Which Channel Should I Choose. A Simple Guide to Internal Communications. Situation One. locally personalized, whole organization Situation. You need to communicate with your whole organization, and the message should be personalized, locally. Result. Team briefings or cascade. Situation Two. whole organization, low budget, not everyone has computer access Situation. You need to communicate with your whole organization, it’s important that everyone receives a consistent message, you have little or no budget and not everyone has access to computers. Result. noticeboards. Situation Three. whole organization, low budget, no social media. Situation. You need to communicate with your whole organization, it’s important that everyone receives a consistent message, you have little or no budget, everyone has access to computers and you don’t have an intranet and or social media platform. Result. email. Situation Four. whole organization, low budget, formal. Situation. You need to communicate with your whole organization, it’s important that everyone receives a consistent message, you have little or no budget, everyone has access to computers, you have an intranet and or social media platform and the communication is formal. Result. intranet. Situation Five. whole organization, low budget, informal. Situation. You need to communicate with your whole organization, it’s important that everyone receives a consistent message, you have little or no budget, everyone has access to computers, you have an intranet and or social media platform and the communication is informal. Result. social media. Situation Six. whole organization, bigger budget. Situation. You need to communicate with your whole organization, it’s important that everyone receives a consistent message, you have a fair bit of budget and everyone has access to computers. Result. video or audio. Situation Seven. whole organization, bigger budget, not everyone has computers, formal. Situation. You need to communicate with your whole organization, it’s important that everyone receives a consistent message, you have a fair bit of budget, not everyone has access to computers and the message is formal. Result. report, manual or handbook. Situation Eight. whole organization, bigger budget, not everyone has computers, informal. Situation. You need to communicate with your whole organization, it’s important that everyone receives a consistent message, you have a fair bit of budget, not everyone has access to computers and the message is informal. Result. magazine or newsletter. Situation Nine. whole organization, unlimited budget, generate discussion. Situation. You need to communicate with your whole organization, it’s important that everyone receives a consistent message, you have whatever budget you need, and you want to generate discussion, collaboration and networking. Result. conference. Situation Ten. whole organization, unlimited budget. Situation. You need to communicate with your whole organization, it’s important that everyone receives a consistent message, you have whatever budget you need, and you don’t want to generate discussion, collaboration and networking.
Result. speech or presentation. Situation Eleven. specific group, diverse locations, no discussion. Situation. You need to communicate with a specific group within your organization, they are not all in the same location and you don’t necessarily want to generate discussion. Result. email. Situation Twelve. specific group, diverse locations, generate discussion, not everyone has computers. Situation. You need to communicate with a specific group within your organization, they are not all in the same location, you want to generate discussion and not everyone has access to computers. Result. teleconference. Situation Thirteen. specific group, diverse locations, generate discussions, share visuals or files. Situation. You need to communicate with a specific group within your organization, they are not all in the same location, you want to generate discussion, everyone has access to computers and it would be useful to be able to show visuals or share files. Result. web conference. Situation Fourteen. specific group, diverse locations, generate discussions, everyone has computers. Situation. You need to communicate with a specific group within your organization, they are not all in the same location, you want to generate discussion, everyone has access to computers and there’s no need to be able to show visuals or share files. Result. video conference. Situation Fifteen. specific group, same location, small group. Situation. You need to communicate with a specific group within your organization, they are all in the same location and the group would fit in a meeting room. Result. team meeting. Situation Sixteen. specific group, same location, large group, generate discussion. Situation. You need to communicate with a specific group within your organization, they are all in the same location, the group is too big for a meeting room and you want to generate discussion and collaboration. Result. open forum. Situation Seventeen. specific group, same location, large group, no discussion. Situation. You need to communicate with a specific group within your organization, they are all in the same location, the group is too big for a meeting room and you don’t want to generate discussion and collaboration. Result. speech or presentation. Situation Eighteen. individual, different location, urgent information. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is not in the same location as you, you probably don’t need to have a discussion with them, but you need them to get the information now. Result. phone. Situation Nineteen. individual, different location, no discussion, working remotely. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is not in the same location as you, you probably don’t need to have a discussion with them, you need them to get the information today, and they are likely to be working remotely. Result. text message. Situation Twenty. individual, different location, urgent information, working at computer. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is not in the same location as you, you probably don’t need to have a discussion with them, you need them to get the information today, and they are likely to be working at a computer. Result. instant message. Situation Twenty One. individual, different location, no discussion, non-urgent. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is not in the same location as you, you probably don’t need to have a discussion with them, and there’s no rush on them getting the information. Result. email. Situation Twenty Two. individual, different location, simple discussion. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is not in the same location as you, you need to have a discussion with them, but it is not likely to be complicated. Result. phone. Situation Twenty Three. individual, different location, complex discussion, share files. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is not in the same location as you, you need to have a discussion with them, which is likely to be complicated, and it would be useful for you to be able to show visuals or share files. Result. web conference. Situation Twenty Four. individual, different location, complex discussion, no file sharing. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is not in the same location as you, you need to have a discussion with them, which is likely to be complicated, but it’s not likely to be useful for you to be able to show visuals or share files. Result. video conference. Situation Twenty Five. individual, same location, important. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is in the same location as you and the message is very important. Result. one-to-one meeting. Situation Twenty Six. individual, same location, non-urgent, immediate response. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is in the same location as you, the message is not very important, but you need a response from them now. Result. phone or one-to-one meeting. Situation Twenty Seven. individual, same location, non-urgent, access to computer. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is in the same location as you, the message is not very important, but you would like a response today and they’re likely to be at a computer. Result. instant message. Situation Twenty Eight. individual, same location, non-urgent, no access to computer. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is in the same location as you, the message is not very important, but you would like a response today and they’re not likely to be at a computer. Result. text message. Situation Twenty Nine. individual, same location, non-urgent, no immediate response. Situation. You need to communicate with an individual who is in the same location as you, the message is not very important, and there’s no hurry for a response. Result. email.

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