What do you do if your R&D research findings need to be effectively communicated to stakeholders?

Identify the key stakeholders who need to be informed of the findings Understand their roles, responsibilities, and decision-making authority Assess their technical background and familiarity with the subject matter Determine what information is most relevant and compelling for each stakeholder group

Steps required for effective communicate R&D research findings: Know your Audience, tailor your communication, what they need to know, and why it is important to them. Provide a clear and concise research outcome. Highlight the significant results and their implications. Use Visual Aids Tools, such as charts, graphs, and other tools to help, and understand complex data. Prepare and Write a comprehensive report that includes methodology, data, analysis, and conclusions. Present Your Findings be prepared to answer the questions section. Follow-up communication summarizing the main points and next steps. Encourage stakeholders to provide feedback and be prepared to discuss potential changes or additional research.

Starting from acknowledging the audience and their background, defining what piece of information they need is the key. Never assume anything, but don't let the audience feel dumb by stating the obvious or adding abbreviations or jargon into the communication. In general, human mind can only grasp one or two key concepts from a talk. Thinking beforehand what are the two most valuable items in the communication is important. Communication can happen via different forums, choose the right one and visualize the data if possible.

Distill key insights and conclusions from the research into clear, concise points Highlight the strategic implications and potential impact of the findings Anticipate questions and concerns stakeholders may have and address them proactively Tailor the language and level of detail to the audience's background and interests

Determine the most effective format for presenting the findings (e.g. report, presentation, interactive demo) Consider the audience's preferences and constraints (e.g. time, location, attention span) Leverage multimedia elements like visuals, audio, and video to engage the audience Provide supporting documentation and resources for those who want to dive deeper

The communication for the R&D outcomes is always tricky, they need to be devised for every group. Different groups of personnel have different level of understanding, technical background, and preferences. So, understanding the level is important. However, when a standard method is developed such that the knowledge can be easily transferred to any level of audience. Some of the common combinations that work in this scenarios include mixing and matching different visuals, infographics, animations, data chart, webinars and digital platforms.

To clearly share and send information to our stakeholders generally I would prefer to use dashboard visual representation. During high-end meetings if our audience are mostly investors and non scientific its better to only present our research inputs Vs outcome in the form of % or numerical way. And also these stakeholders mainly focus not only on our positive outcome findings,they look for the risk factors if we failed what could be the loss of money and time and also include our mitigation strategies to minimize the failures.

Use charts, graphs, and infographics to make complex data easy to understand at a glance Choose the right type of visualization for the data and message (e.g. bar chart, line graph, heat map) Design visualizations with clear labels, legends, and annotations to guide interpretation Ensure visualizations are accurate, unbiased, and not misleading

Rehearse the presentation multiple times to refine content and flow Test audio/visual equipment and resolve any technical issues in advance Anticipate potential questions and prepare thoughtful responses Seek feedback from colleagues and incorporate their suggestions

Provide stakeholders with a summary of key points and next steps after the presentation Make yourself available for follow-up questions and discussions Solicit feedback on the effectiveness of the communication and how it can be improved Keep stakeholders apprised of progress and developments related to the research findings

Be transparent about the limitations, assumptions, and uncertainties in the research Frame recommendations as options with associated tradeoffs rather than mandates Consider the political and cultural context in which the findings are being shared Adapt communication approaches for remote and virtual presentations when needed Partner with communications experts for high-stakes or public-facing communications