENTING THE COMMUNICATION PROGRAM.

This stage is concerned with the implementation of the communication approaches and activities
selected in the strategy and defined in the action plan. This phase also includes the activities
needed to produce or to ensure the results of the strategic design, such as writing a script for a
radio program or strengthening the capacities of the extensionists before a rural sector reform.
Other common activities carried out at this stage include the design and production of
communication materials (print, radio, video), their pre-testing, and the training of the relevant
staff.

This part of the process is the most resource-intensive in both human and financial terms, but it
is not necessarily the most crucial phase. If the work in the previous two phases was done
properly, the implementation is the most straightforward phase, needing only the professional
application of tasks and competencies identified to ensure the achievement of the objectives.
Usually this is done through an action plan, which can be considered a map indicating what
needs to be done, by whom, when, and at what cost. The activities presented in the following table
provide a model of reference to define a basic sequence of special value for instructional purposes.
The actions in this phase, however, can vary greatly and depend mostly on the strategy design.

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Activities
1. Objective(s) (SMRT)
2. Audiences/stakeholders
3. Activities (and approaches)
4. Resources needed (human
and material)
5. Party responsible (action
promoter)
6. Time frame
7. Expected outputs (outcome
indicators)
Explanation
Review and confirm
objectives (possibly SMART)
Who are the audiences of
groups being addressed
(primary, secondary, etc/
What are the activities needed
(media production, message
design, etc)?
Experts in audiovisual design
and production (experts in
training, related materials, etc)
The source/initiator
responsible for the action
The sequence and time needed
for each activity
What is expected by the
communication initiative?
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Example
Vaccinate 70% of the children
under five in area X
Primary; mothers Secondary ;
sons/daughters (students) and
fathers
Information Campaigns
(audiovisual and printed
materials)
Design information campaigns
(audiovisual and printed
materials) filed visit, meetings
Field officers of the ministry
of Environment
6 months to design the
campaign, 2 months for
training, 6 months to
implement, 8 months for field
visits and meetings
70% of children under five
being Vaccinated
7.5. COMMUNICATION FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Monitoring and evaluation are crucial for the success of any project. This phase will help to
know the impact of the communication intervention. However, measuring and evaluating the
impact of social interventions is never simple and, in the case of development communication,
becomes more difficult and complex, mostly because of the broader functions of communication.
The reasons for conducting evaluations are numerous: to monitor the process and take corrective
actions where possible; to learn from past mistakes and make future interventions more effective;
to ensure the accountability of the resources dedicated to the initiative; and, most importantly, to
be able to assess, demonstrate, and quantify the effectiveness of the intervention. More specifically
the reasons for evaluating the impact of communication include:

• Assessing the role of a particular project or process in contributing to a development project

• Gaining advocacy with decision makers
• Refining and fine-tuning the process of implementation
• Learning from past mistakes, what has worked and not worked
• Ensuring a positive process for the community and the stakeholders
• Ensuring good management and accountability to donors and decision makers
• Making continued funding possible
• Improving research and evaluation methods and approaches

Monitoring the process of the intervention is known as ―formative evaluation,‖ while evaluation of
the final impact of the intervention is referred to as ―summative evaluation.‖ The first is necessary
to ensure that the communication activities are being carried out as planned and are achieving
the intended results effectively. By monitoring the intervention closely, staff can perform any
adjustment as needed to support the overall success of the initiative. Summative evaluation, on
the other hand, is necessary for considering the impact of the intervention and assessing if and
how its objectives were achieved. To be most effective, development communication specialists
should be involved at the onset of a development initiative, when they can identify and define
indicators for monitoring and evaluation, among other things. Indicators serve for measurements
at the end of the intervention, but they should always be established at the beginning.
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This crucial aspect is neglected in many instances, making it impossible to assess the
communication impact. Another problem related to this is that since managers and other decision
makers often do not see the need for communication at the initial stage, there are no specific
budget lines dedicated to communication, and, more specifically, dedicated to communication-
based research needed to identify indicators. Hence, the systematic incorporation and effective
application of CBA as a critical tool in the initial as well as in the implementing phases of projects
and programs greatly depend on the establishment of a dedicated budget line.

The following pyramid illustrates the four phases of development communication. The figure not
only represents their sequence but also their relevance in achieving the expected results. The
physical area in the pyramid also represents the importance, workload, and time needed for each
phase within the overall methodological process. The foundation of the pyramid, or the research
phase, constitutes the broadest and most important part of the whole; it is from this base that the
strategy is rooted and, subsequently, all activities are implemented and evaluated. The amount of
work and resources invested in the research phase is a significant factor in the achievement of the
communication objectives at the top of the pyramid.

Although the monitoring and evaluation process is almost at the top of the pyramid, the term
―monitoring and evaluation‖ in brackets also appears at the base to emphasize that monitoring
and evaluation indicators should be identified and defined from the beginning of the intervention,
even though the specific measurements are usually carried out at the end.
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Monitoring is an important mechanism that should be incorporated throughout the development
process to guarantee the proper implementation of activities. Its incorporation creates a real-time
alert system, which allows prompt intervention and relative corrections whenever something goes
wrong.

ELEMENTS OF THE MONITORING PROCESS

a. Establishing Standards
These arise out of the planning exercise which sets goals, objectives, targets, time-frames etc.
These need to be set in advance and broken down into physical and/or monetary terms. They
must be specified in a meaningful way and clearly understood and accepted by everyone involved
with the implementation of the project. Also such targets as are set should be realistic, attainable
and adequately motivating.
b. Setting up an Effective Feedback Mechanism
The effectiveness of the monitoring system is greatly influenced by the accuracy and reliability of
the information flow. Therefore, a robust mechanism must be put in place to ensure the free flow
of data, statistics, reports, returns etc. that will provide the basis for the regular availability of
useful information on which action can be taken. The feedback may be so organized as to be both
oral and written. For oral feedback, regular field visits must be organized. For written feedback,
suitable forms and formats may be designed. These should be short, simple and easy to fill as well
as read.
c. Measuring and Appraising Performance
Once standards have been defined and established, the next element in the monitoring process is
that of measuring and determining the quality of actual performance. Such measurement must be
made in the units or terms into which the targets were broken down at the planning stage. Again,
measurement of actual performance does not mean merely knowing what has happened. On the
contrary, measurement should also include predicting what is likely to happen. This means that
deviations, shortfalls, overruns, etc. are forecast well in advance, so that corrective actions are
initiated to forestall adverse circumstances. In other words, measurement of performance as an
element of the monitoring process, should follow a forward-looking approach.

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d. Taking Corrective Action

When significant deviations are noticed from the set quality standards, time schedules, physical
targets or cost estimates, corrective actions need to be initiated. These may involve, pulling up
implementing personnel, tightening supervision, more frequent field visits, streamlining cash flow,
motivating participants and target groups, undertaking more imaginative community participation
exercises, improving the quality of trainings, retraining volunteers and field staff etc. However,
hiking budgets, employing more personnel and increasing the time span may be resorted to only
in very exceptional circumstances.

KEY EVALUATION ISSSUES

Whatever the purpose, an evaluation should produce reliable data that can stand both internal
and external scrutiny. Evaluation findings should guide programme managers and decision-
makers to make decisions to improve ongoing/future interventions. A fundamental principle,
when considering undertaking an evaluation, is to aim for quality in the design of the study so
that the findings can stand the test of time. Also, evaluation must be credible, impartial and cost
effective.
Credibility
It is advised that the process for data collection be transparent. As indicated before, key
stakeholders must be consulted and their views must be taken into account when determining the
questions to focus on. Most importantly, the core competencies or the skills set of the evaluators
must be sound.
Impartiality and Independence
Evaluators should remain impartial throughout the evaluation process. Above all, findings and
conclusions should be free of personal biases. Judgments must be based on proven and reliable
data that can withstand scrutiny.
Cost-Effectiveness
The benefits of evaluation should outweigh the costs. The evaluation should be well tailored and
focused to minimize costs. Under most circumstances, the total cost of an evaluation should not
exceed 10% of the annual expenditure on the programme being assessed.

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7.6. CHAPTER SUMMARY
The methodology of development communication programs can be divided into four stages, or
phases: communication-based assessment (CBA); communication strategy design;
implementation; and monitoring and evaluation. CBA is the first phase and concerned with the
preliminary assessment of the overall situation and helps to build trust and minimizing
sociopolitical risks. Communication strategy design builds on the result of CBA and defines the
types of changes needed and articulate appropriate strategies/ strategy to ensure socio-economic
and political transformation (achieve intended objectives).

The implementing stage is the action phase the communication program. At this stage the actor
mobilizes resource and put an effort to realize defined objectives using selected strategies/
strategy. Monitoring and evaluation phase will help to know the impact of the communication
intervention. However, monitoring and evaluating the impact of social interventions is never
simple and, in the case of development communication, becomes more difficult and complex,
mostly because of the broader functions of communication. Monitoring also known as ―formative
evaluation helps to take timely corrective action,‖ while evaluation also called as ―summative
evaluation‖ helps to identify the impact of the intervention and assessing if and how the objectives
were achieved.
Chapter Reflections

1. Discuss the relationships among the stages of development communication and draw
implications
2. How do we practically examine Communication Based Assessment?
3. What are the elements of monitoring process? How do you relate the monitoring elements
with practical situations?
4. Discuss the reasons for evaluating the impact of communication in your organization
5. What is evaluation? How do you relate with communication strategy?

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CHAPTER 8: COMMUNICATION IN THE NGO SECTOR

8.1. INTRODUCTION
Chapter eight of the course material discusses how NGOs can write a communication strategy,
how kinds of road map (the communication plan) is available for NGOs for successful
communication, why NGOs should communicate with stakeholders, application of information
and communications technology in NGOs, how NGOs manage stakeholders engagement and
components of a strong stakeholder management system (stakeholders identification, analysis,
stakeholders engagement and stakeholders communication).
Learning objectives:
 To be able to understand how NGOs can manage stakeholders engagement and the
rational of stakeholders engagement
 To be able to understand components of stakeholder management system and apply them
while managing NGO activities
 To be able to write communication strategy and develop communication plans for NGOs
 To be able to use ICT in the management of NGO activities.

8.2. HOW TO WRITE A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

The common understanding of the term ―strategy,‖ is ―a plan or method for achieving specific
objectives.‖ Yet in order to achieve a goal or objective, certain requirements must be met. First of
all, the objective must be not only specific but also feasible and clearly stated; secondly, the
needed resources should be available.

A communication strategy can be defined as a well-planned series of actions aimed at achieving

specific objectives through the use of communication methods, techniques, and approaches. This
concept seems like common sense, and yet it is often neglected when communication experts are
asked to design a strategy capable of addressing long-term problems with a quick fix in a short
time. Not infrequently, managers demand a ―miraculous‖ communication strategy, often without
even seeing the need for a communication assessment.

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These kinds of requests occur too often and make it difficult for communication specialists to
resist management pressure for quick action that is bound to fail or to produce only short-term
results. The definitions for ―strategy‖ and ―communication strategy‖ highlight that the starting
point should lie in the objectives. When called in to provide support in an ongoing project through
communication, the development communication specialist‘s first step should be to obtain a clear
definition or validation of the project objectives. Once this is accomplished, the specialist can work
on defining the communication objectives in support of the project.

Effective definition of the objectives is not always an easy task because proper identification and
analysis of the main causes of a problem or situation are needed. This information defines the
strategy objectives. To be effective, strategies should be based on sound research data, and in the
new communication paradigm, research is not simply an extractive tool (that is, researchers
―extracting‖ information to be elaborated on and used by outside experts), but part of a heuristic
process engaging stakeholders in the investigative process.

In addition to the theoretical and applicative knowledge in communication and related fields,
development communication specialists should also be familiar with research methods and the
foundations of planning and strategy design. Managers should rely on specialists with the proper
skills for design of communication operational strategies.

It is not likely that an architect would be asked to provide the complete design of a building in a
week, or that a sociologist would be asked to design and conduct a national survey on three days
notice. Regardless of how strong the pressure is to deliver as soon as possible, the development
communication specialist should not hesitate to stand firm about what is possible to achieve and
what is not, according to the available information and the given time frame. It is usually feasible
to make the case that it is in the project managers‘ interest to allow adequate time and resources
to collect and interpret the information needed to shape the proper strategy and enhance the
overall results.

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Development communication specialists are not spin doctors or rainmakers-they should not be
asked to perform their work in less than rigorous ways. When adopted in ongoing projects,
development communication‘s effectiveness is heavily dependent on the project objectives. If those
objectives are not well defined, if they are perceived differently by different groups of stakeholders,
or if there are knowledge gaps in the way they are perceived, further research should be sought
before defining the strategy design.

When communication is used to assess and probe the situation from the start, the strategy design
will be proactive and more effective, since it can draw from a wide range of options based on the
inputs of the wider stakeholders‘ engagement. On the other hand, when called to assist in an
ongoing project, development communication specialists may find themselves facing a challenge
different from what they expected. Sometimes they need to spend a considerable amount of time
persuading the project management to get better data about the situation before operational work
begins. In order to design an effective communication strategy, it is not enough to have a general
idea about the solution. The key question to be addressed is not ―what‖ is happening, but ―why‖ it
is happening.

Communication-based assessment provides the basis for an effective strategy since its outputs
(that is, definitions of the objectives) become the inputs needed to design the strategy leading to
change. Development is all about change. To be achieved effectively, that change must be agreed
to by, and not imposed on, relevant stakeholders. Communication ensures sound foundations
upon which to build the development initiative leading to change. Those foundations typically
include an extensive knowledge of the stakeholders‘ socio-cultural background, their positions on
the issues of interest, an in-depth analysis of the causes of the situation to be changed, and most
important, the definition in a clear and measurable manner of the objectives to be achieved.

Once these elements are defined clearly, the planning process can begin, keeping in mind the
categorization and rationale for adopting monologic and dialogic communication and the
approaches related to each of the two modes.

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Before entering into the various elements of the strategy, the communication specialist should
look at the broader picture and decide which type of communication mix is needed. For instance,
a communication strategy in support of a decentralization program might require (1)
strengthening the internal communication of key institutions, (2) improving the image of the
project or institution, and (3) engaging stakeholders in order to support change. In this case, the
communication strategy will be multipronged, as it will have internal, corporate, and development
communication strategic lines of intervention. In some cases, advocacy may also be required.
Quite frequently, the communication strategy is drawn within a single type of communication.

When considering which communication approaches, media, or messages would be most effective
to achieve the intended change, the development communication specialist must look back into
the research findings. Mass dissemination of brochures and other literature on how to prevent the
spread of a disease is of little use in areas with high illiteracy rates. A social marketing approach
might be most effective in a health campaign, but it might not be so effective in a community
driven development project.

Every design of a communication strategy is unique in content, methods, and media. The
sequence to be followed when designing a strategy, however, tends to be consistent across the
whole range of applications. The sequence described in this section intends to provide a basic
frame of reference, especially useful for those who might need to manage the planning and
monitoring of such a strategy.

When designing a strategy, it is always important to be fully aware that the starting point is not
the audience, nor is it the message. It is the problem or the desired change to be achieved with all
its implications and related background information. That is why, in presenting the steps for
designing an effective communication strategy, it is helpful to start with a pre-sequence, which
could be used as a checklist to monitor the progress and effectiveness of the strategy.

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Defining Objective
The definitions of objectives constitute the link between the communication-based assessment
sequence and the sequence for strategy design. Once the objectives have been defined and
validated, the strategy can be delineated. To make strategy design easier, the objectives should be
identified in a way that is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely (SMART). A
communication strategy meant to support an ongoing project should start by reviewing all
relevant documentation of the project and then be followed by a communication- based
assessment to identify sound and SMART objectives.

