Communications for Public Administration

Public Sector Communication

Public administrators interact with a variety of people throughout their working careers. Apart from performing their duties, they must give correct and timely information to the people, which is critical for the government. In this regard, it is important for public administrators to cultivate effective communication skills so that they can win the trust of the public, eliminate communication barriers, and build a consensus between the government and the community. Thus, public administrators must acknowledge that communication is critical for the public sector and effective communication skills are necessary for promoting open communication to employees and the public.

Possible Public Sector Stakeholders and Partners

Ultimately, at the core of communication in public administration are the stakeholders and partners who are the major players in the delivery of public communication. These are the individuals or organizations that are affected or could be affected by the service provided by the public administrators. Ostensibly, as Starling (2011) notes stakeholders in the public sector include people who are the focus of the delivery of activities and services. Individuals or organizations are responsible for ensuring that proper delivery of these activities is enhanced. Similarly, people or entities that device and implement laws and regulations likely to influence the functioning of the public sector also form part of the public sector shareholders. Other groups include authorities that partner or collaborate with the entity as well as those with an interest in the process or the outcome of the activities of the entity. Some specific groups of the stakeholders in the public sector usually comprise of clients, employees, various local governing bodies, specialized groups organizations, public representatives, government and private institutions, major community service agencies, and human resource agencies among others. Essentially, the public sector differs by far from the public sector in regards to stakeholders. In reality, shareholders in the private industry normally have straightforward expectations from the organization. The interaction between the shareholders and the organization is focused on delivering the best possible deal for the customer and getting increased profits for the group. On the other hand, stakeholders in the public sector organization are closely associated with the delivery of services or products in an adequate manner. In terms of communication, the public sector relies on several communication policies to determine who is authorized to speak, how various communication issues can be managed and handling the internal and external crisis.

Cultural and Ethical Considerations

Communicating to people from diverse backgrounds requires knowledge of the speaker’s and the culture of the audience, as well as how they interact in both positive and negative ways. Cultures define how people think, see things, hear, and interpret things (Mukherjee & Basu, 2005). Different cultures regulate how people display emotions, express feelings, and opinions about various situations. On the other hand, ethics involve the moral aspects of a group interaction (Zeidler, 2007) Enhancing ethical communication upholds the human dignity and worth by fostering respect for self and others, transparency, the responsibility of one’s behavior and words uttered, as well as personal integrity. The concept of culture and ethical considerations helps public administrators understand the hidden and complex aspect of community life and channel their communication while upholding human dignity of their audience and self-respect. Thus, public administrators must put into consideration the cultural and ethical aspects of different individuals for effective communication.

Communication Genres

Public communications are an integral means of passing messages to the community in today’s society. Communication genres have been linked with different communication practices and styles when addressing the public. Virtually, communication genre is a style of communication that is adopted formally or informally by the speaker when using the communication medium in a certain way for a particular purpose. According to Hart (2014), communication genres are the guiding force behind the particular generation of various forms of communication directed to certain groups. Genres are embedded within the medium of communication, the format of communication to enhance the ability to communicate with all stakeholders. For instance, when addressing the public in a community forum, the speaker is more likely to prefer verbal communication, which is quick and effective. On the other hand, when addressing employees in the office, written communication is more effective in this case. The written communication could be in the form of letters, emails, or even updates on websites such as social networks and blogs. Thus, communication genres provide valuable tools when passing on information to the audience.

Mandatory Training for Public Sector Employees in Communication Skills

The public sector plays a significant role both at the national and global level by providing invaluable services to the public. Employees in the public sector are required to communicate and interact with a broad range of stakeholders from the public, media, senior politicians, and world leaders (Rosenbloom, Malone & Valdez, 2017). Whether it is through written communication, presentations to large audiences or participating in discussion forums, the public sector employees are expected to deliver all these with clarity and precision. In short, when public sector employees communicate, they represent the government. In this regard, employees should undergo mandatory training to enable them to communicate more efficiently at the local, national, and global level. The training is highly significant in that employees will be better prepared to adapt their communication style to the expectations and level of knowledge of their audiences.

References

Hart, R. P. (2014). Communication and language analysis in the public sphere. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Murkherjee, S., & Basu, S. K. (2005). Organisation & Management and Business Communication. New Delhi: New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers.

Rosenbloom, D. H., Malone, P. S., & Valdez, B. (2017). The handbook of federal government leadership and administration: Transforming, performing, and innovating in a complex world. New York: Routledge.

Starling, G. (2011). Managing the public sector. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Zeidler, D. L. (2007). The role of moral reasoning on socioscientific issues and discourse in science education. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.