WHAT THE Futurists SEE.

The following is excerpted from "Forces Shaping Business Communication," an environmental scanning report available through IABC.

Business communicators have education and expertise in the traditional methods of communicating an organization's message. Yet they are working for and in organizations that are being revolutionized. Electronic communication will reshape how all organizations do business -- in fact, how the world will do business. Even what we call an organization in the future may be different. Stepping through the electronic doorway, the communicator finds himself or herself in the virtual corporation and the glass house of transparent communication. Past experience in the field has not fully prepared the communicator for these challenges.

COMMUNICATORS GUARDING INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL

Forces acting on communicators are those that shape the lives of professionals everywhere. These are social, demographic, business- and organization-related, global, technological, educational, scientific, governmental and personal. Communicators are in a special situation as knowledge workers. Organizations are gradually realizing the importance of creating and building intellectual capital. As the World Bank pointed out in a recent report, a vital factor in successful global business and economic development is the effective use of knowledge and information in business practice. Communicators are one of the keys to that effective use. They must make sure that, through their own skills, knowledge and expertise, their organization knows their value.

In the future, communicators may find themselves essential links in the more loosely constructed virtual corporation. Communicators are nurturing and growing a valuable piece of intellectual real estate that will appreciate in value as organizations come to depend on communicators to make their networked operations work more effectively.

OPPORTUNITIES TO LOOK FOR

More effective use of information technologies will create a new agenda for communicators. As information technology speeds up the pace and increases the volume of communication, communicators will have to adapt to the speed and variety.

The audience for communication from a given organization, whether intended or not, is growing larger through the Internet. Internet maven Esther Dyson argues that a communicator's task was to control what was known and said about an organization. Now the task becomes tougher because it is easier for organizations to talk directly to customers and for outsiders to talk among themselves about the company without communicators as intermediaries. Communicators must meet audiences when they have decided to pay attention, at web sites, or when customers complain; to use candor with employees; and to influence rather than control the perception of the company by the global public.

According to management guru Peter Drucker, most business strategies will depend on information that comes from outside the organization, not inside as before -- about technologies, new markets, noncustomers and products and services not currently offered.

Communicators will be called upon to become their organization's resource specialists, to gather as well as deliver information.

COMMUNICATORS POSITIONED FOR BETTER PAY AND JOBS

Communicators must leverage themselves into more challenging positions with better compensation. The continuing strong economy, especially in North America, has created a shortage of skilled workers, including communicators.

As the economy moves toward more technical and advanced-skill products and services, communicators should expect to continue learning, to be prepared for new assignments. This might include a technical education in information technology, or an additional degree in business or a related area.

The next generation of communicators will have stronger technical backgrounds and will have more entrepreneurs in it. Factors supporting this likelihood are growth in Internet use, the growing need for international communication management and the greater use of outsourcing for staff services by most large and many small organizations.

CHANGING BUSINESS STYLES MODIFY COMMUNICATION PRACTICES

* Communicators may have to manage international projects across several time zones.

* Multi-lingual communicators will be in demand, as will those who can handle expatriate assignments.

* As their companies become more like virtual networks, communicators will have to establish their own alliances within the network.

* The development of global regulations and standards will create new recipients and new styles for delivering messages.

* Also, more international pressure groups will want to influence an organization's actions. Communicators will be dealing with new crises and new actors, most of whom will have access to sophisticated technologies.

* Greater use of security technologies to protect information means that communicators will need new skills with encryption.

In this rapidly changing world of business, the organizational floor that communicators stand on is shaky, as organizations support new needs, such as greater customer focus, new regulations and international standards, and the push to achieve quality and just-in-time operations. Most of these changes imply opportunities for communicators who are alert and prepared to move into new areas and take on more tasks. As part of the highly skilled and sought-after work force, communicators now are well positioned for better jobs and improved compensation packages.