I just read a great post by Jim MacLennan on using different media methods to provide your message. The title of his post is A Plea for Empathetic Communication. He describes the need to provide the information in a format that the readers will understand.
Not everyone hears (or reads) and absorbs information the same way. If you want your message heard and understood, it is your responsibility to put it in a format that the audience will easily understand. That may mean to put the same message in multiple formats. Using just one will not work for all. A new media may be fun but your audience may not be comfortable or understand how to use it (RSS feeds is a great example Jim uses).
It’s up to you which vehicles you use to convey your message. You can use the new diagrams of the latest technique of the day…or you can use what the users are most comfortable with. If you use both (which may be neccesary because you have to convey information to business and technicians), then make sure your message/content is consistent.
It is your responsibility to get your message heard. If you want your audience to learn the new method of communication, understand that it will take longer for your message to get across. It will take additional time for you to teach them how to use this new method (for example: business users may need help setting up an RSS feed). This new way may be best in the long run…take the time and convey your message both ways until your audience becomes comfortable with the new media.
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December 10, 2008 at 7:21 pm |
Through my work as an auditor and a consultant with dozens of companies in the United States, Great Britain, Mexico, Japan, Russia and Southeast Asia, I have witnessed the implementation of numerous quality management systems (QMS) and environmental management systems (EMS). Assessing various systems, I realized that what seemed to be a simple task of creating a quality or environmental management system manual and documenting a company’s commitment to a particular standard can create significant difficulties for businesses of various sizes, in diverse industries, in different countries. Simply speaking, during my career in the registration business, I have not yet seen a manual during an initial review that addressed all the requirements of applicable standards.