Assignment Prompt & Instructions
## Overview
Can we learn from the past to prepare for the future? It is a common refrain in the business world. However, nowhere are the lessons of the past more helpful than in the field of corporate communications. All of us have seen, at one time or another, a company failing to get out the proper message. Whether it is about a product recall or an unforeseen corporate crisis, companies can be slow to react, and their reactions are not always the most appropriate for the situation at hand.
The most important aspect of communication is not speaking but listening. To be an effective speaker, you have to know that your message is being received and is being received in the manner that is expected. This paradox is what leads to most communications problems in the corporate world. In this course, you have explored examples of leadership communications and how they do or do not effectively reach their audiences. In doing so, you have learned the impact leadership communications can have on an organization. This knowledge has exposed you to appropriate ways of communicating as a leader and proper strategies and approaches to leadership.
For the final project in this course, you will provide a company overview, analyze this company’s leadership communications, and then create leadership communication guidelines based on your analysis. This summative assessment will prepare you to create effective leadership communications and take advantage of future leadership opportunities.
This final project is divided into **three milestones**, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in **Modules Two, Four, and Six.** The final project will be submitted in **Module Nine.**
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
– Evaluate the effectiveness of leadership communications of an organization for both internal and external audiences
– Analyze the challenges and opportunities in creating a positive organizational culture for how they impact organizational growth
– Develop strategies for developing future leadership communications directed to both internal and external audiences that are supported by systems theory and best practices
– Develop ethical frameworks for leadership for organizational decision-making regarding the development of leadership communications
– Recommend improvements to leadership communications for guiding management on effectively delivering communications
## Prompt
For this final project, you will provide a company overview, analyze leadership communications, and create leadership communication guidelines. You must first choose an organization from the [Final Project Subjects document](https://learn.snhu.edu/content/enforced/2108464-COM-600-10272.202588-1/Course%20Documents/COM%20600%20Final%20Project%20Subjects.pdf?isCourseFile=true&ou=2108464), or you may find your own organization by reviewing a variety of sources. Next, you will research your chosen organization to determine how the organization operates; the mission, vision, and goals of the organization; the role of the key leaders in the development and delivery of communications; the organization’s most important internal and external audiences; and the culture of the organization. Your findings from this research will result in your company overview.
Next, you will analyze the leadership communications of your chosen organization. Some examples of leadership communications might be memorandums to internal employees regarding organizational changes or job responsibilities, speeches or presentations by an organizational leader, interviews of an organizational leader regarding a crisis event in the organization, and so on. Review several examples of leadership communications and evaluate how effectively leadership meets the needs of internal and external stakeholders through communications, determine the impact communications has on the organization’s culture, explain the organization’s approach to ethics, and explain how the culture can inhibit opportunities for organizational growth.
Then, using the information you discovered in your leadership communications analysis, you will develop leadership communication guidelines. Specifically, you will develop strategies that will serve as guidelines for developing future leadership communications of the organization. You will also develop an ethical framework that will guide the organization in addressing issues of ethics regarding the development and delivery of leadership communications.
For both your leadership communications analysis and your leadership communications guidelines, you will be expected to support your responses with research and your own analysis when appropriate.
Specifically, you must address the **critical elements** listed below. Most of the critical elements align with a particular course outcome (shown in brackets).
1. **Company Overview**: In this section of the summative assessment, you will develop an overview of the company. This overview will serve as a profile for the company, detailing their daily operations and describing their key characteristics.
1. Provide an overview of how the **organization operates** from a systems theory approach.
1. For example, how does the organization operate on a daily basis? On a monthly basis? How do individuals with different roles interact?
2. Explain the **mission, vision, and goals** of the organization.
1. For example, what is the mission statement of the organization? What are the employees expected to follow and abide by?
3. Determine the role of **key leaders** of the organization in the development and delivery of organizational communications.
4. Determine the most important **internal and external** audiences of the organization and justify your response.
5. Describe the current **culture** of the organization.
1. Your response should be a general description of the work environment and the morale of employees.
2. **Analysis of Leadership Communications**: In this section of the summative assessment, you will analyze the leadership communications of the organization. You will focus on how well the messages reach internal and external audiences, as well as the impact of the messages on the culture of the organization. Your analysis should consider both the messages themselves as well as the role leadership played in the development and delivery of the messages.