The overall communication strategy, therefore, should be devised and refined by constantly
checking and revising each element of the design. Objectives are the core of the strategy, but each
element is important and should be carefully considered because each is linked to the others and
can affect the final outcome. Most of the success of a communication strategy depends on the way
the objectives are identified and formulated.

Core Elements in Designing a Strategy

The type of method or approach to be used in designing a communication strategy depends largely
on the complexity of the objectives. The basic steps to design communication strategy ( indicted) is
straightforward, but in many other instances, the degree of complexity and difficulty is much
greater, and the communication strategy needs to reflect that. For instance, a project supporting
decentralization at a national level may require different types of communication (corporate,
advocacy, and development communication), and the development communication modality might
contain different approaches, such as awareness raising about the responsibilities and benefits of
decentralization; behavior change of local administrators; community mobilization to ensure
transparency and accountability; and, at a national level, a multimedia campaign to support the
reform of the state. Such a multifaceted reality requires a complex strategy design. The core
elements in designing communication strategy are:

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1. Audiences and Stakeholder Groups. In order to select the most appropriate media and to design
a message effectively, the communication specialist needs to know the norms, values of reference,
actions, and aspirations of the audience. This can be achieved by adopting a high degree of
empathy and doing proper research. Communicating the scientifically correct information is
seldom enough to change audiences‘ attitudes and behaviors. To use a certain technique or visual
aid, the communication specialist might need to know the educational background and cultural
sensitivities of the stakeholders to make sure that the material used is appropriate to the context
and not offensive to anybody. Stakeholders‘ and audiences‘ interests and priorities in the issue
must be consistent with that of the project staff to avoid the common mistake of imparting
knowledge that is technically sound but out of sync with people‘s perceptions.

2. Levels of Change. The communication objectives of approaches within the monologic mode
imply a level of change that usually falls within one of the following categories: awareness,
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (or practices) or AKAB. On the other hand, in the dialogic
mode, change can be addressing broader issues at a social level, such as mobilization,
collaboration, and (conflict) mediation or resolution. In the first case the communication
intervention will basically aim at raising awareness, increasing knowledge, changing the attitudes,
and changing the behaviors (and/or adopting an innovation). This sequence, at times called the
ladder of change, needs to be followed in order to induce change. The communication entry point
is determined by the research, or CBA.

If there is no awareness at all, the communication strategy will need to raise such awareness; it
should then provide the knowledge about the issue and finally address specific attitudes and
behaviors. However, if the CBA reveals that relevant actors are aware of the problems and have
the knowledge of how to change, the communication intervention could focus on the attitudes and
behaviors right away. In any case one should not address specific behavior changes unless the
previous steps have been addressed successfully or are already fulfilled. Trying to induce behavior
change without the audience having the required knowledge or attitudes is likely to result in
failure.

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Sometimes there is the need to address a change more on a social level, such as mobilizing
communities to play an active part in the decentralization effort, having different groups of
stakeholders collaborating on a common initiative, or mediating a conflict that has negative
repercussions on the social development of the area. Such change is usually addressed by dialogic
approaches. Inserting the required level of change in the strategy matrix helps to focus the
intervention and ensure that the communication approaches and the evaluation indicators are in
line with the objectives.

The most common approaches of communication strategy include social marketing approach,
Advocacy approach, Information dissemination and campaigns approach, Information, education,
and communication (IEC) approach, Education and training approach, Institutional strengthening
approach, Community mobilization approach, and Nondirective participatory communication
approach. These approaches are not mutually exclusive and can stand alone or in combination
with each other. What is important to understand is that each approach serves a different
purpose. Selecting the most appropriate one will shape subsequent steps, such as message
design, media selections, and other crucial elements of a communication strategy.

3. Basics of Message Design- In development, message design should be first and foremost about
listening in order to understand and ensure that messages convey what is relevant and needed by
stakeholders in a given situation. The design of appropriate and effective messages refers to the
packaging of information deemed important to induce a desired voluntary change in specific
audiences. Even if messages are determined and designed in advance, there are instances where
relevant content is presented and discussed in an open form through discussion themes.

In general, the type of message design adopted depends on the objectives and the communication
approaches selected for the development initiative. Whatever the message, it is necessary to have
an in-depth understanding of the intended audiences and all the relevant background data. An
effective message design cannot be delegated solely to experts of the specific sector (engineer,
medical specialist, or economist, for example) but needs to be shaped by the professional skills of
communication experts.
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When designing a message, it is helpful to think about both the content of the message, the
information to be included in the message, and the take-away message, the main message or idea
for the audience to retain, which usually is not the whole package of information received. With
this duality in mind, it is easier to avoid the common mistake of assuming that a message
received is a message understood and retained by the audience. Effective messages are those that
have the information packaged in a clear and easily understandable manner, contain the right
appeal to get the audience‘s attention, and fill the gap between what the audience knows and
what they need to know. Messages get ―decoded‖ or interpreted in different ways by individuals,
and they can also be reinterpreted or negotiated through interpersonal communication among
individuals. It is imperative that messages be pretested with a relevant sample of the intended
audiences before starting the production of communication materials.

While designing message for Development Communication and thereby to ensure effectiveness
when defining or supervising the design of messages, the following items should be kept in mind.

A. Socio- cultural sensitivity—Content and presentation should be appropriate for the cultural
environment. In a number of cases, cultural issues, not content, were the main cause of a
campaign failure. In one case, a campaign was encouraging women to vaccinate their children so
they could have healthier and longer lives. But the color of the campaign posters was white, which
in that particular culture symbolizes death and mourning. It is not difficult to see why the posters
were not so effective.
B. Language appropriateness—This theme overlaps with cultural sensitivity, but it deserves
special attention because it is often neglected. To be effective, it is not so important that messages
be grammatically correct or expressed in a scientifically appropriate manner but that they convey
the take-away message in a way that relates to audiences‘ way of life and understanding.

C. Political compatibility—The degree of free expression and transparency varies significantly

among countries. Communication specialists seldom operate in ideal circumstances. Hence, they
should always weigh the effectiveness of messages especially when used for campaigns at a
national level with the political situation of the country and the boundaries of what is appropriate.
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D. Economic compatibility—Any innovation or reform needs to be implemented within a larger
setting. A message can be effective if it considers how such an innovation would fit into the
broader framework. For instance, in an energy sector reform, a message promoting an increase in
fees by emphasizing the increased effectiveness and quality provided by electricity services would
not have much impact if most users cannot afford to pay for that service.

E. Psychological appropriateness—It is imperative that each message resonates with its specific
audience. Each message should have a specific appeal that catches audiences‘ attention. Appeals
can be diverse in approach and nature. They can be rational— highlighting safety, economic
effectiveness, health, and other similar issues, or emotional appealing to ambition, attraction,
fear, embarrassment, romance, or a sense of belonging. One of the classic examples is that of a
major anti-tobacco campaign directed at teens, which emphasized the health risks connected to
smoking people who smoke would get sick more often and could die younger. The problem with
the message was that teens are not typically concerned about getting sick or dying. The campaign
started to have an impact when the messages changed based on research and emphasized how
teens who smoke have an unpleasant taste when they kiss. That indeed proved to be a major
concern for teens, and the message managed to help decrease smoking among teens.

F. Expected achievements—prior to message design, intentions should be clear. It is crucial to

know the level being addressed on the scale. Is awareness being raised or knowledge increased on
a certain topic? Are the messages aimed to influence public attitude toward a certain reform or to
change behavior regarding habits that could improve audiences‘ living conditions? Whatever the
case, the message, its content, and its appeal should be addressed to the targeted level. For
instance, if designing a campaign to promote hand washing for health reasons in rural areas, it is
crucial to know if people have easy access to water and if they are aware of the benefits of washing
their hands, in order to address the right level of change (that is, awareness, knowledge, attitude,
and/or behavior).
4. Communication Channels and Media. Often this topic is simply referred to as media. The term
―channels,‖ however, carries a connotation broader than the technological one of electronic media.
Hence; both terms are being included in the Sourcebook.
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Communication channels and media can range from electronic media, such as video, radio, and
the Internet, to traditional channels, such as popular theater, drums, and storytelling, and pass
through the whole range of printed products, such as newspapers, leaflets, brochures, posters,
and flip charts. Sometimes opinion leaders or individuals having a significant influence or
credibility in the community can become effective channels in a communication program. Which
specific channel or media mix to use depends on a number of factors: objectives of the
communication intervention (for example, awareness raising, advocacy, mobilization),
characteristics of the audiences (such as literacy rates, preferred information sources), the social
environment (available media, cultural context), and available resources, among others. Without
necessarily mastering all the specific aspects involved in the production and use of each medium
or channel, the communication specialist should always be aware of the strengths and
weaknesses of each.

While television is known for its high appeal for entertainment and awareness rising on specific
issues, it is not equally effective in changing audience attitudes and behaviors, unless used in
conjunction with other channels. Often, radio is the preferred medium in rural settings, but,
except in the case of the many community radios that use it in a more participatory way for
development-oriented purposes; it has similar limitations to television. Printed materials can be of
value when most of the population can read and write, which is not always the case in project
settings. Traditional forms of communication, such as storytelling or popular theater, even if
reaching more limited numbers of individuals, can be rather effective in discussing sensitive
issues and gradually inducing change in the attitudes and behaviors of the audience.

Whatever channel is selected, it is important to have a sound rationale for the selection. Using a
communication mix is often crucial. In many instances, multimedia campaigns have been
demonstrated to be more effective than one-medium campaigns in achieving intended results. New
information technologies, such as the Internet, provide a wider range of options whose potential is
yet to be fully explored and taken into account. Once all the elements of the strategy have been
discussed, assessed, and defined, the path is clear for implementation of the message design
activities.
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In designing communication strategies, besides what has been discussed above, one has to take
into account resources and timescales, and evaluation and amendment. The strategists should
identify and use resources and timescales to set legitimate levels of expectations and outline the
case for more dedicated resources. The strategist should also assess the effectiveness of
communication strategy with both internal and external audiences. While drawing up
communication strategy, one should involve team, and on a smaller scale, the entire organization.
This will help to feed the communications strategy into the organizational strategy to ensure
maximum alignment and efficiency.

8.3. YOUR ROADMAP TO COMMUNICATION SUCCESS: THE COMMUNICATION PLAN

The communication plan encompasses the activities necessary to implement the work plan (for
example, design of communication materials, training of relevant staff, and so forth) and to
produce and distribute media and information products. The plan should indicate all required
resource- both human and nonhuman. Usually this is done through an action plan, which can be
considered a map indicating what needs to be done, by whom, when, and at what cost. The
activities presented in following table provide a model of reference to define a basic sequence of
special value for instructional purposes. The actions, however, can vary greatly and depend mostly
on the strategy design.

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Activities Explanation Example

Review and confirm objectives Vaccinate 70% of the children

under five in area X
Objective(s) (SMART) (possibly SMART)

Audiences/stakeholders Who are the audiences of groups Primary; mothers Secondary ;

being addressed (primary, sons/daughters (students) and

secondary,etc/ fathers

Activities (and approaches) What are the activities needed Information Campaigns
(media production, message (audiovisual and printed
design, etc)? materials)

Resources needed (human and Experts in audiovisual design and Design information campaigns

material) production (experts in training, (audiovisual and printed

related materials, etc) materials) filed visit, meetings

Party responsible (action The source/initiator responsible Field officers of the ministry of
promoter) for the action
Environment

Time frame The sequence and time needed 6 months to design the campaign,
for each activity 2 months for training, 6 months
to implement, 8 months for field
visits and meetings

Expected outputs (outcome What is expected by the 70% of children under five being
indicators)
communication initiative? vaccinated

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Starting from the set objectives, typically an action plan details intended audiences, selected
activities, inputs needed, expected outputs, and the time frame for each activity. The
communication objectives (possibly expressed in SMART form) constitute the ―North Star‖ of the
strategy when drafting the action plan, thus shaping the activities to be implemented. The action
plan should state clearly who is responsible for each activity and what the expected outcome is
once the activities are implemented. In other words, the action plan is a way to organize and
enhance the management and implementation of decisions taken in the design of the strategy.

Table above provides a simple and linear presentation of an action plan, but complex projects and
programs would need more articulated and multifaceted action plans. One should not assume
that for each objective there is a single corresponding action: for a specific objective, there might
be five activities, two expected results, and a great and diversified number of resources needed.
This network of activities should be implemented under the direct supervision of a communication
specialist (for example, video producer, campaign expert, or trainer) who verifies that the
communication outputs are directly and effectively linked with the objectives.

Before the implementation of the planned activities can begin, there are usually a number of
preparatory actions to be carried out. These can be divided broadly into two types: production of
materials and training of relevant personnel. According to the needs identified in the research and
defined in the strategy, it might be necessary to produce posters, brochures, radio programs, and
other kinds of audiovisuals.

What is important is that each medium has certain characteristics that should be considered
when project leaders decide what, how, and when to use it, and they should make sure they hire
specialists with the proper production competencies. Good communication plan involves pre-
testing communication materials and putting the pieces together. Most important, communication
specialists should always pretest the materials being produced, no matter how well done they are
and how carefully they are revised by other experts. Pretesting should be conducted with pilot
groups and representatives of the intended populations before reaching the stage of mass
production.
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Many messages may fail to reach the intended audiences simply because no pretesting was done,
and the assumptions of experts were proved inadequate by real experience. For example, villagers
may fail to respond in the expected way to the dangers of malaria presented to them in a film on
the subject. For dramatization purposes in the film, mosquitoes were depicted as much larger
than they are in reality. As a result, the villagers did not recognize them as a threat, and they
assumed that there was nothing to worry about since there were no such big insects in their area!

While planning communication experts should put all of pieces of communication phases together
(communication-based assessment; communication strategy design; implementation; and
monitoring and evaluation) as each specific step relates and interacts with other steps. This is
very helpful to become successful in development communication and can be used as a road
map for the overall process of the communication strategy, its inputs, activities, and expected
outcomes.

8.4. COMMUNICATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholders are persons or groups who are directly or indirectly affected by a project/ an
organization, as well as those who may have interests in a project and/or the ability to influence
its outcome, either positively or negatively. Stakeholders may include locally affected communities
or individuals and their formal and informal representatives, national or local government
authorities, politicians, religious leaders, civil society organizations and groups with special
interests, the academic community, or other businesses. The stake and involvement of different
actors could vary.

For example, there may be people directly affected by the potential environmental or social
impacts of a project. Others may be resident in another country altogether, but wish to
communicate their concerns or suggestions to the project company. Then there are those who
might have great influence over the project, such as government regulators, political or religious
leaders, and others active in the local community. There are also stakeholders who, because of
their knowledge or stature, can contribute positively to the project, for example, by acting as an
honest broker in mediating relationships.

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Information and communication with stakeholders can assist in development of good relationship
with stakeholders. To do so, the most important element in stakeholder communications is
identifying the target audience. To be successful one has to be deliberate and seek out input from
all known groups to find the unknown groups as the target audience determine to method/
techniques to be used for communication. Communication expert should understand
communication methods and their respective advantages and disadvantages.

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8.5. APPLICATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY IN NGOS

Information and communication technology are at the leading edge of technological innovation.
Effective use and development of ICT are vital to creation and strengthening the infrastructure,
and the skills, by which both developed and developing countries can respond to the requirements
of sustainable development. NGO need effective communication to effectively manage their
activities. They require a broad base of information to secure appropriate resources and carry out
operations in harmony with many other organizations.

