Knowing_Your_Audience

Knowing Your Audience Keith De Luca BCOM/275 November 28th, 2011 Tania Say Knowing Your Audience On August 5th, 2010 33 miners were trapped in a Chilean copper mine for over 2 months. For the first 17 days they had no word from the trapped miners. “As the days passed, Chileans grew increasingly skeptical that any of the miners had survived — let alone all of them” (“Chile Mining Accident,” 2011, p. 1). What the company puts out to the families and the company itself can make or break the company with a issue as large as this one. Knowing your audience and communicating to the effectively will help through this tragic time. Families will be worrying about their loved ones and employees will need to know what they will be expected to do and act during this kind of issue. With all of this, the company will still have to deal with the media, which will be their strongest critic of all. Knowing the right way of communication and how it will put the company in a better light. When constructing your message to the families of the miners, their feelings have to be taken into account. There is going to be feelings of sadness, loss, and anger towards the company. The company has to let the families know what is and has happened and how you plan on getting through the situation. Such as, the plan of action you set forth and the services that you will be providing to the trapped miners. Setting up counseling for the family members and helping those with financial aid, so that they will need to get through these tough times with no income flow. The most important step is letting the families know that the company is doing everything in their power to rescue their family members. The employees need to know what they need to do in this time of trouble. They also should know what the plan of action is. What steps they should take if they are confronted with the media. What they can and cannot say to the media and other outlets. The last thing the company wants is someone talking out of line and leaking out something that should not be talked about, outside of the company doors. Before the messages are brought forth they must be complete and checked. It is essential that the right channel is selected. Whether this is a face to face, email, or memo. The right channel needs to be selected to ensure your message is clear and having the audience in mind will help with that. After the message, ensure you get proper feedback to see how it was absorbed. Without this you will not know where your audience stands. Follow up with your receivers to ensure you have not forgotten and are still on track with what was put out and if there are any changes that might come up. My communication letter to the families of the trapped miners would be face to face channel. This is the best channel due to the emotions that come with this tragic issue. To the families of the trapped miners. Our deepest condolence goes out to you. We are currently taking action to free the trapped miners. At this moment we are working with local contractors and engineers to come up with the best plan of action. First, we need to make communication with the miners and see what they need and find out their conditions. We are going to do everything in our power to get your loved ones out safe. As of right now, we are setting up a care line for you so you can talk to counselors. Also, we have the accounting department setting up a fund to help you through these troubling times. If you at anytime you have a question or need help we have a hotline set up so you can get the help that is needed. Communication to the company will be put out two ways. One with a mass email to all employees and a second to go as a memo to the department heads with key points to go over to ensure that all employees know what is expected of them. To all employees, as you all know there are fellow co-workers trapped deep in our mines. Though it is a tough time, business still needs to be conducted professionally. We are doing everything that is possible and working with the local government to free these individuals as fast as possible. We ask that you refrain from speaking to the media and families of the trapped miners. Our lawyers will deal with the media and any messages that need to be broadcasted. The reason why we say this is to ensure the best interest of the company is secure. Everyone still has a job to do and ensure it is done the way we have always done. I thank you ahead of time for your cooperation. This is the memo I would put out to the department heads. To: Department Heads. Ensure that all of your employees know what is expected. 1. Conducted themselves professionally 2. Advise employees: No talking to local media or families on matters regarding the miners. 3. Continue doing their job as expected, as we are still a business. 4. Please inform myself of any problems that come up. References Chile Mining Accident. (2011, October). The New York Times, (), 1. Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/chile_mining_accident_2010/index.html