This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.
The Strategic Communications KnowledgeBase is an online resource to aid those leading or supporting communications in education in understanding the history, value, framework, planning, and execution of effective Strategic Communications to nurture and build strong relationships in education. Strategic Communications is essential to engage stakeholders and achieve goals at the state level. The elements, activities, and tasks in this KnowledgeBase are designed to better prepare communications professionals within state education agencies (SEAs) to plan for and respond to communication challenges and support implementation of education policy.
Task 2: Understand the organizational culture of the SEA
Guideline: Like organizational structures, the organizational culture of an SEA impacts the processes of communication, both internally and externally. Organizational culture includes history; leadership; relationships between and among individuals, units, and divisions; norms or rules of engagement; shared experiences and values; and the degree of engagement with the strategic direction via vision, mission, values, goals, and strategic plans.
For example, an SEA with a history of formalizing the path of communications between divisions based on “chain of command” has different expectations for Strategic Communications strategies than an agency that typically functions without regard for hierarchical structures. Similarly, an organization that has long-engrained vision, mission, values, and goals is likely to communicate about new initiatives very differently than an SEA that has a newly-adopted or informal direction for the future.
Typically, organizational culture is thought of internally, but outside forces and outside culture influences the organization. An SEA situated in the South likely functions and communicates differently than an SEA situated in the Northwest. Additionally, as beliefs about education change within a community, those beliefs are likely brought into the organization through the individuals who work there. Those beliefs influence norms of the SEA.
Although these cultural norms are likely to have the most impact on internal communication strategies, they also affect external communication processes in at least two ways: (1) Whether each individual in the agency or only official spokespeople are viewed as ambassadors of the SEA’s priorities impacts Strategic Communication decisions about who should carry messages to external audiences; and (2) How internal messages get translated often affects the degree of reliability of the message as it gets translated externally. Therefore, Strategic Communications plans should consider the degree of uniformity needed for messaging both internally and externally and how the organizational culture influences the messages delivered.
The way individuals and teams within an organization view the organization and its “way of doing business” influences the likelihood of success for promising practices. Having a deep understanding of the current organizational culture provides insight regarding which Strategic Communications processes are likely to be most successful.
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