Communication Management

Umbrella Concept

Growing numbers of organizations have recognized that various communications disciplines share common purposes and have moved toward the integration of communications functions into a single unit. This convergence has resulted (a) from recognition of common strategic approaches used by public relations and related disciplines, (b) by the convergence of media and the rise of shared media such as the Internet, (c) by the blurring of the demarcation of traditional communications disciplines, including the rise of integrated marketing communication, and (d) from efforts by organizations to achieve greater synergy and efficiency and to reduce redundancies and costs in communications operations. This centralization trend is far from complete, however. Most organizations continue to maintain separate functional units devoted to managerial communications, public relations, advertising, and technical communication. In Europe, for instance, communication management is the preferred term for traditional public relations.

In the academic arena, communication management is consistent with the umbrella concept of strategic communication, which involves the examination of how organizations use communications across traditional professional disciplines to achieve stated organizational goals and objectives. Both communication management and strategic communication purposely look beyond differences in disciplines and to focus on the similarity of strategic approaches found in various disciplines.

Table 1 compares six conceptual approaches to organizational communications that can be incorporated under this umbrella, although the conceptual focus and techniques that are used are somewhat different in each traditional discipline.

Communication Management Approaches

Communication management says that all communications in an organization are tools used to achieve the desired organizational outcomes. Indeed, communication represents the constitutive activity of management. Organizational strategies are explained, ideas advocated, staff motivated, and products or services promoted through communication.

Communication management is grounded in the concept of management by objectives (MBO), which posits that all organizational activity should be planned around the attainment of goals. Furthermore, communication management recognizes that communications efforts can emanate from the following organizational frameworks or paradigms:

• Programs are long-term efforts to establish and maintain communications between organizations and key audiences. Programs can include the establishment of channels (such as a Web site), policies and procedures, and ongoing activities (such as events) designed to facilitate communication over time. Program is the nomenclature most commonly associated with managerial communication, technical communication, and public relations.
• Campaigns are coordinated efforts to promote particular ideas among key constituencies over a specified time. Campaigns are undertaken by an organization's own staff or with the assistance of outside specialists or consultants. Campaigns represent the basic framework used in advertising, political communication, and social marketing efforts. Some communicators prefer to use the term programs instead of campaigns. The latter word's origins in military theory suggest [Page 163]that victors must triumph in a zero-sum game by conquering an enemy, which gives the word a negative connotation.
• Projects are limited-purpose activities undertaken to accomplish particular outcomes within an organization. Project management, as a management tool, has received widespread attention in recent years. Unlike a long-term program or campaign, projects are of shorter duration and involve representatives of units working together to accomplish a particular purpose. Communications professionals may be participants in, but are not in charge of, various projects—annual reports, special events, Web sites, and so on. Many projects are undertaken within staffs of communications units.

Role of Plans

Central to the notion of communication management is the idea of planning or organizing communication effort. The preparation of a formal or written plan is deemed a critical element in effective management. Written plans serve both as proposals used to obtain client approval and as internal control documents for day-to-day guidance.

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