1. Evaluate the communications for how effectively leadership met the needs of **internal** stakeholders.
2. Evaluate the communications for how effectively leadership met the needs of **external** stakeholders.
3. Analyze the communications and determine their impact on the **culture** of the organization.
4. Explain the organization’s approach or lack of approach to **issues of ethics**.
1. Your response should be a general explanation regarding the overall process (or lack thereof) of the organization regarding issues of ethics. For example, is it clear how issues of ethics would be handled by leadership? What steps were or were not considered for ethical concerns?
5. Explain how issues in organizational culture inhibit opportunities for **organizational growth**. For example, how might interpersonal issues that arise from communications inhibit organizational growth?
1. For example, how might interpersonal issues that arise from communications inhibit organizational growth?
3. **Leadership Communication Guidelines**: In this section of the summative assessment, you will develop strategies that will serve as guidelines for developing future leadership communications of the organization. You will also develop an ethical framework that will guide the organization in addressing issues of ethics regarding the development and delivery of leadership communications.
1. Develop leadership communication strategies that will allow future leadership communications of the organization to account for the needs of **internal and external stakeholders**.
2. Develop leadership communication strategies that will allow future leadership communications of the organization to account for challenges with the **message receiver**.
3. Recommend **improvements** directed to the organization for developing and delivering communications regarding meeting the needs of internal and external stakeholders and overcoming challenges with the message receiver.
4. Recommend improvements directed to the organization for developing and delivering communications regarding the role that **leadership** will have when following your developed guidelines.
5. Predict the **social and cultural** impact of the proposed leadership guidelines on internal and external stakeholders.
1. For example, how might leadership communications developed under this plan impact the organizational culture? How might they influence the effectiveness of leadership?
6. Develop an **ethical framework** that will be used in the leadership guidelines and justify your framework.
1. For example, how is this framework an improvement over the organization’s previous approach to ethical issues?
7. Develop leadership communication strategies that will allow future leadership communications of the organization to account for **ethical issues** using the ethical framework you developed.
8. Explain how your leadership communication guidelines are informed by **systems theory and best practices** for organizational leadership communications.
9. Explain how these developed strategies and recommended improvements would help **guide leadership** in effectively delivering future leadership communications.
## Milestones
Milestone One: _Company Overview_
You will compose a paper that shares the overview of your chosen organization from the Final Project Subjects list or one you have chosen on your own. This overview will serve as a profile for the company, detailing their daily operations and describing their key characteristics. As you explore, take note of the organization’s operations, mission, vision, goals, key leaders, audiences, and culture. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric.
## Overview
For Milestone One, you will develop an **overview of a company**. This overview will serve as a profile for the company, detailing their daily operations and describing their key characteristics. To begin, you must first choose an organization from the Final Project Subjects document, or you may find your own organization by reviewing a variety of sources. Do not simply do a Google search and settle on the first organization you see. You should conduct a robust search using at least three separate engines or sites. As you explore, take note of the organization’s operations; mission, vision, and goals; key leaders; audiences; and culture.
Next, research the organization and compose a paper with your findings. Specifically, your submission should address how the organization operates; the mission, vision, and goals of the organization; the role of the key leaders in the development and delivery of communications; the organization’s most important internal and external audiences; and the culture of the organization.
## Prompt
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
1. **Company Overview**: Your submission should be drawn from the specific readings in the course material and must include the following:
1. Provide an overview of how the **organization operates** from a systems theory approach.
1. For example, how does the organization operate on a daily basis? On a monthly basis? How do individuals with different roles interact?
2. Explain the **mission, vision, and goals** of the organization.
1. For example, what is the mission statement of the organization? What are the employees expected to follow and abide by?
3. Determine the role of **key leaders** of the organization in the development and delivery of organizational communications.
4. Determine the most important **internal and external** audiences of the organization and justify your response.
5. Describe the current **culture** of the organization.
1. Your response should be a general description of the work environment and the morale of employees.
## What to Submit
Your paper should be submitted as a 2-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and sources cited in APA format.
Milestone Two: _Analysis of Leadership Communications_
You will compose a paper that analyzes the leadership communications of the organization. You will focus on how well the messages reach internal and external audiences as well as how the messages impact the culture of the organization. Your analysis should consider both the messages themselves and the role leadership played in the development and delivery of the messages. This exploration will be the next step into the world of evaluating effective communication processes for a company, which is a key component of the final project.