Generally, NGOs use a vast array of technology and communications systems to manage
activities. Within the international community, the collective technical infrastructure of hardware,
software, and telecommunications is often referred to as information and communications
technology or, more simply, ICT. Many NGOs perceive ICT as an important tool to optimize
operations and conduct information exchanges. Effective application of ICT enables the NGOs to
organize information and communicate with different stakeholders. That is it enables the NGOs to
receive and provide information internally as well as externally and this depends on NGO‘s ICT
infrastructure. Thus, knowing NGO‘s communication capabilities and how they collect and use
information enable to understand how they operate.

Although technology is an integral part of daily operations for most NGOs, no two NGOs have the
same communications and technology systems. This is because of the fact that the information a
particular NGO seeks depends on its area of focus. A food-aid NGO will need to know about roads,
port and airport operations, commodity prices, warehouse security, and shipment information. A
health-care NGO, in the same emergency, may need to know about population health,
immunization programs, local health-care facilities, mortality rates, medical supply stockpiles,
and so on. And both will likely want the most current information available on factors such as
population movements, epidemics, food aid movement, violence and battles between combating
parties, displacement, weather, and the like.

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NGOs use a broad range of technologies to manage information, conduct operations, and deliver
services. At the field level, the laptop and HF/VHR radio and cell phone are by far the most
popular tools during emergency relief efforts. Internally, e-mail through cell and satellite phones
connections is the most common way of exchanging data between headquarter and field offices
and is quickly replacing voice communications in even the direst emergencies. With the
appropriate connectivity, ICT users can communicate point to point (that is, cell phone to cell
phone) or access the Internet to expand their options: e-mail, VOIP applications (such as SKYPE),
intranets, blogs, and social networks

The most common types technologies used by NGOs for communication are:
A. Hardware. NGO staff members carry significant data with them at all times. They also
generally use laptops in the field to record assessment data, findings, survey analysis, and then to
write reports or analysis about the conditions. Laptops are easily connected to the Internet and
data lines with modems or network cards, and e-mails and documents then sent anywhere. This
makes an NGO staff member a vital part of a global operation and allows different program
managers to easily exchange information, updates, and plans. Laptops are relatively inexpensive,
easy to procure, and adaptable to a number of uses and conditions.

B. Handsets
Radio. Despite advancements in global cellular service and satellite coverage, NGOs rely on legacy
radio technologies to deliver much of the required connectivity. Radio services are extremely
efficient and operational in all but a very few conditions. Radio communications are therefore
often one of the first priorities in setting up communications infrastructure during an emergency.
Satellite phones. Satellite phones are now extremely common among the NGO community,
typically used to communicate in emergency settings or austere environments when no other local
or international communication is available. If an NGO employee has a satellite phone, he or she
can establish a voice, data, or even video connection to almost any similar connection on earth.
Generally, only extremely harsh weather, service failure, or limited line-of-site can restrict the
reception of a satellite phone. Per-minute charges are higher, depending on the type of data being
transmitted (voice versus data, specifically).
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Cell–mobile–smart phones. The explosive spread of mobile networks across the world along with
the increased functionality of cell phones and smart phones is offering more opportunities for
NGO use of these mobile devices. NGO workers mainly use cell phones for voice, short-message
service (SMS) text messaging but also take advantage of the ability to collect and distribute photos
and video and to collect data. The main benefits described included time savings, the ability to
accelerate the mobilization of resources and extend their reach. Most viewed the cell phone as
having a positive impact on their work. Some called it revolutionary.
C. Internet
Some of the largest advancements in NGO technology have and will continue to be made online.
With the increasing availability of high speed connections and the expansion of mobile-based
services, media-rich, real-time data sharing, and voice-data communications will become easier
and more reliable. By connecting to the Internet through sat-phones, local telephone lines,
Internet cafes, or shared UN or specialized service connections, NGOs can manage e-mail,
exchange documents, store data, and even carry on live communications. In many emergency
settings (some famines, rural floods, or fire), urban area infrastructure remains functional enough
to support these avenues of communication. And when other, more established systems don‘t
exist, Hotmail, Yahoo!, and other browser-based free e-mail providers are available to fill the gap.
D. Blogs and online social networking
Although NGOs exchange most information and documents by e-mail, an emerging trend using
blogs and online social networking sites to create and exchange content and engage in peer-to-
peer conversations. These tools have also been used by global activists to relay information and
pictures when government-controlled internet and telecommunications networks have been
heavily monitored or shut down.

NGOs face many challenges in using ICT. They have varying capacities to use ICT based on costs
and internal expertise. Given the lack of data standards and technical standardization of
telecommunication packages, exchanging information efficiently is challenging.

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High investment cost, and lack of standard are the major challenges facing NGOs in using ICT.
Although nearly all NGOs use some form of low-cost, commercially available technology as an
integral part of daily operations at both the central office and the field level, few are in a position
to procure, implement, and sustain more advanced systems on an organization-wide basis.
Furthermore, NGOs do not receive grants for infrastructure investment and donors usually focus
on direct outcome and forces NGOs to keep overhead costs down and hence NGOs generally spend
less on ICT; below that of government agencies and other industry ICT investments.
Underinvestment in ICT is also the result of decentralization, whereby NGOs often implement only
what is necessary to keep field programs running.

Given inadequate infrastructure, NGOs ultimately depend on other organizations for assistance
with technology and communications. For example, most NGOs are unable to host their own
Internet service in-country and sometimes cannot even manage their own area-wide radio
networks. Assistance from the UN, militaries, private-sector telecommunications companies, and
others is essential. In any cases, smaller NGOs are often stuck when the power goes out, when
phone lines are down, satellite phones don‘t work, or local radio systems are inoperable or
nonexistent. Without redundant communication systems such as those of the government or
military units, NGOs are often challenged with changing conditions. This is not always the case, of
course, but it can leave an operation isolated.

Data standards for either information exchange or communication equipment have not been
established for each field. Differences in data, systems, styles, and equipment often make
communication one of the more challenging tasks. Although many forms of communications
technology are manufactured to industry specifications and standards, there is virtually no
standardization among NGOs as to what types of ICT they use or how and when those
technologies are used. ICT technology platforms are often influenced by many factors unrelated to
technology, not the least of which is using affordable or donated systems and equipment. For
example an ongoing dialogue within the humanitarian community focuses on information
management and coordination practices between agencies.

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Although debate has been vigorous, little consensus has emerged on how to actually implement
global standards and structures for communications and information management, especially
because NGOs, UN agencies, and the like have vastly different management structures and
capabilities. NGOs are ground-level operators that rely on fast, low-level staff decision-making,
whereas UN and other donor agencies depend on a hierarchical structure of management with
information coming from below and making its way upward for decision-making.

NGOs thrive on the flexibility of using various types of equipment and by not being burdened by
protocol or requirements during complex, changing emergencies. Over the past decade, some
standardization has occurred within some applications. Examples include standard VHF and HF
radio networks for voice traffic and mobile assets. With the emergence and spread of cell phone
use and a heavy reliance on data networks, this gain in interoperability may be short lived. This is
not to suggest that NGOs and other operators would not benefit from standardized equipment and
communications platforms, but only that it will be some time before they achieve it.

Power supplies cut are another challenge for NGOs to use available ICT particularly in developing
countries. Without power, ICT cannot work. NGOs are often faced with a lack of electricity or
power sources to keep communications technology running. NGOs usually use generators (not
affordable) and recently solar panels (operated by solar energy).

8.6. HOW NGOS MANAGE STAKEHOLDERS ENGAGEMENT?

Today, the term ―stakeholder engagement‖ is emerging as a means of describing a broader, more
inclusive, and continuous interaction and process between an organization and those potentially
impacted. The engagement encompasses a range of activities and approaches though out the
entire life spans of the project. And it is found that good stakeholder relations are a prerequisite
for good risk management. To be successful different practices in stakeholder engagement need to
be employed and integrated into management systems at each stage. Furthermore, organizations
should design their engagement strategies in line with the needs of their respective projects.

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The following guidelines are helpful for successful stakeholders‘ engagement.

1. Get in early. Relationship-building takes time. Many of the hallmarks of good relationships –
trust, mutual respect, and understanding – are intangibles that develop and evolve over time,
based on individual and collective experiences and interactions. Therefore, organizations should
get into stakeholders engagement in the early stage of their development. Early engagement
provides a valuable opportunity to influence public perception and set a positive tone with
stakeholders at early stage.
2. Start before the problem happens. Organization should not wait until there is a problem to
engage. Engaging with stakeholders from the start – as part of core business strategy – enables a
proactive cultivation of relationships that can serve as ―capital‖ during challenging times.
3. Take a long-term view. Establishing and maintaining good relationships requires a long time-
horizon.
4. Tailor the process to fit the project. Organizations should scale their stakeholder engagement
strategies relative to the risks and impacts their project is likely to create. There is no one-size-
fits-all approach when it comes to engagement. The type of relationship the NGO should try to
develop with its stakeholders, and the resources and level of effort that it should invest, will differ
according to the nature, location, and scale of the project; the phase of its development; and the
interests of the stakeholders themselves.

Small projects with minimal impacts on the surrounding population may only need to focus on
the information disclosure and communication side of the engagement spectrum, whereas larger
projects with greater degrees of complexity and wide-ranging impacts on multiple stakeholder
groups will need to adopt a more strategic and sophisticated approach in order to effectively
manage the process. Organizations need to be prepared for the fact that they are entering into a
pre-existing yet dynamic context, with established histories and cultures, and often complex
political, social, and economic relations between groups that can be thrown into flux by the advent
of a project and the development process that accompanies it. In other words, stakeholder
relations can become politicized and complicated, and can lead to or exacerbate conflicts and
other unanticipated outcomes.
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5. Manage engagement as any function. Like any other function, stakeholder engagement needs to
be managed. It should be driven by a well-defined strategy and have a clear set of objectives,
timetable, budget, and allocation of responsibilities. All staff should be made aware of the
program, and understand why it‘s being undertaken and what implications it might have for
project outcomes. Organizations that take a systematic (rather than ad-hoc) approach that is
grounded in organizational operations, are likely to get better results in terms of the time and
resources they invest, and are able to track and manage stakeholder issues and risks more
effectively. Allocating responsibilities for stakeholder engagement to business units and
mainstreaming it into project operations increases the chances that it will serve the purposes of
the project, rather than becoming a costly peripheral exercise that is out of touch with operational
realities and raises expectations that cannot be met. As with other key functions, direct reporting
lines and the engagement of senior management is critical.

8.7. COMPONENTS OF A STRONG STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Stakeholder engagement is an umbrella term encompassing a range of activities and interactions
over the life of a project. These can be divided into different components. Among others it
includes stakeholder identification, stakeholder analysis, stakeholder engagement and
stakeholder communication. Each will be discussed in a separate section below.

8.7.1. STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION

The first step in the process of stakeholder engagement and is concerned with stakeholder
identification–determining project stakeholders, and their key groupings and sub-groupings. The
identification process should indicate those who are directly or indirectly affected by the
organization or a project. Here, the NGO should think not only about the primary project site(s),
but also all related facilities, including associated facilities, transport routes, areas potentially
affected by cumulative impacts, or unplanned but predictable developments. Using this analysis
enable to establish and articulate project‘s area of influence and determine who might be affected
and in what way.

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This process will begin to reveal those most directly affected by the project by any project activity
(positive and negative). A quick and practical technique for undertaking this type of stakeholder
mapping exercise is ―impact zoning‖. By mapping the sphere of influence of different types of
impacts (socio-economic, environmental etc) , the NGO can begin to identify distinct groups by
impact area, and from this prioritize stakeholders for consultation. For larger-scale projects, with
different phases to their development, mapping out both the near term and future facilities may
assist the NGO to identify potential ―cumulative impacts‖ on stakeholder groups that might not
have been evident by just looking at the immediate project.

While priority should be given to individuals and groups in the project area who are directly and
adversely affected, drawing the line between who is affected and who is not can be challenging.
Even with the best of efforts, problems can arise. Communities lying just outside of the designated
project impact area can ―perceive‖ impacts or feel they have been arbitrarily excluded from project
benefits. For these reasons, defining stakeholders too narrowly should also be avoided.

8.7.2. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS

Not all stakeholders in a particular group or subgroup will necessarily share the same unified
opinions or priorities. Stakeholder analysis refers to a more in-depth look at stakeholder group
interests, how they will be affected and to what degree, and what influence they could have on the
project.

For some projects, the most vocal opposition may come from stakeholders outside the affected
area – in other parts of the country, from other countries altogether, or even from overseas.
Underestimating their potential influence on project outcomes may pose risks. It is therefore
important to also include in stakeholder analysis those groups or organizations that are not
adversely affected, but whose interests determine them as stakeholders. ―Interest-based‖ analysis
and mapping can help to clarify the motivations of different actors and the ways in which they
might be able to influence the project.

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To this end, NGOs can cost-effective solutions (newsletters, websites, and targeted public
meetings) to establish and maintain open channels of communication with the wider stakeholders.
Choosing not to engage with wider stakeholders creates the risk that their issues may get
discussed through other outlets such as the media or political process. While this may happen
anyway, it is usually better to be proactive in trying to manage such risks by offering
opportunities for constructive dialogue.

The following guidelines may help in stakeholder analysis.

1. Be strategic and prioritize. It is not practical, and usually not necessary, to engage with all
stakeholder groups with the same level of intensity all of the time. Being strategic and clear as to
whom the NGO is engaging with and why, before jumping in, can help to save both time and
money. This requires prioritizing your stakeholders and, depending on who they are and what
interests they might have, figuring out the most appropriate ways to engage. Stakeholder analysis
should assist in this prioritization by assessing the significance of the project to each stakeholder
group from their perspective, and vice versa. It is important to keep in mind that the situation is
dynamic and that both stakeholders and their interests might change over time, in terms of level
of relevance to the project and the need to actively engage at various stages. For example, some
stakeholders will be more affected by a particular phase of a project, such as construction
activities.

When prioritizing, it might be helpful to consider the following:

 What type of stakeholder engagement is mandated by law or other requirements?
 Who will be adversely affected by potential environmental and social impacts in the
project‘s area of influence?
 Who are the most vulnerable among the potentially impacted, and are special engagement
efforts necessary?
 At which stage of project development will stakeholders be most affected (e.g. procurement,
construction, operations, decommissioning)?
 What are the various interests of project stakeholders and what influence might this have
on the project?
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  Which stakeholders might help to enhance the project design or reduce project costs?
 Which stakeholders can best assist with the early scoping of issues and impacts?
 Who strongly supports or opposes the changes that the project will bring and why?
 Whose opposition could be detrimental to the success of the project?
 Who is it critical to engage with first, and why?
 What is the optimal sequence of engagement?
2. Refer to past stakeholder information and consultation. Referring to historical stakeholder
information related to project or locality can save time and flag up risks, liabilities, or unresolved
issues that can then be prioritized and managed in relation to the different strategic alternatives
being considered. If the project is an expansion of a prior investment or operation, possible
sources of prior information include existing stakeholder databases; consultation and grievance
logs; environmental and socio- economic impact assessment studies and consultation processes
completed for an earlier phase of the project; annual monitoring reports; and community
investment plans of the company, local government, or other businesses in the same locality.

3. Develop socio-economic fact sheets with a focus on vulnerable groups. For complex projects likely
to impact upon people and the environment over a large geographic area, or affect vulnerable
groups, it may be useful to compile socio-economic information for distribution to project staff and
external consultants working in the proposed project area. Collecting this type of data in advance
can help ensure that any future stakeholder engagement activities are culturally appropriate from
the outset, and that the groups most vulnerable or potentially disadvantaged by the proposed
project are identified early on. An experienced expert familiar with the local area would be needed
to develop such fact sheets, which could then be used and expanded throughout subsequent
phases of the project.

