Acta Universitatis Danubius. Relationes Internationales, Vol 7, No 1 (2014)

Using Reframing in the External Communication Process of the Organization

Cornel Marian Iosif, PhD

National Institute of Statistics – Suceava Branch, Suceava, Romania

cornel_iosif@yahoo.com

Abstract: Any organization, in order to avoid an information attack from the external environment, creates connections with key persons: leaders of opinion, administrators of rival companies, local officials. There are three types of external communication: operational, strategic and promotional. In the communication process there are at least three categories of barriers: language barriers, perception and environment barriers. Using reframing in the external communication allows its adjustment and optimization in order to send a certain message as correctly as possible. Using reframing allows for a certain situation to be approaches from different angles, it allows a better adaptation of the employees’ behaviours to the environment, of the organization or customers’ needs.

Keywords: methods; neuro-linguistic programming; reframing; external communication

Any member of the organization communicates with the outside because he/she interacts with: suppliers, customers, competitors¹. This way, they send their company’s image to the exterior, but also the information received from the environment are reinterpreted, added truth value and are resent by them inside the organization. The external communication at the level of the organization has two main directions: communication with the exterior of the organization and the management of changes outside the organization, estimating their impact on the organization. Any organization, in order to avoid an informational attack from the external environment creates connections with key persons: opinion leaders, administrators of rival companies, local officials. The role of these connections is using them only in the context of a crisis situation.

Any responsible organization must have certain employees specialized strictly on analyzing, interpreting and forecasting information from the external environment, such as: monitoring the actions of the competitors, identifying the law and technical modifications, the existence of social movements and their impact on the activity of the organization, so that it is not surprised by an unexpected event or it does not have a delayed reaction.

To communicate to the exterior, an organization must possess several different characteristics, including: openness, evolution, versatility, orientation towards goals, responsibility, and dynamism².

Figure 1. Elements that influence the external communication process in an organization

Source: Diagram adapted from Organizational communication³

An open organization for efficient communication must achieve this in the form of a process that allows the interaction with the environment. The evolutional organization in the communication processes accentuates their innovation. The versatile organization allows taking a decision in a very short time, without involving all the hierarchical levels. The organization oriented towards goals builds its best communication structure with the exterior of the organization, making a successful combination between the formal and informal communication. The responsible organization will only send the strictly necessary information to the exterior on time. The dynamic organization knows how to adapt to the environmental changes.

There are three types of external communication: operational, strategic and promotional (Acqui, 2007, p. 7). The operational communication between the employees of the organization and the exterior. This type of communication transforms the employees into promotional agents of the organization in the external environment. The problem in this case is that they must communicate by respecting the policies of the organization. Strategic communication targets the formation of a communication network. This form of communication is based both on improving the relationship of the organization with the exterior environment, as well as on identifying those changes in the environment that can disturb the activity of the organization in the short, medium or long run. Promotional communication refers to everything related to taking promotional and advertising actions in the exterior of the organization. This form of communication allows the organization to send to the exterior only those pieces of information that act as image improvements - referring to goods, services, processes or activities.

The main characteristics of external communication are: who is the person communicating, what is he/she communicating, through what channel is he/she communicating, what resources are needed to communicate efficiently, effective use of the organization’s resources⁴.

Figure 2 Characteristics of the external communication

Source: Diagram adapted from The management of communication, document accessed on 14.03.2013, at the link http://www.mdlpl.ro/_documente/phare2003/dezv_afaceri/IMM-uri/manuale/Comunicare/Managementul%20Comunicarii.pdf, p. 25

In the communication process, there are at least three categories of barriers: language, perception and environmental barriers (Luţă, 2003, p. 3). Language barriers refer to the fact that two persons can attribute two different meanings to the same word, a case that requires the use of common or usual terms to avoid such events. Perception barriers - because a person uses a single sensibility - auditive, visual or kinaesthetic system - in decoding the information from the environment, if the information is sent on another channel, will perceive a minimum quantity of this. Environmental barriers refer to the existing sounds in the environment that can alter the transmission of the message.

The neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) represents “the study of the functioning pattern of thinking, language and behaviour (Knight, 2007, p. 17).” NLP helps certain actions be improved: creating new thinking processes, deleting stereotypes that block the self-development process, using feedback in the communication process, accelerating changing processes at the level of the behaviour, making different processes particular. The linguistic elements used in NLP have the role to improve the communication process. By more efficiently using language, this can generate changes at the level of that person’s behaviour. NLP helps both identify and analyze behaviour patterns, internal, cognitive processes, of the relations set between the elements of a person, because it allows both the identification and the decoding of certain behavioural indicators which result in an easier interpretation of certain cognitive and behavioural processes at the level of a person.

Reframing allows for any behaviour of a person to be subject to the adaptation process according to the particularities of the environment where it manifests (Dilts, 2007, p. 77). Reframing is the NLP method through which, from any negative behaviour at least one positive variable is extracted, thus trying to adapt it. If a form of behaviour can generate new meanings reported to different contexts that means that reframing acts correspondingly (Alder, 1996, p. 49). The more reframing is used, the more it helps create a behaviour based mainly on creativity. This takes place because reframing helps that particular person look at an event from different points of view and interpret it in original ways (Andreas, 1996, p. 25). By using reframing, it is not the initial image that is changed, but the way this is looked at. There are two types of reframing: contextual and content.

Contextual reframing follows the optimization of the behaviour of a person in relation to the resources he/she has in a certain context. Content reframing targets to generate as many meanings as possible, with a minimum allocation of resources and effects that can be obtained in a certain given context.

Using reframing in the external communication process of the organization. Eternal communication is the way the organization communicates to the exterior. The main objective of the external communication is that of clearly sending the messages of the organization. By using reframing in the external communication, the latter can be adjusted, optimized in order to more correctly send a certain message. In img. no. 3, we present the functioning scheme of reframing.

Figure 3. Logical functioning scheme for reframing

Source: Iosif, 2012, p. 83

For reframing can work correctly in an organization, a minimum quantity of information is necessary. In case the amount of information does not exceed the minimum value, if the communication process has altering elements, if behaviours and the communication process are not interconnected, then reframing has an adverse effect at the level of the organization.

Applying reframing in the external communication process of the organization. Using reframing in this process allows for: a better and more efficient communication between employees and the external environment of the organization, the flexibility of the employees’ behaviours and centring them on identifying and eliminating those structures that generate conflicts in the communication process, creating interdependence between behaviour and the communication process of the employees. Using reframing allows for a certain situation to be approaches from several angles, allows for a better adaptation of the employees’ behaviours to the environment, to the needs of the organization or of the customers.

References

Acqui, E. (2007). Management course for communication in sport organizations. Baia Mare: Bogdan Voda University.

Alder, H. (1996). NLP for managers. London: Piatkus Ltd.

Andreas, S. (1996). NLP: the new technology of achievement. New York: Harper Paperbacks.

Dilts, R. (2007). Basis of neuro-linguistic programming. Bucharest: Excalibur.

Iosif, C. (2012). Competitive advantages of using neuro linguistic programming in the management of the company. Doctoral dissertation. Iasi.

Knight, S. (2007). Techniques of neuro linguistic programming. Bucharest: Curtea Veche.

Luţă, L. (2003). Modern methods of communication in public institutions. Administraţie şi Management public /Administration and Public Management Magazine, No. 1/2003.

*** The management of communication, document accessed on 14.03.2013, at the link http://www.mdlpl.ro/_documente/phare2003/dezv_afaceri/IMM-uri/manuale/Comunicare/Managementul%20Comunicarii.pdf.

*** Organizational communication, document accessed on 15.03.2013, at the link http://antreprenoriat.upm.ro/assets/cursuri/4/CM/avram-tripon/comunicare%20in%20organizatii.pdf.

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