Bring Your Essentials
communication
Effective communication is key to managing change and supporting existing desired behaviors. Creating intentional, positive food safety culture messaging requires thoughtful planning and regular evaluation.
Planning and evaluating Your Communication
Check with key stakeholders about your objectives
Connect with team leaders of your target audience
Reach out to your organization’s communication experts (HR, PR)
Collect feedback from leaders and champions who will share your message
Pressure-test delivery methods and materials
Consider why you are planning to distribute information. Your communication may amplify learning, reinforce important concepts or values, or create excitement for upcoming change. Narrowing your communication to a single, concise goal will help you better define your audience, messaging, and delivery channels.
Determine with whom you are communicating. Understanding the people, levels, functions, subcultures, and existing attitudes and behaviors within your organization will help you identify the needs of your target audience.
Based on your objectives and your audience, consider the specific messaging of your communication. Think about your message from the perspective of your audience. The details you convey will help inform your audience’s response.
Consider the people who will relay your message and the people who will bolster your message moving forward. Including leaders, food safety culture champions, and members of your audience in planning and implementing your communication strategy will increase the staying power of the behaviors and attitudes.
Consider delivery tools to extend your message’s reach and increase comprehension. There are many methods of delivery that help your audience recognize and retain your message.
Define Your Purpose
The following questions may help you examine your communication objectives.
- What is the nature of your communication?
- Are you creating a new communication campaign or channel?
- Are you adjusting existing or regular communication for a new audience, to clarify a previous message, or to increase engagement?
- Are you communicating as part of a larger campaign, for crisis control, or for another reason?
- What is the objective of your communication
- What core values are you communicating?
- How does your communication tie to your food safety culture vision?
- What do you want people to think, feel, and/or do as a result of your communication?
- How will you measure the success of your communication?
Evaluate: Check in with key stakeholders. Does your plan fulfill a need? Is the timing right? Are there others you should include in planning before you proceed?
understand your audience
The following questions may help you think critically about your audience.
- What does your audience already know?
- What are the existing food safety behaviors and attitudes?
- What subcultures exist in your audience?
- How does your organizational culture appear in your audience?
- How does your food safety culture appear in your audience?
- What non-organization cultures (races, ages, religions, languages, nationalities, regional cultures) are represented in your audience?
- What are the written and spoken language literacies of your audience?
- What different cultural norms may differ between members of your audience?
Evaluate: Talk with the team leaders and supervisors for your target audience. Does your understanding of the audience match theirs? Are there additional details you need to know?
specify your message
The following questions may help you consider the details of your message.
- How can you adjust your message for the existing attitudes of your audience?
- How is your message important to your audience?
- What biases or social norms could support or undermine your message?
- How can the objectives of your message become socialized?
- How can you build personal connections between your audience and your message?
- Could your message include storytelling with real, compelling people and events?
- Is it clear how your message will apply to the day-to-day work of your audience?
- If you have multiple audiences who need to receive the same message, how will the details and desired results differ?
Evaluate: Reach out to internal teams with expertise in communication (Public Relations, Training Development, Human Resources). Does your message align with other organization communications? Do they have suggestions?
Recruit and equip
amplifying voices
The following questions may help you explore how to harness people power to support your message.
- Are there existing food safety culture champions in the organization who can help align and influence others on the message?
- How can leaders and food safety culture champions help to socialize the message?
- What guidance will leaders and food safety culture champions need to relay the message?
- How can your audience support your food safety vision?
- How can members of your audience be included in planning the delivery of your message?
- How can members of your audience provide feedback on your message during and after delivery?
- In which direction should the message flow?
- Should the message start from senior leaders, flowing down with a sense of organizational importance?
- Should the message start with frontline workers, building up as a grassroots effort?
Evaluate: Collect feedback from leaders, champions, and members of your audience. Are they comfortable with conveying your message? Does your message make sense to them and resonate with them?
select your channels
The following questions may help you brainstorm how to deliver your message.
- What existing communication channels will help you share your message at the right time and place?
- When and how frequently will you communicate your message?
- Could you use physical signage or flyers for high-traffic areas?
- Could your message be reiterated in existing daily or weekly emails?
- Is there an event (World Food Safety Day) you could tie your communication to for increased impact?
- Is your message language (text) and science (food safety concepts) appropriate for your audience?
- What triggers, jargon, and slang can you avoid?
- Could your message incorporate a simple, straightforward slogan to make concepts more memorable?
- How can you use visuals and icons to simplify and universalize your message?
Evaluate: Pressure test your message and delivery before committing substantial resources (especially physical / printed materials). Are members of your audience seeing or hearing your message? Can you measure initial changes in response to your message?