4. Verify stakeholder representatives. Identifying stakeholder representatives and consulting with

and through them can be an efficient way to disseminate information to large numbers of
stakeholders and receive information from them. When working to determine representatives,
however, there are a number of factors worth considering.

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First, try to ensure that these individuals are indeed true advocates of the views of their
constituents, and can be relied upon to faithfully communicate the results of engagement with the
project company back to their constituents. One way to do this is to seek verification that the right
representatives have been engaged, by talking directly to a sample of project-affected people.
Including the views of the designated representatives in this way can help highlight any
inconsistencies in how stakeholder views are being represented. Legitimate stakeholder
representatives could be, but are not limited to:
 elected representatives of regional, local, and village councils
 traditional representatives, such as village headmen or tribal leaders
 leaders (chairmen, directors) of local cooperatives, other community-based organizations,
local NGOs, and local women‘s groups
 politicians and local government officials, school teachers
 religious leaders

In addition, one has to be aware that the very act of establishing certain people as the ―liaison‖
between the local population and the project confers upon them a certain degree of power and
influence. In certain situations, this can be perceived as empowering one group (or set of
individuals) relative to another, which can lead to tensions or conflict. In other cases, it can
expose these individuals to new pressures from their peers and other community members. The
process can also be subject to manipulation by those seeking to capture benefits or influence
outcomes to serve their own interests. Again, broadening channels of communication, using direct
verification from time to time, and not being overly reliant on a single source for intermediation
can help to ensure transparency and accountability.
8.7.3. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
In general, NGOs that choose a venue where stakeholders feel more comfortable - most likely at a
location within the community- tend to have more productive engagement processes. This is so for
the following reasons:
 It lends transparency to the process. Community members can witness the process and
stay informed about what is being discussed on their behalf, and what has been agreed at
the close of consultation or negotiations.
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  It increases accountability of local leaders. Community members will know what they are
entitled to demand, and they will be able to monitor its delivery and avoid corruption.
 It sends the message that companies value the input of communities enough to travel
there and spend time there.
 It contributes to community members‘ feeling of ownership over the engagement process.
Community members say that the opportunity to have input into public meetings gives
them a sense of having a role in the outcome of decisions.
 Finally, it allows community members to identify their own representatives, preventing
illegitimate representatives from claiming that they speak for communities.

Government, other NGOs and community based organizations, and employees worth attention
among other in stakeholder engagement. There are many important reasons to establish and
maintain good working relationships with governmental authorities at different levels, and to keep
them informed of the project‘s activities and anticipated impacts. Government support can be
critical to the success of a project, and routine engagement with various regulatory and public
service authorities is often required. On a practical level, local government authorities may have
long-established relationships with project-affected communities and other local and national
stakeholder groups, and as such can play a role in convening and facilitating discussions between
the project and stakeholder representatives. Local government can also partner with private
companies in many respects, for example, in providing services, communicating information to the
local population, or integrating local development plans with the operational needs of the project.

Keeping track of government-led consultation with stakeholders on issues related to the project is
highly recommended. Such consultation may be required as part of regional economic planning,
environmental permitting or exploration licensing, compensation for land and assets, or the
design and management of infrastructure. It is important for the NGO to be aware of these
consultations as they might have implications for future stakeholder relations. More seriously, if
consultations are a legal obligation of government prior to the granting of licenses or concessions,
for example, failure to meet such obligations may jeopardize NGO‘s operating license.

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Therefore, where there are questions around the government‘s consultation process or unresolved
stakeholder issues, it is in the NGO‘s interest to try to find out the nature of such concerns and,
to the extent feasible, take actions to address the situation. Other NGOs and community-based
organizations (CBOs), particularly those who represent communities directly affected by a project,
can be important stakeholders for NGOs to identify and engage on a proactive basis.
NGOs may have expertise valuable to effective stakeholder engagement. For example, they can be
sources of local knowledge, sounding boards for project design and mitigation, conduits for
consulting with sensitive groups, and partners in planning, implementing and monitoring various
project-related programs.

However, it is important to carry out initial survey regarding the local power dynamics and
existence of special interest groups to ensure that any intermediary organizations, such as NGOs,
are truly representative of and accountable to the community interests they claim to support and
represent. If there is other NGO opposition to the project, engaging early to try and understand
the concerns or critiques being raised can offer an opportunity to manage these issues before they
escalate or find another outlet for expression.

Whether implicitly or explicitly, employees communicate messages about the company and the
project to the outside world and help to create perceptions as well as pass along information. This
provides a great opportunity for NGOs to leverage this built-in channel of communications as a
means of outreach and dissemination to the local population. Feedback from the local workforce
can also be a way to identify emerging issues and concerns of local communities.

NGOs who do this well make an effort to keep their employees well-informed, involve them in the
NGO‘s stakeholder engagement strategy, and recruit their help as front-line ambassadors in
relationship-building with the local population.

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8.7.4. STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATION

Stakeholder communication concerned with formally making information accessible to interested

and affected parties. The information should be communicated in a manner that is
understandable to stakeholders. This is an important first (and ongoing) step in the process of
stakeholder engagement. All other activities, from consultation and informed participation to
negotiation and resolution of grievances, will be more constructive if stakeholders, including
affected communities, have accurate and timely information about the project, its impacts, and
any other aspects that may have an effect on them.
The following guidelines are helpful in stakeholder communication
A. Be transparent. Good practice involves taking steps to increase transparency and
accountability as a means of promoting understanding about the project and engendering public
trust. One should know that a lack of information can lead to the spread of misinformation about
a project that can be both damaging to a company‘s reputation, and undermine efforts to engage
in an informed dialogue with stakeholders.
B. Apply good practice principles. These include:
 Disclose early. The aim is to provide relevant information to targeted stakeholders in
advance of decision-making. At a minimum, explain next steps and be clear about which
project elements are fixed and which can be changed or improved upon, based on
consultation and participatory inputs.
 Disclose objective information. To the extent possible, the NGO should be open about the
project. In short, it should ―tell it like it is.‖ It should Refrain from exaggerating the good
news, such as employment opportunities, or playing down the bad, such as anticipated
noise levels and traffic disturbances during the construction period.
 Design disclosure to support consultation. Where appropriate, NGOs should treat the
disclosure of project and environmental and social information as an integral part of
stakeholder consultation. The NGOs should provide necessary information to the people so
that they can participate in an informed manner. Crucially, sufficient time should given
between the provision of information about the benefits and disadvantages of the project
(or changes to project operations and their implications) and the start of consultations.
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 People need time to think about the issues and weigh the trade-offs.
 Provide meaningful information. Provide understandable and tailored information to the
target stakeholder group. The aim should be for the information provided to enable people
and organizations to make informed judgments about changes that will affect their lives.
This may mean that information will be required in different formats in order to meet the
needs of various audiences. Points to consider in determining what forms this information
should take and how it gets presented include: level of technical detail, local language and
dialects, cultural sensitivity, roles of women and men, ethnic composition of communities,
literacy levels, community leadership structures, and local methods of disseminating
information within stakeholder groups.
 Ensure the accessibility of information. Here the NGO should think how the intended
recipient will most readily receive and comprehend the information. For example, the
regulatory requirement of disclosing information in locations opens to the general public
offices of government environmental regulators, local planning authorities, etc…) is a
necessary, but not fully sufficient, means to disseminate information of importance to
stakeholders. Especially with affected communities, it may be more constructive to
disclose information via public meetings, smaller gatherings of specific stakeholder sub-
groups, through the use of individual conduits and intermediaries (such as the head of a
local village council, or church or traditional leaders), or through the dissemination of a
summary of the key information in the local language, for example via the newsprint and
broadcast media, road side displays, or direct mail. In general, it is a good idea to ask for
stakeholder input into the consultation process- stakeholders can often readily tell what
type of information they want and need, in what type of format, and how and when they
would like to be engaged.
C. Weigh the risks and benefits. There will be situations in which disclosing certain types of
information at sensitive stages in the project cycle might entail risks. The reasons for non-
disclosure might include: commercial confidentialities and proprietary information, information of
a personal privacy, safety, or individual security nature; or situations where releasing information
very early in the development of a project might unnecessarily raise public expectations, cause
speculative behavior, or create unnecessary fears. However, considerations for non-disclosure
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need to be weighed against the need for stakeholder groups to be informed in order to protect their
interests.
D. Manage information on sensitive and controversial issues. There are certain stakeholder
issues, such as land acquisition and resettlement for example, that may be particularly sensitive
and thus carry risks to the company if information about them is not communicated and
managed effectively. In these cases it may be better to release information about the issue at the
same time as conducting face-to-face consultations. In this way, any misinformation and
immediate reactions of the affected parties can be addressed right away with the facts. In
preparing information to support stakeholder consultation on controversial issues, it may be
helpful to employ the following measures:

 Tailor the information to the different affected stakeholders.

 Present the ―facts‖ and be as transparent as possible.
 Explain the uncertainties, and the limits of these uncertainties (i.e. the ―worst‖, ―best‖ and
―most likely‖ scenarios).
 Explain what input is needed from stakeholders and how it will be used in the decision-
making process.
 Explain what stakeholders can do and whom they can contact to get more information.

8.8. CHAPTER SUMMARY

A communication strategy can be defined as a well-planned series of actions aimed at achieving

specific objectives through the use of communication methods, techniques, and approaches.. In
order to design an effective communication strategy, it is not enough to have a general idea about
the solution. The key question to be addressed is not ―what‖ is happening, but ―why‖ it is
happening. Communication-based assessment provides the basis for an effective strategy since its
outputs (that is, definitions of the objectives) become the inputs needed to design the strategy
leading to change. The starting point in designing communication strategy is always the problem
or the desired change to be achieved with all its implications and related background information.

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That is not the intended objective not the audience, nor is it the message. The core elements of
communication strategy are level of desired change, audiences and stakeholders groups, message
design, selection of communication channels, resources and timescales, and evaluation and
amendment for improvement. The communication plan encompasses the activities necessary to
implement the work plan and to produce and distribute media and information products. The
plan should indicate all required both human and nonhuman resources. The communication plan
indicates among others what needs to be done, by whom, when, and at what cost.

Stakeholders are persons or groups who are directly or indirectly affected by a project/ an
organization, as well as those who may have interests in a project and/or the ability to influence
its outcome, either positively or negatively. Communication with stakeholders enables NGOs to
have good relationship with stakeholders and create better working environment.
NGOs use a broad range of ICT to manage information, conduct operations, deliver services and
communicate with stakeholders. The choice of ICT depends on different factors and effective
utilizations of available ICT is also conditioned by many factors (eg. power supply, connectivity
etc.)

Stakeholder engagement‖ is emerging as a means of describing a broader, more inclusive, and

continuous interaction and process between an organization and those potentially impacted. To
properly manage stakeholders‘ engagement NGOs should start engagement activities at early stage
of the project/ program, start engagement before the problem happens, take long term
perspective, tailor the process of engagement to fit the project activities and manage the
engagement as any function.

A strong stakeholder management system encompasses among others stakeholder identification,

stakeholder analysis, stakeholder engagement and stakeholder communication. Stakeholder
identification is the first step in the process of stakeholder engagement and is concerned with
determining project stakeholders, and their key groupings and sub-groupings. The identification
process should indicate those who are directly or indirectly affected by the organization or a
project.
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Stakeholders analysis helps to identify and understand the interest of each stakeholders, how
they will be affected and to what degree, and what influence they could have on the project. In
conducting stakeholders analysis the analyst among others should be strategic and prioritize,
refer to past stakeholder information and consultation, develop socio-economic fact sheets with a
focus on vulnerable groups, verify stakeholder representatives using appropriate communication
approaches.

Good stakeholders engagement practice enable NGOs to ensure transparency, and accountability
in their activities , get support from stakeholders, develop stakeholders sense of belongingness to
the program/ project and allows community members to identify their legitimate representatives.
Good stakeholders‘ engagement enables NGOs to establish and maintain conducive working
relationships with different stakeholders (internal and external) at all levels.
Proper stakeholders‘ engagement is facilitated by good stakeholders ‗communication. Stakeholder
communication concerned with formally making information accessible to interested and affected
parties in a manner that is understandable to them. This is an important first (and ongoing) step
in the process of stakeholder engagement. In stakeholder communication NGOs should be
transparent; apply good practice principles such as disclosing early, disclosing objective
information, designing disclosure to support consultation, ensuring the accessibility of
information; weigh the risks and benefits of communication; and properly manage information on
sensitive and controversial issues.

Chapter Reflections
1. Critically evaluate communication strategies/ strategy and communication plan of any NGO in
your surroundings. Use at least two gathering tools and support evaluation with arguments
2. Critically assess the stakeholders‘ engagement practices of any NGO in your locality and
describe the forms of ICT they are using if any.
3. Critically evaluate stakeholders‘ management system of any NGO in your surroundings give
recommendation if you come across any gap.

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CHAPTER 9: GOOD PRACTICES AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

9.1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter focuses on important topics of knowledge management, perspectives of knowledge
management, knowledge management systems, knowledge management framework , communities
of practice, best-practices database for sharing knowledge management, application architecture,
knowledge management shortfalls, issues and challenges in knowledge management and key
concerns related to knowledge management. The discussion basically focuses on knowledge
management in NGOs.
Learning objectives:
 To be able to understand knowledge, perspectives of knowledge management and
knowledge management framework
 To able to comprehend communicates of practices concept and use the it in NGO sector
 To be able to understand knowledge management pitfalls , issues, concerns and
challenges in knowledge
 To be able to design appropriate strategies to manage knowledge and share best practices
in NGO sector

9.2. DEFINITIONS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

It is worth defining knowledge first, before considering the definitions of knowledge management
(KM). Knowledge may be defined as, a justified personal belief that increases an individual‘s
capacity to take effective action. It is fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual
information and expert insight that provide a framework for evaluation and incorporating new
experiences and information. It provides the means to analyze and understand data/information,
provides beliefs about the causality of events/actions, and provides the basis to guide meaningful
action/thought. Because knowledge is personalized, in order for one person‘s knowledge to be
useful to another individual, it must be communicated in such a manner as to be interpretable
and accessible to the other individual. Thus hoarding of information are of little value: only that
information which is actively processed in the mind of an individual through a process of
reflection, enlightenment, and learning can be useful.

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Knowledge management is still a young field with multidisciplinary roots. Thus, it is not
surprising that there seem to be almost as many definitions to the term than there are approaches
or ―schools‖ of authors contributing to the field. On the one hand, this situation can be
characterized as a positive development because the lack of clear boundaries has allowed the free
influx of ideas, concepts and approaches. On the other hand, the blurry and vague boundaries led
to considerable confusion, especially among practitioners, regarding the question what exactly
they would have to do in order to ―implement knowledge management‖ into their organizations.

The life cycle of knowledge tasks, functions or processes approaches define knowledge
management as a life cycle or a complex organizational ―function‖, ―task‖ or ―process‖ and
basically break it down into subtasks, sub-functions, sub-processes or (process) activities. The
goal of knowledge management is to improve these sub-tasks, in most cases the creation or
generation; acquisition; identification or capture; validation and evaluation; conversion;
organization and linking; formalization or storage; refinement or development; distribution,
diffusion, transfer or sharing; presentation or formatting; application and evolution of knowledge,
with the help of systematic interventions, instruments or measures.