## Overview
For Milestone Two, you will analyze the leadership communications of your chosen organization. Some examples of leadership communications might be memorandums to internal employees regarding organizational changes or job responsibilities, speeches or presentations by an organizational leader, interviews of an organizational leader regarding a crisis event in the organization, and so on. Be sure to review several examples of leadership communications for your analysis.
Specifically, you will focus on how well the messages from leadership reach internal and external audiences as well as the messages’ impact on the culture of the organization. Your analysis should consider both the messages themselves as well as the role leadership played in the development and delivery of the messages.
## Prompt
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
1. **Analysis**of Leadership Communications: Your submission should be drawn from the specific readings in the course material and must include the following:
1. Evaluate the communications for how effectively leadership met the needs of **internal** stakeholders
2. Evaluate the communications for how effectively leadership met needs of **external** stakeholders
3. Analyze the communications and determine their impact on the **culture** of the organization
4. Explain the approach, or lack of approach, of the organization to **issues of ethics**.
1. Your response should be a general explanation regarding the overall process (or lack thereof) of the organization regarding issues of ethics. For example, is it clear how issues of ethics would be handled by leadership? What steps were or were not considered for ethical concerns?
5. Explain how issues in organizational culture affect opportunities for **organizational growth**.
1. For example, how might interpersonal issues that arise from communications inhibit organizational growth?
## What to Submit
The paper should be submitted as a 2 page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and sources cited in APA format.
Milestone Three: _Leadership Communications Guidelines_
You will create leadership communications guidelines by using the information you discovered in your leadership communications analysis. You will develop strategies that will serve as guidelines for developing future leadership communications of the organization. You will also develop an ethical framework that will guide the organization in addressing issues of ethics regarding the development and delivery of leadership communications. This submission is a PowerPoint media presentation. See Module Three resources for guidance on how to create a multimedia presentation. You may submit speaker notes with your presentation.
## Overview
For Milestone Three, you will create leadership communications guidelines by using the information you discovered in your leadership communications analysis. You will develop strategies that will serve as guidelines for developing future leadership communications of the organization. You will also develop an ethical framework that will guide the organization in addressing issues of ethics regarding the development and delivery of leadership communications. This submission is a PowerPoint media presentation. See the Module Three resources for guidance on how to create a multimedia presentation.
Specifically, you will provide recommendations on guidelines for optimal leadership communications for the organization. Your recommendations will help guide leadership on how they will develop future communications that avoid the previous issues with communications.
## Prompt
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
1. Leadership Communications **Guidelines:** Your submission should be drawn from the specific readings in the course material and must include the following:
1. Develop leadership communication strategies that will allow future leadership communications of the organization to account for the needs of **internal and external stakeholders**.
2. Develop leadership communication strategies that will allow future leadership communications of the organization to account for challenges with the **message receiver**.
3. Recommend **improvements** directed to the organization for developing and delivering communications regarding meeting the needs of internal and external stakeholders and overcoming challenges with the message receiver.
4. Recommend improvements directed to the organization for developing and delivering communications regarding the role that **leadership** will have when following your developed guidelines.
5. Predict the **social and cultural** impact of the proposed leadership guidelines on internal and external stakeholders.
1. For example, how might leadership communications developed under this plan impact the organizational culture? How might they influence the effectiveness of leadership?
6. Develop an **ethical framework** that will be used in the leadership guidelines and justify your framework
1. For example, how is this framework an improvement over the organization’s previous approach to ethical issues?
7. Develop leadership communication strategies that will allow future leadership communications of the organization to account for **ethical issues** using the ethical framework you developed.
8. Explain how your leadership communication guidelines are informed by **systems theory and best practices** for organizational leadership communications.
9. Explain how these developed strategies and recommended improvements would help **guide leadership** in effectively delivering future leadership communications.
## What to Submit
Your slideshow must be submitted as a Microsoft PowerPoint.
Speaker’s notes, they must be formatted as follows: double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and sources cited in APA format.Final Submission: _Leadership Communication Analysis and Leadership Communication Plan_
FINAL COMPLETED PROJECT:
You will submit your final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing **all** of the critical elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. The content generated in the three previous milestones will serve as the foundation for this work.
## What to Submit
What to Submit: Your final project should be 12 pages in length with 12-point Times New Roman font and double spacing.