5 Things Every Communication Plan Should Have

I’ve been reading about strategic communication lately as I’m helping a client develop an internal communications plan. It’s a topic with which I’m deeply familiar, but it’s a good idea to go back and get a refresher now and then, just in case we become so focused on the work before us that we fail to remember the broader principles that guide it.

There are many models of strategic communication planning out there. The one I like to use is the one outlined by my friend and mentor Les Potter in his book “The Communication Plan: The Heart of Strategic Communication” available from IABC.

I won’t get into details of that planning model here. But as I’ve read and thought about strategic communication plans, I’ve noticed that successful plans must include these things:

• Clear, measurable objectives that align with organizational objectives. If you aren’t clear on the purpose of communication and if communication activities don’t support the business’s goals, there is no reason to waste resources. If the objectives aren’t measurable, there’s no way you’ll know if communication is providing any value.
• Research. Unless you understand the current situation, there’s no way to measure the effectiveness of a communication plan. You also must understand the audiences’ information needs, senior management’s expectations and current best practices in communication. All of this comes through research. I believe a communication audit is the best value in research.
• Executive support and involvement. You are developing a communication plan to support the achievement of business goals. Your organization’s senior management must believe in the value of communication for your planning to happen in the first place and they must play a role in the plan’s development. In addition, senior management must be willing to accept a significant communication role in the implementation phase.
• All-way communication. A successful plan must include strategies and tactics that promote all-way communication — up, down, and laterally. Communication today is about relationships and conversations that promote information and ideas flowing freely in all directions. This is a significant change brought about by social media.
• Trust as a foundation. No communication plan will succeed if trust does not exist in an organization. In the context of employee communications, senior management must trust employees enough to share business-related information with them. As employees demonstrate their trustworthiness (by using that information to improve productivity and business performance), business leaders must become more transparent and open. In return, employees will come to trust management enough to act on the information they are given. Trust takes time to build and only a minute to destroy. It is the most critical element of a healthy communication environment.

I believe these five things will enable a strategic communication plan to succeed. Do you have more to add? Please comment with your thoughts.

 

Communication Audit: What It Is and How We Do It

Over the years, communicators have emailed or called me to say they are thinking of performing a communication audit and they want some advice on how to proceed. Usually the questions are about the tactics and mechanics of a survey: What online survey tool is the best? How many people should they survey? How many questions should be on the survey?

Before I can answer those questions — which are legitimate when planning a survey — I usually back up a bit and ask the inquirer some questions. Do they want to conduct a readership survey or do they want to perform a communication audit? The two are not the same.

A readership survey may provide some insight into what kind of information employees read and what they want from communication vehicles. Some information about readers’ preferences is better than no information at all, but a survey alone won’t provide a complete picture of employees’ communication wants and needs, and it won’t help business leaders know where to invest their communication resources for the greatest effect.

A communication audit will provide those answers, but a survey is just one tool used in an audit. Here is how I approach communication audits working with my business partner, Katrina Gill of Gill Research.

An audit includes qualitative and quantitative tools. Typically, we begin by interviewing business leaders to understand their communication needs and expectations as well as deep background on the organization, its mission, goals and strategies.

Then we conduct focus groups with a broad cross-section of employees (all levels and job functions) to identify where things stand, to spot issues and to understand what drives those issues.

Focus groups inform the development of a survey questionnaire. Now we know what questions to ask and the right way to ask those questions. It’s important to use the language employees use in order to get the most accurate survey data possible.

Then it’s time to conduct the survey. Driving a high response rate is important in order that the survey data are statistically valid.

We generate reports from the interviews, focus groups and surveys, but the audit is not yet complete. An audit should also include a third-party assessment of communication vehicles that holds them up against best industry practices and provides honest feedback.

We usually meet with the communication team to provide an in-person report of the audit’s findings and to think strategically about next steps in how to improve communication processes and vehicles.

All of this takes time and, yes, money. But it is time and money well spent. The result is a top-to-bottom assessment of the organization’s communication effectiveness.  An audit indicates what an organization is doing well and reveals gaps in communication. Business leaders and communication professionals then have a clear picture of where to invest resources to get the biggest bang for their communication bucks.

With an economy on the mend and organizations freeing up some resources, it’s a great time to conduct a communication audit. Doing so will help ensure a leaner, more focused communication program that will help carry the organization through the next period of uncertainty.

Read more about communication audits on my website. I’ve posted several articles Katrina Gill and I have written on the topic:

• How to Conduct a Communication Audit — and Why
• Managing Measurement Costs

 If you have questions about communication audits, email me at robert@hollandcomm.com.