The Strategy- or management-oriented approach elaborate on the management side of KM and

focus the strategic relevance of a KM initiative, program or agenda. An example of this approach
is: ―Applying Knowledge Management broadly throughout [the] organization [...] requires taking a
systematic and holistic view of the knowledge agenda—understanding the strategic role of
knowledge, linking it to key management decisions and business processes, and improving
processes for knowledge creation, sharing and use‖ (Skyrme Amidon 1997, 30). Technology-
oriented definitions of KM build on the concepts of data and information management and thus
represent an MIS viewpoint. Authors of these approaches usually extend the object of information
management to include knowledge, both in the form of somewhat more valuable information or
context-enriched information to be stored and distributed with the help of information and
communication systems, and in the form of knowledge in people‘s heads. As a consequence,
knowledge management has to fulfill some functions traditionally attributed to HRM.

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Some technology-oriented definitions encompass a technology-oriented version of the life cycle of
knowledge tasks, functions or processes mentioned above. Additionally, there are several authors
who define KMS or technologies in support of KM and implicitly presuppose a KM definition.
Definitions of KM focusing collective or organizational knowledge view the organization as a social
system and as the primary object of knowledge management. Goal of KM initiatives or strategies is
to improve the collective intelligence or collective mind of organizations so that the resulting
systematic coordination of knowledge and intellect throughout the organization‘s often highly
disaggregated network of individuals is applied to meet customer needs.

The strategies comprise (1) with respect to individuals the organization-wide level of competencies,
education and ability to learn of the members of the organization, (2) with respect to the
organization as a system creating, using and developing collective intelligence and the collective
mind and (3) with respect to the technological infrastructure if, to what extent and how efficiently
the organization uses ICT suitable for the organization‘s way of doing business. Knowledge
management (KM) defined as the process of applying a systematic approach to the capture,
structure, management, and dissemination of knowledge throughout an organization in order to
work faster, reuse best practices, and reduce costly rework from project to project.

Knowledge management is the deliberate and systematic coordination of an organization‘s people,

technology, processes, and organizational structure in order to add value through reuse and
innovation. It is a systemic and organizationally specified process for acquiring, organizing and
communicating both tacit and explicit knowledge of employees so that other employees may make
use of it to be more effective and productive in their work. This coordination is achieved through
creating, sharing, and applying knowledge as well as through feeding the valuable lessons learned
and best practices into corporate memory in order to foster continued organizational learning.

Knowledge management as a continuous cycle of three processes: (1) knowledge creation and
capture, (2) knowledge sharing and dissemination, (3) knowledge acquisition and application.
Ruggles and Holtshouse (1999) identified the following key attributes of knowledge management:

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  Generating new knowledge.
 Accessing valuable knowledge from outside sources.
 Using accessible knowledge in decision making.
 Embedding knowledge in processes, products, and/or services.
 Representing knowledge in documents, databases, and software.
 Facilitating knowledge growth through culture and incentives.
 Transferring existing knowledge into other parts of the organization.
 Measuring the value of knowledge assets and/or impact of knowledge management.

9.3. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: PERSPECTIVES OF KM

The meaning ascribed to the concept of knowledge management by managers can be approached
from three perspectives: an information-based perspective, a technology-based perspective, and a
culture-based perspective.

9.3.1. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FLOWS/ INFORMATION-BASED PERSPECTIVE

In terms of the information-based perspective, managers conceptualize knowledge management as
characteristics of information, such as readily-accessible information, real-time information, and
actionable information. Some spoke in terms of free text and concepts being the information
foundation of knowledge management. Also in terms of the information perspective, several
managers mentioned their view that knowledge management was concerned with reducing the
overload of information by ―filtering the gems from the rocks‖.

There was an apparent concern with the extraordinary amount of information that can now easily
be gathered and disseminated via information technologies. The managers expressed a desire to
obtain competitive advantage from information itself (as opposed to associating competitive
advantage with any particular information technology). Lastly, some managers thought very
specifically of knowledge management as being a ―corporate yellow pages‖ or a ―people to people
information archive‖. In other words, they viewed knowledge management as a means of keeping
track not so much of knowledge itself, but of who held the knowledge and how to locate them.

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Knowledge was not distinguished from information or data. Rather, the words were evidently used
interchangeably. However, the managers were implicitly making distinctions among the terms. For
example, one manager stated ―one person‘s knowledge‖ is ―another‘s data‖. This view is consistent
with the view that knowledge resides in the individual and that there are no inherent ―objective‖
attributes that distinguish between the two constructs.

9.3.2. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY-BASED PERSPECTIVE

In terms of the technology-based perspective, the managers associates knowledge management

with various other systems (including data warehousing, enterprise wide systems, executive
information systems, expert systems, and the intranet), as well as various tools (e.g., search
engines, multi-media, and decision making tools). Generally, participants associated knowledge
management with information technology infrastructure and more specifically, with the
integration of cross-functional systems worldwide. A clear view of a new type of technology
specifically dedicated to knowledge management did not emerge. Indeed, this is consistent with
the fact that knowledge management systems can be accomplished with different technologies, the
most effective of which would likely depend upon an organization‘s size and existing technical
infrastructure.

9.3.3. CULTURE-BASED PERSPECTIVE / INTERPERSONAL KNOWLEDGE SHARING/

From the view of the culture-based perspective, managers associates knowledge management with
learning (primarily from an organizational perspective), communication, and intellectual property
cultivation. It emphasizes the importance of human motivation to understand the dynamics of
KM initiatives. It claims that knowledge sharing is a critical human behavior that organizations
need to carefully cultivate and harvest to be competitively positioned in our new knowledge based
economy. As individuals join organizations, they bring with them learned behaviors from
experiences that either promote or inhibit effective knowledge sharing. Knowledge leaders need to
take a holistic and integrated human performance approach to changing their organizations to
perform effectively in this new knowledge intensive world. The following table summarizes
perspectives of KM.
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 Information-based Technology-based Culture-based

Actionable information Data mining Collective learning

Categorizing of data Data warehouses Continuous learning
Corporate yellow pages Executive information systems Intellectual property Cultivation
Filtered information Expert systems Learning organization
Free text and concepts intelligent agents

People information archive Intranet

Readily accessible information Multimedia

Search engines
Smart systems

9.4. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) are tools to effect the management of knowledge and are
manifested in a variety of implementations including document repositories, expertise databases,
discussion lists and context -specific retrieval systems incorporating collaborative filtering
technologies.

A knowledge management system (KMS) is an ICT system in the sense of an application system or
an ICT platform that combines and integrates functions for the contextualized handling of both,
explicit and tacit knowledge, throughout the organization or that part of the organization that is
targeted by a KM initiative.

A KMS offers integrated services to deploy KM instruments for networks of participants, i.e. active
knowledge workers, in knowledge-intensive business processes along the entire knowledge life
cycle. The ultimate aim of KMS is to support the dynamics of organizational learning and
organizational effectiveness. The main differences between KMS and more traditional ICT systems,
such as document management systems, Intranet solutions or Groupware can be characterized
along the following lines. These characteristics can be used as requirements in order to judge
whether an actual system is a KMS or not.
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1. Initiative. Goals are defined by the KM initiative in which the KMS is deployed. Therefore, KMS
are designed ―with KM in mind‖, i.e., their implementation is embedded in a comprehensive KM
initiative. The primary goal of KMS is as to increase organizational effectiveness by a systematic
management of knowledge. Thus, KMS are the technological part of a KM initiative that also
comprises person-oriented and organizational instruments targeted at improving productivity of
knowledge work.

2. Context. KMS are applied to managing knowledge which is described as ―personalized

information related to facts, procedures, concepts, interpretations, ideas, observations, and
judgments‖. From the perspective of KMS, knowledge is information that is meaningfully
organized, accumulated and embedded in a context of creation and application.

3. Processes. KMS are developed to support and enhance knowledge-intensive processes tasks or
projects creation, construction, identification, capturing, acquisition, selection, valuation,
organization, linking, structuring, formalization, visualization, transfer, distribution, retention,
maintenance, refinement, revision, evolution, accessing, retrieval and last but not least the
application of knowledge, also called the knowledge life cycle, ultimately to support knowledge
work. In this view, KMS provide a seamless pipeline for the flow of explicit knowledge through a
refinement process or a thinking forum containing interpretations, half-formed judgments, ideas
and other perishable insights that aims at sparking collaborative thinking.

4. Participants. Users play the roles of active, involved participants in knowledge networks and
communities fostered by KMS. This is reflected by the support of context in KMS. Systematic
management of context is needed in order to provide semantic links between codified knowledge
and people or collectives, such as teams, work groups or communities as the holders of
knowledge, between the handling of explicit and implicit knowledge and between documented
knowledge and meta-knowledge, feedback, valuations and comments about the application of
knowledge elements by other participants respectively.

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5. Instruments. KMS are applied in a large number of application areas, e.g., in product
development, process improvement, project management, post-merger integration or human
resource management.

6. Services. KMS are described as ICT platforms on which a number of integrated services161 are
built. The processes that have to be supported give a first indication of the types of services that
are needed.

7. Platform. Whereas the foci on initiatives, processes and participants can be seen as a user-
centric approach to KMS design, an IT-centric approach relies on instruments as well as services
and provides a base system to capture and distribute knowledge. This platform is then used
throughout the organization.

9.5. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

The foregoing discussions suggest that two important considerations in managing knowledge are
a) where the knowledge resides and b) the extent to which the knowledge is structured. The locus
of the knowledge determines whether the KMS connects a user who has a problem or question to
an artifact (e.g. a document) or directs her to a person. The level of a-priori structure determines
the extent to which KMS use imposes the burden of a translation or transformation of the problem
or question to a form that corresponds to implicit logic underlying the a-priori structure. We use
these dimensions as the basis to categorize the different types of knowledge management systems
currently used for knowledge management support. The following figure presents KM framework
with examples of currently used knowledge management systems represented in each category.

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 Locus of Knowledge
Artifact Individual
Structured 1 2

Document Repository Yellow Pages of Experts

Data Warehousing Expertise Profiles

& Databases

Unstructured 3 4

Collaborative Filtering
Electronic Discussion

Intranets and
Forums

Search Engine

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The horizontal dimension of the framework focuses on the location of the organizational
knowledge resources managed by the KMS– whether the knowledge is embodied within individuals
or whether it exists as externalized knowledge artifacts. The vertical dimension deals with the
extent to which the KMS imposes or requires a structure, a-priori. The location of commonly used
IT based solutions for knowledge management as well as the systems adopted or developed by the
organizations is positioned in the framework (see Figure).

Cell 1 comprises KMS managing knowledge artifacts that have an inherent structure (e.g.,
enterprise wide data) or those where the KMS imposes a structure on the contents (e.g. consulting
reports tagged with keywords). Essentially, the domain of these systems is restricted to the
organizational knowledge that is or can be effectively codified. Document repositories and data
warehousing systems fall into this category. These systems typically use database management
systems (DBMS) designed to capture and store documents with predefined keywords and meta-
data so that the contents can be accessed using the document categorization scheme.

Cell 2 comprises systems where the knowledge resides in individuals but the contents managed by
the KMS are catalogued and structured employing a-priori categorizing schemes. A database of
experts is an instance of such a system. The contents of the KMS are created by employees filling
out a questionnaire to describe their level of expertise in a predefined list of skill categories (e.g.
Java programming, project management, vibration dampening etc.). The experts‘ database is
intended to be useful for users to locate people with specific skills in domains where the user has
a problem to contact them for help.

Cell 3 comprises systems where the knowledge is captured in artifacts but where the contents do
not have a priori structures imposed on them. Instances include KMS systems incorporating
document repositories that are fully indexed on the words they contain and KMS with document
recommendation capabilities using collaborative filtering technology. The organization of the
contents in such systems is dynamic and the systems aim to provide employees with relevant
documents on the fly. For example, many organizations currently deploy corporate intranets so
that important documents can be posted and accessed by other users browsing or searching
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though the site.
The documents do not follow a predefined structure: search and retrieval is achieved via search
engines that locate documents using full-text search. The use of collaborative filtering technology
that recommends documents is an alternative approach to locating documents relevant to a user's
question or problem without structuring contents a-priori. The collaborative filtering system
records users' browse and search behaviors and recommends documents based on other users‘
past behaviors when they performed similar searches.

Cell 4 comprises systems that provide means for users to access others who may be able to help
and where the system imposes no a-priori structure on the knowledge. In such systems,
interpersonal contacts enabled by the system results in knowledge sharing and transfer.
Instances of such systems include electronic discussion forums where employees may post
questions to which other employees with answers or suggestions can post replies. The email
distribution lists is typical example.

The framework presents insights to the nature of assistance, the extent of assistance and the
limitations of different KMS. Implicit in this framework is the notion that different KMS
implementations provide differing levels of support in locating knowledge and impose differing
burdens on users of these systems. KMS that impose an a-priori structure are useful as they
enable contents to be categorized in a manner that is consistent with the vocabulary of the
community or constituency they serve.

The framework also highlights the implicit assumptions regarding the nature of knowledge and
sources of knowledge required for problem solving that underlie different KMS. A repository of
information, say a Class 1 KMS, even if it contains all the information required to solve the user's
problem is unlikely to be useful if the information is not in the form that corresponds to the way
the user views the problem.

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For a consulting firm that provides predefined systems solutions, the major source of knowledge
would be knowledge artifacts such as project proposals and previous solutions to similar problems
so that these may be reused for more efficient performance. Although the framework is valuable
in focusing attention on the utility, limitations and assumptions inherent in different KMS, it does
not address the variations in the utility of similar systems in different contexts. For instance, why
was a database of experts that was so successful in one division of an organization viewed as
being less useful when it was expanded to cover multiple divisions?

9.5.1. FACTORS INFLUENCING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Many factors influence knowledge management activities. NGOs face challenges both from
internal and external environment in the management of knowledge. The following summarizes
major factors influencing KM.

Political challenges: are the obstacles presented by the various conflicting agendas or lack of
motivation that decrease the buy-in of stakeholders. Information is often viewed as a resource that
organizations can use to explain their role and impact in a field. Therefore, some organizations
perceive sharing this valuable resource as diminishing their unique contribution within a sector.
This fear leads to a resistance by organizations to consistently share their experiences, and data.
The challenge of creating buy-in among NGOs behind a shared vision of KM and increased
information-sharing requires demonstrating the benefits to each stakeholder and sector-wide.
These benefits include faster adaptability to NGO‘s practices at a lower cost, as well as catalyzing
consistency across the field

Institutional challenges: reference the possible barriers to success presented by the various
established institutions and the practitioners within these institutions whose work will be affected
by the reform. For example human trafficking is rarely the sole focus of large and long-standing
institutions rather it is one of many programmatic objective areas. This dynamic means that
significant reform in the human trafficking programs may be perceived as a critique of the overall
work of the institution. Therefore, the needed changes may not occur due to resistance to broader

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institutional changes.
A clear understanding and buy-in from the staff member organizations regarding the shifts that
the initiative needs to undertake to be more effective is vital to ensure trust between the various
stakeholders and elicit a consistent participatory response from NGOs. If NGOs begin using
effective KM practices, have ensured a sustainable model where the priorities of their own
organizations and resource mobilization are always reflective of the realities in the field. To this
effect, ownership over resource mobilization by all stakeholders is imperative, in order to advocate
for the reform as a whole through shared outputs and goals.

Technical challenges: include the human, material and financial resources necessary to achieve
the reform. On the side of human resources side, would need to be informed and familiarized with
the reform initiative. Materials would need to be developed, printed and distributed to support the
process. These materials may come in many forms, for example: a web-based survey tool, a
printed guide book, training manuals, etc. The financial may be the greatest challenge since the
immediate impact is difficult to assess and NGOs relies on year-to-year donations from
stakeholders. Furthermore, the costs of improving the KM strategies employed by NGOs would
result in increased data-based programming which would be cost-saving in the long term.
Accurately identifying best-practices, gaps in services, and possible networks to address these
gaps will reduce the probability of ineffective or unnecessary resource allocation.

