How can international organizations improve communication with local stakeholders?

Communication is a key skill for any professional, but especially for those who work in international organizations. Whether you are a project manager, a consultant, a researcher, or a field officer, you need to communicate effectively with local stakeholders to achieve your goals and avoid misunderstandings. Local stakeholders are the people who are directly or indirectly affected by your organization's activities, such as beneficiaries, partners, authorities, communities, or media. How can you improve your communication with them? Here are some tips to help you.

1 Understand the context

Before you start communicating with local stakeholders, you need to do some homework. You need to understand the context of the country or region where you are working, including its history, culture, politics, economy, and social issues. You also need to research the specific needs, interests, expectations, and challenges of your target audience. This will help you tailor your message, tone, and style to suit their preferences and avoid offending or confusing them.

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Hira A.

A Futurist | Humanitarian | Seasoned Strat-Comms Expert | Negotiator | Leader | Digiplomat
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It was helpful in my experience that communication and networking are more important when working with local entities. Understanding the community and context can help to compose better and more effective communications.

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2 Use appropriate channels

Once you have a clear idea of what you want to communicate and to whom, you need to choose the best channel to deliver your message. Depending on your purpose, audience, and resources, you can use different channels, such as face-to-face meetings, phone calls, emails, reports, presentations, newsletters, social media, or websites. You need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each channel, such as its accessibility, reliability, cost, speed, and feedback potential. You also need to adapt your message to the format and length of each channel.

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Hira A.

A Futurist | Humanitarian | Seasoned Strat-Comms Expert | Negotiator | Leader | Digiplomat
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When working with the local community, understanding their language and culture and meeting them all in person would help to swift the process of work together.

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Fatima Saeed

Human Rights and Gender
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Each community have different ways in deal with their problems one should not try and impose their ideas on them but should talk, discuss and more important listen communication skills don't need to be technical advanced the simpler the better

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3 Listen and engage

Communication is not a one-way street. You need to listen and engage with your local stakeholders, not just talk at them. You need to show respect, empathy, and curiosity, and ask open-ended questions that invite them to share their opinions, feedback, and concerns. You also need to acknowledge and address any issues or disagreements that may arise, and seek to find common ground and solutions. Listening and engaging with your local stakeholders will help you build trust, rapport, and collaboration.

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Hira A.

A Futurist | Humanitarian | Seasoned Strat-Comms Expert | Negotiator | Leader | Digiplomat
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You are engaging the local people in your programs or vice-versa (getting engaged in their activities). It is a very effective tool to create and bond with them. Listen and receive feedback from them of your work or a project would help them to own what you are doing.

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4 Use clear and simple language

One of the biggest challenges of communicating with local stakeholders is the language barrier. Even if you speak the same language, you may have different accents, vocabularies, or expressions that can cause confusion or misunderstanding. To avoid this, you need to use clear and simple language that is easy to understand and follow. You need to avoid jargon, acronyms, slang, or idioms that may not be familiar to your audience. You also need to use concrete examples, stories, or visuals that can illustrate your points and make them more memorable.

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5 Seek feedback and follow up

Finally, you need to seek feedback and follow up on your communication with local stakeholders. You need to check if your message was received, understood, and acted upon, and if your audience has any questions, comments, or suggestions. You can use different methods to collect feedback, such as surveys, polls, interviews, focus groups, or observations. You also need to follow up on your communication by providing updates, clarifications, acknowledgments, or thanks. Seeking feedback and following up will help you measure the effectiveness of your communication and improve it over time.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can international organizations improve communication with local stakeholders?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Understand the context

2 Use appropriate channels

3 Listen and engage

4 Use clear and simple language

5 Seek feedback and follow up

6 Here’s what else to consider

Working Abroad

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How can international organizations improve communication with local stakeholders?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Understand the context

2 Use appropriate channels

3 Listen and engage

4 Use clear and simple language

5 Seek feedback and follow up

6 Here’s what else to consider

Working Abroad

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