Economic differences to information. Unlike information, knowledge is not easily transferred

between different settings. The costs for the ―distribution‖ of knowledge can be very high.
Knowledge is reconstructed and thus changes when ―transferred‖, as it is newly combined each
time when it is handed on. The social process of communication changes the communicated
knowledge. Thus, it requires substantially more effort to implement a systematic management of
knowledge transfer as compared to the transfer of information. The transfer of knowledge takes up
substantial resources and its outcome is hard to predict.

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Protection of knowledge. One of the most important challenges within KM in organizations is the
protection of valuable knowledge, e.g., against organization spying. Examples for measures that
prevent the unwanted use of organizational knowledge are classification or property laws and also
organizational instruments such as incentives, conduct rules or postponing of rewards because a
great deal of knowledge valuable to an organization resides with (individual) employees.

Successful KM initiatives focus on lowering barriers to knowledge management. In addition to

barriers negatively affecting individual learning, there are numerous barriers to an effective
organizational learning and consequently to an effective KM. The most important barriers include:
 knowledge providers: lack of motivation, provider not perceived as reliable, ignorance, lack
of skills to explicate knowledge, skilled incompetence,
 knowledge seekers: lack of motivation, limited absorptive, processing and learning
capacity, limited retentive capacity, lack of knowledge about what knowledge already
exists in organization, conservative tendency to avoid innovative learning due to an
orientation towards the individual history, role-constrained learning, superstitious
learning,
 transferred knowledge: causal ambiguity, unproven knowledge, inadequate context,
inadequate framing/problem representation, inadequate temporal context,
 infrastructural context: barren organizational context, e.g., inflexible power structures,
lack of management support, vertical, horizontal and lateral information filters,
specialization and centralization, lack of resources and time, lack of ICT support, problems
with the use of ICT,
 Cultural context: lack of social relationships between knowledge provider and recipients,
group think, exaggerated unified culture and inward-orientation.
Success factors that influence KM initiative in general and the implementation of KMS in
particular include:
 Holistic, integrated and standardized approach. KM should not be interpreted as a one-
sided technology, culture, coordination, leadership or reorganization problem. On the
contrary, all these components as well as the relationships and interdependencies between
them have to be considered in order to turn potentials into profits. Isolated solutions, e.g.,
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 different, incompatible communication systems, no standards, different knowledge
processes, should be avoided. Rather, knowledge processes and ICT platforms for KM
should be standardized throughout the organization and integrated with the existing
business processes.

 Knowledge-oriented culture. A supportive organizational culture is one of the most

important factors for a successful KM initiative. An open and communicative atmosphere
can thrust the sharing of knowledge, the identification, creation and acquisition of new
knowledge by employees. KM initiatives have to take the organizational culture into
account and have to support a knowledge-oriented culture through e.g., communication of
success stories and best practices, through the acceptance of errors as well as through
stressing that every employee is responsible for his or her own learning processes.

 Management support. As in all efforts of organizational change, it is important that top

management sets strategic knowledge goals, allocates sufficient budgets to the initiative
and gives a good example for the change of behavior required to improve the handling of
knowledge. A knowledge champion can act as a coordinator for management support as
well as key speaker and motivator for the initiative.

 Clear economic benefits. The establishment of a ―knowledge controlling‖ is required that

coordinates goal setting (planning) and goal assessment, e.g., on the basis of the
intellectual capital approach in order to show that a KM initiative really is worth the
investment.

 Exact vision and language. Terms such as knowledge, information, learning, knowledge
base or organizational learning are subject to interpretation. A KM initiative should define
these terms with respect to the organization‘s knowledge related goals so that the
perspective on what is and what is not knowledge management is clearly communicable
within the organization.

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 Effective aids for motivation. Incentive systems have to be installed that reward an
improvement of the organizational knowledge base. This is especially true for immaterial
incentives, such as additional training for effective knowledge providers or ―elite‖
communities for the organization‘s experts.

 Appropriate process orientation. The integration of KM activities into the organization‘s

business processes is an important factor as an effective and efficient handling of
knowledge requires it being part of the organization‘s daily routine. However, one should
exaggerate the definition, description and standardization of knowledge processes as one
might miss the essence of knowledge: the creativity that generates ideas and inventions.

 ICT and organizational infrastructure. ICT can be the enabling factor in a KM initiative.
There are also limits to its use and the installation of a good platform does not guarantee
success. A good organizational infrastructure is regularly connected with a separate
organizational unit or position that coordinates the initiative.

 Stable knowledge structures. Knowledge structures (ontologies) are required to enable

participants to search and navigate the abundance of (documented) organizational
knowledge. Successful KM initiatives thus require a well-documented, stable knowledge
structure. Knowledge itself is not stable, but dynamically evolves, though. Therefore,
organizations have to allow a certain amount of flexibility in the evolution of their
knowledge structures in order to avoid rigid and outdated knowledge structures.

 Multiple channels for knowledge transfer. Knowledge is shared and distributed with the
help of multiple channels, e.g., personal interaction in the cafeteria, telephone, email,
newsgroups, bulletin boards, business TV, video conferences, documents. The transfer of
redundant knowledge with the help of several channels supports the learning process. New
communication channels introduced with KMS should not be seen as replacements for
existing channels, but as aids to improve the effective and efficient use of the existing

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 channels.
 Continuous participation of employees. As with the implementation of most organizational
and ICT instruments, participation of employees helps that the solutions are well received
by the employees so that motivation to cooperatively use the new ICT and organizational
instruments is high. In the case of KM, several initiatives seem to show a pattern of
―emergent‖ strategy where employees generate KM-related ideas, develop an initial solution
(e.g., within a community that discusses KM) which in turn gets management attention
and support.

9.5.2. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

Knowledge is considered the key resource in the knowledge-based view. Thus ability to manage
knowledge is becoming increasingly more crucial in today‘s knowledge economy. A systematic
management of this key resource should have its place on the strategic map of an organization.
The main goal of a knowledge management strategy is to support the development and application
of organizational competencies.

The starting point for a framework of an organization‘s ―knowledge strategy‖ or knowledge

management strategy can be seen in the traditional SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, threats) in which strategy is seen as balancing the external environment of an
organization (its opportunities and threats) with its internal capabilities (strengths, weaknesses).
The analysis should cover four dimensions of capabilities: skills and the organizational knowledge
base, technical systems, managerial systems and the values and norms associated with
organizational knowledge. Knowledge maps are suggested as the instruments to identify
knowledge gaps. A knowledge strategy enable to as balance an organization‘s knowledge resources
and capabilities to the knowledge required for providing products and services superior to those of
competitors.

The next step is the selection of strategically relevant resources in order to provide organizational
competencies or capabilities. Resources have only an indirect link with the capabilities that the

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firm can generate. A competence or capability consists of an integrated, linked and networked set
of resources, a ―team of resources‖. Knowledge management aims at leveraging resources e.g., by
concentrating them upon a few clearly defined goals, accumulating resources through mining
experience and accessing other firms‘ resources, complementing resources, conserving them to
use resources for different products and markets and recovering resources by increasing the
speed of the product development cycle time .

Knowledge management supports the integration of resources into capabilities, the valuation of
capability differentials and drives the dynamics of the organizational learning cycle as sustained
capability differentials require continues improvement of the competencies. There are also a
number of authors who pragmatically suggest a series of strategically relevant KM activities,
efforts or strategies without much differentiation between these concepts. These include:

Map sources of internal expertise. The issue is to make knowledge assets visible and to increase
managers' attention. The focus is on the personal side of the knowledge in an organization, e.g.,
expert directories, skill data bases, yellow pages organized according to knowledge areas.

Establish new knowledge roles. Either a separate organizational unit headed e.g., by a chief
knowledge officer is created, or positions or roles responsible for knowledge related tasks, such as
knowledge broker, knowledge engineer or subject matter specialist are established.

Create a (virtual) work environment. The sharing of tacit knowledge is commonly considered a
highly interactive social process which requires a co-located, face-to-face work environment.
However, this kind of stable work environment has changed into a situation where the number of
mobile workers increases and social connections within a work community are disrupted. The
issue is to create virtual workspaces, which provide an alternative environment to the co-located
workspace, thus enabling the sharing of tacit knowledge.
Create networks of knowledge workers. Communities bring people together who work on the
same problems, hold complementary knowledge or who are interested in the same knowledge
areas.
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Support knowledge flows in an organization. Knowledge seekers and knowledge providers
should be connected using systems and tools which provide for a balancing of pull and push of
knowledge. KMS are needed which adapt to usage and communication patterns of knowledge
seekers and providers, both on the individual and on the team and community level.

Transfer of knowledge and best practices. Systems and practices are implemented to improve
the obtainment, organization, restructuring, storing, repackaging for deployment and distributing
of knowledge as well as the corresponding rewards given for knowledge sharing. This means a
systematic approach to knowledge reuse and the transfer of ―best practices‖. This strategy covers
both, the informal sharing of knowledge in teams and informal networks without capturing it as
well as the organized knowledge sharing which is supposed to reach more members of the
organization. Goal is to make knowledge available at points of action.

Personal responsibility for knowledge. In this strategy, the members of the organization
themselves are held responsible for identifying, maintaining and expanding their own knowledge
as well as for understanding, renewing and sharing their knowledge assets. Central assumption
underlying this strategy is that knowledge of an individual cannot be ―micro-managed‖, but must
be managed by the individual, thus suggesting a ―pull‖ approach to knowledge exchange rather
than a ―push‖ approach.

Customer-focused knowledge. The aim of this strategy is to capture knowledge about customers,
their needs, preferences, businesses, reactions to actions taken by the organization etc. Thus, the
organization‘s knowledge can be used to improve solutions designed for customers for the purpose
of making loyal customers.

Innovation and knowledge creation. Basic and applied R&D as well as motivation of employees
to innovate and capture lessons learned are focused to enhance innovation and the creation of
new knowledge.

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Intellectual asset management strategy. The aim of this strategy is the enterprise level
management of patents, technologies, operational and management practices, customer relations,
organizational arrangements, and other structural knowledge assets. Individual instruments
could support the renewing, organizing, valuating, safekeeping, increasing the availability and
marketing of these assets. In order to bring knowledge management into business focus, it is
necessary to increase managers‘ awareness of an organization‘s way of handling knowledge: its
importance, its location, its movement, its effects and ―its overall state of health‖ as compared to
competition. Efforts already undertaken to quantify assets like patents, brands or customer
relationships might be extended to incorporate the collective knowledge of an organization and an
organization‘s participation in knowledge flow networks.

Knowledge management as a business strategy. KM is either integrated within the overall

organizational strategy or treated as a separate business strategy in parallel with other strategies.
This is the most comprehensive and enterprise-wide approach to KM and is the all-encompassing
―umbrella‖ for the other activities.

The following principles are also worth attention when implementing knowledge management:
• People, and the cultures that influence their behaviors, are the most critical resources for
successful knowledge creation, dissemination, and application. Thus, understand and influence
them.
•Cognitive, social, and organizational learning processes are essential to the success of a
knowledge management strategy. Thus, focus your strategy on enhancing these processes.
• Measurement, benchmarking, and incentives are essential to accelerate the learning process and
to drive cultural change. Therefore, Create a tailored balanced scorecard to target what you want
to improve.
•Knowledge management programs can yield impressive benefits to individuals and organizations
if they are purposeful, concrete, and action oriented. Organizational knowledge is not intended to
replace individual knowledge but to complement it by making it stronger, more coherent, and
more broadly applicative. Knowledge management represents a deliberate and systematic
approach to ensure the full utilization of the organization‘s knowledge base, coupled with the
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potential of individual skills, competencies, thoughts, innovations, and ideas.
The following ten steps will help to make KM work
 Defining the community/audience;
 Define a strategy and critical success factor development
 Execute knowledge audit (explicit , tacit )
 If necessary, execute an Return on Investment
 Determine the right approach to knowledge leadership for your organization at
different levels
 Identify and agree upon the core competencies of the organization
 Take an inventory of the knowledge sources the community uses, and those it does
not use
 Determine the quality of existing informal knowledge practices
 Build an ecosystem ripe with incentivization plan
 Supply an infrastructure and means to improve; create a series of benchmarks and
measurement procedures to keep the practice evergreen

9.5.3. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT RESOURCES

Organizational knowledge is now recognized as a key resource and a variety of perspectives

suggest that the ability to marshal and deploy knowledge dispersed across the organization is as
an important source of organizational advantage.

Embark into the world of knowledge management and you will quickly discover that you are not
alone. Traditional and cyber-based resources abound, including:
 books;
 periodicals;
 portals;
 Websites;
 Institutes of higher learning; and

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  Associations.

9.5.4. ORGANIZATION LEARNING AND PROJECTION

Learning in organization can be characterized as involving a dynamic respiratory between learning

process at the individual, group and organizational level. Organizational learning only occurs
when at individual or group level impacts on organizational-level process and structure. But such
a transition is by no means automatic. For this to be achievable organizations need to be able to
sustain critical reflection on their established norms and practices.

Organizational learning literature and tradition and its more recent structural counterpart-the
organizational memory or the organizational knowledge base- has influenced knowledge
management most. Various management approaches and scientific disciplines have played a role
in the development of the theory of organizational learning and organizational memory, some of
which enjoy a long and respected tradition of their own. The most profound effects have come
from: organization science and human resource management (HRM), computer science and
management information systems, management science, psychology and sociology.

The literature on organizational learning is characterized by a diversity of theoretical perspectives.

The debate can be classified into two broad camps: visionaries or utopian propagandists and
skeptics or gloomy pessimists. Visionaries argue that learning organization an achievable ideal
with significant benefits for both organizations and their employees.

The skeptic/pessimistic camp, which is largely populated b y academics, argue that despite the
rhetoric of the learning organization discourse, in reality it is likely to provide a way to
reinforcement the power of management and is thus likely to lead to increased exploitation of and
control over workers, rather than in their emancipation and self-development.

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9.6. COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

Communities of practice have become the most natural way in which tacit knowledge is managed
within organizations and knowledge fields. They are not structured teams. Instead, they are
informal groups or networks of professionals who share common problems, common interests or
common knowledge, and who communicate with each other. They are a great target and resource
if you want to communicate information, evidence or knowledge.

The core competency of communities of practice is that they can enable a learning conversation.
Communities of practice encourage people to bring quality to their work because the network
feeds their passion. Organizations can shepherd their core competencies through nurturing
communities of practice. The main value of communities of practice come from the messy
conversations that people can have either face-to-face or through virtual conversations, because it
is through these interactions that people can ask questions, receive answers and do their work
most effectively.

Key ingredients in Communities of practice

Designing a community is akin to planning a city. Everything is a negotiation between the design
and the community itself that can accept or reject aspects of the design. Key elements are:
 Purpose. Shared purpose, or passion; shared needs and clear value potential pertain.
Scott Peck describes various stages of communities of practice: pseudo-communities (in
which people remain at the level of politeness); chaos (where people decide that they need
to defend their views); emptiness (people empty themselves of the desire of changing
others); and community building.
 Enablers include technology, time, budget, support and incentives.
 Leadership of the community.
 Processes. People may want to use different means of communicating which is why
flexible communication strategies are as important as storytelling and learning
conversations.
 People. Competencies, affinities, commitment, behaviors and diversity of perspectives are
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 all elements that people bring to communities of practice.
 Time (cited as an enabler) is a key issue.
Leadership roles and responsibilities in fostering Communities of practice
 Virtual conversations can become very disjointed and the leader must
ensure that the threads are easily woven to overcome possible
fragmentation.
 In a virtual environment people get hurt because it is easy to misread
intentions and leaders must manage this. Events should be created to keep
the life of the community healthy. A community can be actively nurtured to
improve participation and the experiences of members.
 Communities of practice have to be marketed so that levels of participation
are improved.
 Leaders also have to believe that communities of practice add value to the
core business of an organization so that they can honestly defend the space
needed for communities of practice to function effectively.
 The task of communities of practice is to contribute to an organization so
that it becomes more sophisticated at doing what it does better.
Communities of practice need to move beyond helping each other, to
developing a more proactive forward-looking role: away from parochialism
towards boundlessness.

9.7. BEST-PRACTICES DATABASE FOR SHARING KM

Best practice data base enable NGOs/ CSOs to reuse information for future project activities. The
idea of best practice claims having a common, shared web space where NGOs/CSOs, individuals
and citizens representing different communities could upload their experiences, and related
project‘s best practices in a structured manner. The best practice data base includes specific
classification techniques based on development areas such as conflict management and
negotiation, health care, economics, and social and cultural.

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Using the proposed collaboration tool, this taxonomy will have dynamic expansion based on the
experiences of each NGO/ CSO, and the inputs (and related uploads), which they include in the
web platform. Trough this expansion and depending on particular requests (local knowledge),
beyond the Internet platform, it is advisable to build specific Intranets to provide context-based
data access for a better decision making in each NGO/ CSO and related responsibility level.

These attributes are used to create a database set of NGOs/CSOs including their project
experiences and best practices. To create the initial profile, an individual or organization will
register to create a personal (or organization) account that makes available the remaining
functionalities.

NGOs / CSOs can use web portal and other functionalities to share best practices and KM. The
web Portal application has a specific registration area (for individuals and organizations) in order
to access other areas, both general and with specific interactive tools, such as a best-practices
database (DB), collaborative tools (forums) and knowledge libraries. Other functionalities include
personalization mechanisms based on the registration profile of each individual/organization, and
key word based and advanced search mechanisms.

9.8. APPLICATION ARCHITECTURE

Architectures in general play an important role in MIS as blueprints or reference models for
corresponding implementations of information systems. A multi-tier architecture allows a web-
enabled personal computer (client) to interact with an application server connected to the Internet.
This web infrastructure is crucial considering the purpose of this solution which means that
clients are supposed to be any computers connected to the Internet anywhere near the area of
intervention of the NGO.

A multi-tier architecture environment provides data for clients and serves as an interface between
clients and database servers. This architecture enables the use of an application server to validate
the credentials of a client, such as a Web browser, to connect to a database server, and to perform
the web requested operations.

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Application Server
The application server provides access to the data for the client. It serves as an interface between
the client and one or more database servers, which provides an additional level of security. The
application server assumes the identity of the client when it is performing operations on the
database server for that client. The Application Server for the proposed Web- KM system is based
on the Microsoft (MS).NET Framework with ASP.NET. The NET Framework is used for building
and running all kinds of software, including Web-based applications. This software platform uses
components that facilitate integration by sharing data and functionality over a network through
standard, platform-independent protocols. ASP.NET presents a fully object-oriented architecture
that promotes the development of well structured and easy to maintain.

Web Server
Internet Information Service (IIS) provides integrated, reliable, scalable, secure and manageable
Web server capabilities over an intranet, the Internet or an extranet. IIS is a tool for creating a
strong communications platform of dynamic network applications. Organizations of all sizes use
IIS to host and manage Web pages on the Internet or on their intranets.

Database Server

A database server (engine) provides the data requested by an application server on behalf of a
client. The database server does all of the remaining query processing. The database server can
audit operations performed by the application server on behalf of individual clients as well as
operations performed by the application server on its own behalf. For example, a client operation
can be a request for information to be displayed on the client, whereas an application server
operation can be a request for a connection to the database server.
Client
In a social viewpoint, the client could be an Individual or a CSO. In a technological viewpoint, a
client initiates a request for an operation to be performed on the database server. The client can
be a Web browser or other end-user process. In a multi-tier architecture, the client connects to
the database server through one or more application servers.
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The client tier consists of a typical web-enabled personal computer browser. Applications are
accessible by users running a browser on any operating system. The Global Collaboration Tool is
being developed to be used as a KM web-based application that could run anywhere in order to
make it available to any NGO/ CSO/Individual with a basic fixed or mobile Internet access.
Therefore, this research project and the proposed KM tool also intend to promote the
democratization of the Information Society. This could be achieved by providing and disseminating
context-based NGO/CSOs information resources and collaborative services across different world
regions and communities. The following table presents attributes of typical for the best practices
registration.
Table : Data attributes for the best practices registration

Attribute Meaning

Internal Code (year/project) Application use for future data manipulation

Project title Short Project designation

Start date Project start date

Closing date Estimated closing date

Activity area Short description of the underlying activities

Applicant(s) The registered NGO, individual or organization

Project cost An estimation of the project cost (if applicable)

Objectives Overall objective and specific objectives

Principal local partners The main project stakeholders

Target groups Target communities, citizens, individuals

Expected results Quantitative results; Qualitative results

Activities Project timeline (different project states)

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KM services are a subset of services offered in an organization, both basic and composed, whose
functionality supports high-level KM instruments as part of on demand KM initiatives. Examples
for these services are find expert, submit experience, publish skill profile, revisit learning resource
or join community-of-interest. Services are offered by service providers that procure the service
implementations, supply their service descriptions, and provide the necessary support. Often, KM
services cater to the special needs of one or a small number of organizational units, e.g., a
process, a work group, a department, a subsidiary, a factory or an outlet in order to provide a
solution to a defined business problem. KM services describe individual aspects of KM
instruments implemented in heterogeneous application systems that can be combined into an
enterprise knowledge infrastructure.

Basic services can be composed into new composite services enabling larger integrated KM
services. In addition, service descriptions have to be published in order to provide information
about service capability, interface, behavior, and quality. The main layers of a KM service
infrastructure are:
Conceptual layer. Based on process descriptions, the conceptual layer defines which services are
required in which core business processes, which services are offered by what service processes,
who is responsible for them and what resources are allocated to fulfill them. Especially concepts of
process-oriented KM can help to analyze, understand and design business and knowledge
processes with regard to a knowledge-oriented and at the same time a strategic perspective on KM
services in business processes.
ICT layer. Services are described, discovered and invoked with the help of negotiated or
standardized sets of technologies such as Web services. These technologies support the
integration on different levels, i.e. human-to-machine, machine-to-machine and inter-
organizational integration. The ICT layer comprises infrastructure, integration, knowledge,
personalization and access services dispersed over a variety of heterogeneous application systems
that cover structured as well as semi- or unstructured data sources. From an ICT perspective,
services can be structured into the following categories: (1) infrastructure services, (2) integration
services, (3) knowledge services, (4) personalization services and (5) access services. These
categories help to structure existing services offered by different application systems.
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KM service layer. The main task is to bridge the gap between the conceptual and the ICT layer.
KM services have to be composed using services offered by heterogeneous application systems
from the ICT layer. In addition, discovery, call and provision of KM services from different
activities of business processes have to be supported. This layer helps to understand the steps
required to decompose a process into a series of complex and basic services and operational
characteristics. Composing KM services means specifying how these services have to be
discovered and selected (discovery), how they have to be accessed from different activities of
business processes (call) and finally how these services are provided by the service infrastructure
accessing heterogeneous application systems from the ICT layer (binding, provision). Modeling
techniques help defining the composition of services.

While designing and implementing KM infrastructures KM experts can introduce service

orientation as an additional guideline. The three-layered KM service infrastructure composes
services from heterogeneous applications into specific KM services and supports their discovery,
call and provision from activities within business processes. This infrastructure aims at solving
the following challenges:

Strategy. Strategic alignment is realized by connecting KM services to the materialization of

strategic decisions (e.g., customer orientation) in the form of business processes and
corresponding application systems on the ICT level. The deployment of KM services in
organizations might profit substantially from both, the integration and the corresponding
alignment with strategic goals.
Processes. Process orientation is realized by not only focusing on business processes as main
drivers for calling KM services, but also on knowledge processes which comprise a procedural view
of a bundle of KM instruments implemented by KM services that are in turn described with the
help of action charts.
Instruments. The numerous KM measures, procedures, instruments or tools applied in isolation
from each other are integrated by bundling KM instruments to provide complex KM services.
Business processes determine which KM services are required in which core business processes,
are offered by what service processes, which is responsible for them and what resources are
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allocated to fulfill them.
Architecture. A concise KM architecture consisting of a KM service infrastructure on different
levels helps reducing complexity and improving flexibility of KM initiatives. One of the major
advantages of a KM service infrastructure is the ability to build it once and reuse it frequently.
However, the efforts to implement a KM service infrastructure should not be underestimated.
Already established KM services have to be identified and made available. New KM services have
to be implemented. KM services have to be composed and decomposed finding the appropriate
level of detail. The quality of KM services has to be assessed and documented in order to provide a
constant level of quality throughout the knowledge life cycle.

9.9. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SHORTFALLS

Both academic and corporate KM literature has identified a set of KM deficits that happen at the
organizational and corporate level which equally applies to NGOs. Some of the impediments
include spending much time to get needed information, availability of essential know-how only in
the heads of few employees, improper information and data documentation, disregard previous
experiences and repeating costly errors, and delays and suboptimal product quality resulting from
insufficient flow of information. These impediments increased motivations to build a KMS based
on Organizational Memories:
 To avoid the loss of corporate expertise when a specialist leave the
company;
 To explore and reuse the experience acquired in past projects in order to
avoid the repetition of previous mistakes;
 To improve the information circulation and communication across the
company;
 To integrate the know-how from different sources in the company;
 To ultimately to improve the process of individual and organizational
learning.

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KM Constraints in NGOs
Contextual Global and National information
NGOs, either international or national, frequently become involved in missions without a deep
background knowledge of the global/national/local problem and without skilled personal or
proper accessible methodologies. Some specific problems are absence of just in time access to:
Specific information concerning the countries where NGOs will (or already have) a mission; Skilled
specialized personal in a particular country or linguistic grouping; Manuals, checklists and other
sources of managing knowledge needed to enhance the efficacy of project elaboration, formulation
and implementation.
Field-mission information

NGOs projects and missions are often ―go and run away‖ missions, that depend too much on the
personalities that are send to the field, with scarce time too much focused on
bureaucratic/operational work and with difficult beginnings and final periods to each of the
mission field-workers. Great lost of knowledge and capital is the usual balance.

Some specific problems are: Personalization of the information resulting in non accounted
overheads moreover when field-missions are 6 to 10 months length; Loss of non
bureaucratic/operational information (social and cultural) which isn‘t refereed in standard
reports; Loss of information in mission team turnover.
Communication between the field mission and the main office

NGOs have a multi-level Knowledge Management which goes, in the field, from the Project
manager to the Program manager / Country manager and in the main office, from the Project
Director and Finances Director to the Direction Board. Through this several local, national and
international steps, too much information is lost. Some specific problems are that there might be :
A strict hierarchical top to bottom decision-making, which works against a more participative
approach to decision making built through local knowledge; The autonomy of field missions,
which could lead, sometimes, to an information crisis in the management of the project or even an
crisis in the NGO itself; An absence of a communication platform accessible by levels of
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responsibilities for a just in time proper information flow and information register.
Communication between NGOs
Too often several NGOs, work in the same country, or even in the same region, without knowing
about each other organizational purposes, projects and activities. Some specific problems are an
absence of access to:
A map of previous NGO interventions, if possible through purpose and projects; Simple and direct
access to communication forums or to create one which could invite and congregate NGOs
professionals through purpose, project or activities a Community of Practice in each field; and
Best practices databases of projects selected by NGOs Direction Boards in order to have an
identification card of each NGO as well as to publicize a problem-solving database for
development.
Communication between NGOs and the beneficiaries

NGOs relations with beneficiaries of the projects are not so easy and well done as they should be
and frequently a project is elaborated and formulated without sufficient participative enrolment by
the community of beneficiaries. In addition, in the implementation phase, authorities are often
more aware of the project purposes and activities than the ones the project will direct supposedly
benefit. Interface between NGOs and beneficiaries should be done probably moreover in a face-to-
face basis, nevertheless, Knowledge Management through web interface tools could be an asset
because besides and beyond information concerning the project, beneficiaries should have a
continuous possibility of taking positions in relation to it.

Some specific problems: Inadequate, un-participative analysis of the needs felt by a particular
population in which a NGO pinpoint an intervention; Inadequate, un-participative representation
of the beneficiary community in the formulation and implementation of the project required of a
development concept as a citizen tool (an interactive day-to-day activity) through which everyone
could have a word and participate in action.

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Communication between NGOs and the donors
Although institutional donors usually have their own ways of controlling the uses of applied funds
and the impacts of the projects, the non-organized social responsibility response of civil society
through NGOs is much less informed in what concerns either the concrete development projects
supported, or their real impact in the field. NGOs are usually much more concerned with reports
to institutions like World Bank or EU Offices than with Civil Society donors. Some specific
problems: Absence of a communication toll through which donors have direct link with the project
in the field and with its impacts;

High levels of turnover in NGOs, personalization of the information in the field, as well as
problems with storage of information often lead to difficulties either in internal supervision, either
in external auditing by sponsors and donors; Information coming from the field mission
concerning the project is, to many times, sent only the country, mission or project manager
without any kind of feed-back by the population who were impacted by the project.
Communication between NGOs and Civil Society

Each individual and each organization should, must and could be an active development actor
and agent if only could have the proper knowledge capital (understood as social, symbolic and,
therefore, economic capital) to make a difference. This utopia could be built through a good
communication network between Development NGOs and Civil Society in order to turn themselves
into CSOs, Civil Society Organizations.

Therefore, we believe, KM through information society could be the tool to turn NGOs into CSOs,
being this purpose the engine of the present project. Some specific problems: Absence of a KMS to
enroll individuals and organizations in order to a participative effort toward development, both in
a local and in a global sense. Such a systems should deploy of information concerning 1) basic
continuously renewed geo-strategic and anthropological situation of countries in risk; 2) basic
training towards citizen and organizational intervention; 3) intervention protocols and counseling;
4) cultural online counseling and 5) psychological support.

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Absence of a development best practices database that could be used as an intervention guide not
only to NGO experts but also to any citizen enrolled in a local development process or with global
development concerns.
This guide could enhance not only the analysis, discussion and choosing of alternative
development paths but also could be a way of a more adequate impact analysis of development
projects by comparing the achieved goals in similar projects.

Absence of a Community of Practice of Knowledge Network that could cut across NGOs
competence and competition but also that could bridge NGOs, donors and beneficiaries in a more
coherent and focused way.

Issues and challenges

Issues and challenges related to the utilization of information technology for knowledge
management support can be analyzed at three phases of deployment – the setup phase, the
ongoing utilization and maintenance phase and finally long-term effects of knowledge
management support.

1. KMS Setup: Balancing Information Overload and Potentially Useful Content

The reach of the knowledge management system, both in terms of size of the user group and
diversity of the group is an important consideration. This is an important issue because increases
in the size and the diversity, while beneficial, involve an implicit trade-off between irrelevant
content and potentially useful information. If usage of the system (e.g. a Class 4 email list) is
restricted to a small group, the users would collectively lose valuable input that may potentially be
obtained by a more inclusive policy encouraging broader participation. However, if the reach of the
system is too broad, then the system risks an overload of irrelevant information. Deciding on an
appropriate size and scope is important in order to leverage the strength of weak ties.

Size: When the knowledge sources are artifacts size may have a positive network effect. For
example, the greater the number of documents in the document repository or the intranet, the
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higher the chances one would be able to find documents of interest. However, size may have
negative network effects when the knowledge sources are individuals. Even though greater
network size may increase the potential reach of an electronic discussion forum, which in turn
would increase the chances of generating an offer to help, greater network size would tend to
increase information overload in the form of multiple asynchronous yet concurrent threads of
conversations.
Diversity: When knowledge sources are highly structured greater diversity of content poses
minimal problems as long as the indexing scheme is appropriate. However, when the knowledge
sources are loosely structured diversity of content and domains may become problematic. In case
of lower levels of diversity, the resources made available by the KMS would be limited, in some
cases corresponding closely with that of the individuals in search of the target content. Hence, the
knowledge management system would be less valuable.

On the other hand, diversity can also be overwhelming as it may become difficult to find the
appropriate knowledge sources due to information overload and a lack of shared vocabulary. This
situation is often apparent in the use of search engines on the Internet. A simple search on the
Internet can retrieve literally millions of documents from which only a very small proportion is
relevant and valuable. As these observations suggest, the utility of a knowledge management
system, which largely depends on its ability to provide novel and interesting knowledge resources,
is likely to diminish in the presence of overwhelming size and diversity. In essence, the leveraging
of the strength of weak ties need to be balanced against the downsides of information overload
and incongruent vocabularies.

2. KMS Maintenance: Balancing Additional Workload and Accurate Content

In a knowledge management system, maintaining a steady stream of contributions to content, the

knowledge flow, is an important issue. Thus a critical problem is one of motivation – motivating
users to contribute. This may be more or less difficult depending on the level of structuring of the
content in the KMS. When the knowledge content is highly structured, a great deal of effort is
required up front to ensure the appropriate structuring.
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Employees are required to append appropriate keywords and meta-data to their documents prior
to the uploading to the document repository or fill out extensive skills and expertise
questionnaires.

While this may appear to be a simple, straightforward task, serious difficulties of knowledge
representation and problems of motivation may exist. When employees are appending keywords
and meta-data tags to their documents or are evaluating themselves in terms of the skills or
expertise they possess, they are in essence creating answers for questions that have not yet been
posed and are implicitly addressing the issue - to what queries should this document (or user
profile) be a result? Thus, balancing workload and accurate content that will enhance motivation
of all actors is difficult task in practice.

3. Long-Term Effects of KMS: Balancing Exploitation and Exploration

A final issue is the long-term impacts of the use of KMS on learning, innovation and expertise
development. The availability of existing solutions may bias employees to adopt existing solutions
rather than search for or develop novel solutions that may be more effective. In the long run,
reliance on existing solutions may result in competency traps that inhibit organizational learning
and innovation. The literature on organizational learning suggests that experience plays a vital
role in the learning process. In the case of knowledge management systems, experience will be
tightly tied with the use of the system.

Thus, in the long run, knowledge workers may gain extensive experience at assembling knowledge
components to solve problems instead of actually creating the knowledge components themselves,
an important consideration related to expertise development in knowledge intensive firms that
tend to promote heavy use of KMS. Further, the presence of KMS may predispose users to the use
of explicit and easily available information rather than tacit knowledge that may be more effort
intensive to access on account of the stickiness of such knowledge.

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These arguments indicate that the use of KMS may lead to both positive as well as negative
outcomes. An organization may gain great efficiency by streamlining problem solving processes
through reuse of knowledge, yet may slowly become rigid and lose its capacity to learn locally and
innovate. There exists trade-off between exploitation and exploration for organizational learning.
Exploitation of old certainties may be effective for short-term benefits but self-destructive in the
long run.

The use and re-use of existing solutions encouraged by knowledge management systems may bias
organizational processes toward exploitation in ways that may ultimately prove detrimental to the
organization. While it may be too early to observe such long- term effects of knowledge
management support on organizations, the repercussions on organization‘s capacity to learn and
innovate are too great to be ignored.

9.10 . KEY CONCERNS RELATED TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

The key concerns for managers in KM are: the cultural, managerial and informational issues. In
terms of the culture, the managers were concerned over the implications for change management,
the ability to convince people to volunteer their knowledge, and the ability to convince
organizational units to share their knowledge with other units. The managerial concerns related to
the organizational value of knowledge management and the need for metrics upon which to
demonstrate the value. The concern is about determining who would be responsible for managing
the knowledge and above all of bringing together the many players involved in developing KMS,
including technical staff, corporate librarians, documentation staff, archivists, database
administrators, and the professionals with the knowledge. Managers are also concerned about
how to implement KMS effectively.

Understanding KM concepts is another concern of managers because the concept suffered from
immaturity. Particularly those managers from organizations that had not yet implemented KMS
expressed a need to better understand the concept and to be convinced that knowledge
management ―worked‖ before pursuing KMS.

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The concerns related to information are primarily associated with a desire to avoid overloading
already taxed users with yet more information. The concern is as much about the new information
that would now be available as it is about eliminating ―old/wrong data‖ or knowledge that is no
longer valid. Omitting the unimportant may be as important as concentrating on the important in
determining what knowledge to include in KMS. Concern is expressed about customer and client
confidentiality now that much information about customers and clients would be gathered and
widely available in the organizations.
Lastly, several managers concerned about technological issues. These issues are related to
technical infrastructure and the security of data on the Internet. More specifically, the need for
configuring an effective technical infrastructure and architectural requirements in the face of
highly dynamic technology is reported. The following table summarizes key concerns related to
KM.

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Table. Key Concerns Related to Knowledge Management

Information
Building Vast amounts of data into usable form
Avoiding over loading users with unnecessary data
Eliminating wrong/old data
Ensuring Customer confidentiality
Keeping the Information current

Management
Change management implications
Getting individuals to volunteer knowledge
Getting business units to share knowledge
Demonstrating business value
Bringing together the many people from various units
Determining responsibility for managing the knowledge

Technology
Determining infrastructure requirements
Keeping up with new technologies
Security of data on Internet

9.11. CHAPTER SUMMARY

Knowledge may be defined as fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information and
expert insight that provide a framework for evaluation and incorporating new experiences and
information. It provides the means to analyze and understand data/information, provides
beliefs about the causality of events/actions, and provides the basis to guide meaningful
action/thought.
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Knowledge management (KM) is still a young field with multidisciplinary roots. Thus, many
authors defined it very differently based on different perspectives. Among others KM defined as the
process of applying a systematic approach to the capture, structure, management, and
dissemination of knowledge throughout an organization in order to work faster, reuse best
practices, and reduce costly rework from project to project. It could be defined as deliberate and
systematic coordination of an organization‘s people, technology, processes, and organizational
structure in order to add value through reuse and innovation.

The meaning ascribed to the concept of knowledge management by managers can be approached
from three perspectives: an information-based perspective, a technology-based perspective, and a
culture-based perspective. In terms the information-based perspective, managers conceptualize
KM as characteristics of information, such as readily-accessible information, real-time
information, and actionable information and concerned with reducing the overload of information.

In the technology-based perspective, managers relates KM with information technology

infrastructure and more specifically, with the integration of cross-functional systems worldwide.
With regard to culture-based perspective managers relates KM with learning, communication, and
intellectual property cultivation. It emphasizes the importance of human motivation to understand
the dynamics of KM initiatives and states knowledge sharing is a critical human behavior.

Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) are tools to effect the management of knowledge and are
manifested in a variety of implementations including document repositories, expertise databases,
discussion lists and context -specific retrieval systems incorporating collaborative filtering
technologies. A KMS offers integrated services to deploy KM instruments for networks of
participants, i.e. active knowledge workers, in knowledge-intensive business processes along the
entire knowledge life cycle. The ultimate aim of KMS is to support the dynamics of organizational
learning and organizational effectiveness. Unlike a more traditional ICT system KMS is a process
applied to manage knowledge in wide areas of applications in a participatory setting ICT being
used as instrument of service provision and facilitate the platform to capture and distribute
knowledge.
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Knowledge management framework generally indicates a) where the knowledge resides (artifacts
and individuals) and b) the extent to which the knowledge is structured (structured and
unstructured). The locus of the knowledge determines whether the KMS connects a user who has
a problem or question to an artifact (e.g. a document) or directs her/him to a person. The level of
a-priori structure determines the extent to which KMS use imposes the burden of a translation or
transformation of the problem or question to a form that corresponds to implicit logic underlying
the a-priori structure. These dimensions are used as the basis to categorize the different types of
KMS currently used for knowledge management support. KMS can also impose different burdens
on users of the systems.

Many factors influence knowledge management activities. The major challenges include political
challenges, institutional challenges, technical challenges (human and nonhuman), economic
differences to information, and protection of knowledge. Other barriers to KM include lack /
inadequate willingness of knowledge provider and knowledge seeker, inadequate/ incomplete
knowledge, inadequate infrastructure, and socio- cultural context. To overcome the challenges
and barriers managers should design and implement appropriate strategies.

Success factors that influence KM initiative in general and the implementation of KMS in
particular include using holistic, integrated and standardized approach, building Knowledge-
oriented culture, management support, clearly determining economic benefits setting exact vision
and language, providing appropriate incentives, setting appropriate KM process, using ICT and
developing organizational infrastructure setting stable knowledge structures, using multiple
channels for knowledge transfer, and ensuring continuous participation of employees and other
stakeholders.

The starting point for KM activities is conducting a SWOT analysis. The next step is the selection
of strategically relevant resources in order to provide organizational competencies or capabilities.
The KM activities include mapping sources of internal expertise, establishing new knowledge roles,
creating a (virtual) work environment, creating networks of knowledge workers , supporting
knowledge flows in an organization, transferring of knowledge and best practices, setting personal
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responsibility for knowledge, focusing on customer-focused knowledge, supporting innovation and
knowledge creation, formulating intellectual asset management strategy, and integrating KM in
organizational strategy .

There are many KM sources. Among others it includes books, periodicals, portals, websites;
institutes of higher learning; and associations. These sources facilitate organizational learning
which involve a dynamic respiratory between learning process at the individual, group and
organizational level.

Communities of practice have become the most natural way in which tacit knowledge is managed
within organizations and knowledge fields. Communities of practice are informal groups or
networks of professionals who share common problems, common interests or common knowledge,
and who communicate with each other. Purpose, enablers, leadership of the community,
processes, people and time (cited as an enabler) are the key ingredients in communities of
practice.

Best practice data base enable NGOs/ CSOs to reuse information for future project activities. To
share best practices NGOs/CSOs, individuals and citizens representing different communities
need to have a shared web space where they could upload their experiences and related project‘s
best practices in a structured manner. The NGOs should create common data attributes to
facilitate best practice sharing. NGOs / CSOs can use web portal and other functionalities to
share best practices and KM. To this end, a multi-tier architecture allows a web-enabled personal
computer (client) to interact with an application server connected to the internet. It provides data
for clients and serves as an interface between clients and database servers. Integrated KM
provides information about service capability, interface, behavior, and quality. The service layer
can be decomposed into conceptual layer (process description), ICT layer (set of technologies) and
KM service layer (bridge the gap between the conceptual and the ICT layer). These layers of KM
service helps to formulate strategies, define and set up proper processes, select appropriate
instruments and design appropriate application architecture.

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Both academic and corporate KM literature has identified a set of KM deficits that happen at the
organizational and corporate level which equally applies to NGOs. Some of the impediments
include spending much time to get needed information, availability of essential know-how only in
the heads of few employees, improper information and data documentation, disregard previous
experiences and repeating costly errors, and delays and suboptimal product quality resulting from
insufficient flow of information.

KM impediments have been constraining KM endeavors in NGOs. The major impediments that
constraints NGO in managing knowledge are contextual Global and National information
(diversity), bureaucratic requirement for field-mission information, multiple actors in decision
making process in case of communication between the field mission and the main office , in
adequate or lack of communication between NGOs , inadequate/ lack/participation in case of
communication between NGOs and the beneficiaries, donors much concern on financial
performance/ report in case of communication between NGOs and the donors , and absence of
good communities of practice and inadequate network that can facilitate communication between
NGOs and Civil Society.

Issues and challenges related to the utilization of information technology for knowledge
management support can be analyzed at three phases: the setup phase, the ongoing utilization
and maintenance phase and finally long-term effects of knowledge management support. The KMS
setup phase states issues and challenges faced by organization in balancing information overload
(size) and potentially useful content in different context (diversity).

The KMS maintenance emphasizes challenges related to balancing additional workload and
ensuring accuracy of content (motivating all actors). The long-term effects of KMS phase address
challenges related to balancing exploitation and exploration of knowledge. That is anticipating the
long-term impacts of the use of KMS on learning, innovation and expertise development and
balancing trade-off between exploitation and exploration for organizational learning. Besides these
issues/challenges, cultural, managerial and informational issues are key concerns of managers in
KM.
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Chapter Reflections

1. Discuss KM and KMS, and factors that affect KM/KMS

2. Describe and Evaluate KM impediments and practice of any NGO in your surroundings
3. Discuss the relevance of sharing best practices between/ among NGOs and the means to share
the best practices and potential challenges to share best practice in the context of Ethiopia.

235
GLOSSARY
 Channel: The means by which a message is sent from a source to a receiver.
 Code: Symbol systems used by human beings to exchange meaning. Codes are not limited
to written or spoken language. They also include nonverbal languages, languages of the
fine arts, and other specific kinds of ―language‖ involving human use of time, space, and
objects.
 Communication: A continuous, irreversible, transitive process involving communicators
who occupy different but overlapping environments and are simultaneously senders and
receivers of messages, many of which are distorted by physical and psychological noise.
 Context: The setting in which communication, or the sharing of meaning occurs.
 Culture: The socially transmitted behaviors, beliefs, arts, institutions, and work common
to a community.
 Demographics: The numerical measurements of population characteristics.
 Dialect: A variation of a basic language used by a specific group. The variation includes
such elements as grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation.
 Dyadic: Two people engaged in interpersonal communication.
 Encoding: The process of putting thoughts into symbols, most commonly words.
 Environment: The field of experiences that leads a person to make sense of another‘s
behavior. Environments consist of physical characteristics, personal experiences,
relational history, and cultural background.
 Equivocal language: Ambiguous language that has two or more equally plausible
meanings.
 External noise: Factors outside the receiver that interfere with the accurate reception of a
message.
 Feedback: The discernible response of a receiver to a sender‘s message.
 Gestures: Motions of the body, usually hands or arms, that have communicative value.
 Interactive communication: The term used to describe human interactions in which a
source and receiver exchange messages in a predictable fashion.
 Interpersonal communication: Communication in which the parties consider one

236
 another as unique individuals rather than as objects. It is characterized by minimal use of
stereotyped labels; unique, idiosyncratic social rules; and a high degree of information
exchange.
 Interpretation: The process of attaching meaning to sense data; synonymous with
Decoding.
 Message: Information sent from a sender to a receiver.
 Noise: Anything in the channel (or medium) that interferes with the message. Channel
noise is interference which exists in the medium of communication. Semantic noise
resides in the receiver. One-way communication: Communication in which a receiver
provides no feedback to a sender.
 Organizational Communication: is ―the processing and interpreting of messages,
information, meaning and symbolic activity with and between organizations.‖
 Organizational culture: An organization‘s collective sense of what is real, how things
work, how one is supposed to behave in the carrying out of one‘s duty, and what being a
member of the organization means.
 Perception: A two-part process that involves the use of one‘s sensory systems to
apprehend the elements of the physical world as well as the integration of these sensory
impressions with information already stored in one‘s memories.
 Persuasion: That class of messages designed to alter one‘s beliefs or behavior.
 Proxemics: Cultural differences which exist in the way human beings use space to
communicate.
 Public communication: One person addressing many. o Receiver: One who notices and
attends to a message.
 Reference groups: Groups against which we compare ourselves, thereby influencing our
self-concept and self-esteem.
 Sender: The creator of a message.
 Two-way communication: An exchange of information in which the receiver deliberately
provides feedback to a sender.

237
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