A clear, proactive, simple-to-execute communications plan is the dream of most comms teams, but they don’t have time to do more than dream about it because they’re trapped in reaction mode: chasing emails, catching up on updates, answering requests.
A good communications strategy and a clear plan gives you breathing room and lets you get ahead of the noise instead of constantly scrambling to catch up. Here’s how to build one that keeps you in control.
1. Make time
This is the hardest part. Reactive comms happen because you’re always heads-down in the day-to-day. There’s no space to step back and ask, What actually matters?
You will never “find” time to be strategic, you have to make it. The task doesn’t have to be as big or daunting as it might seem. Block out a couple of hours to look at the big picture. What are your real priorities? What can you see coming up? What’s eating effort for no real return?
2. Decide what not to do
There will always be more you could do if you had more people, more budget, more hours. But you’ll never have all three. So, the smarter move is to be ruthless.
A strong strategy is as much about subtraction as it is about addition. Which channels could you drop? Which “nice ideas” are soaking up time you’ll never get back?
3. Keep it simple (and useful)
A communications strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler it is, the more useful it becomes. Think of it as a guiding principle, not a step-by-step outline of every move you will make for the next five years. Your strategy should make other decisions easier, and your plan should give you enough guidance that you know what you’re doing with enough flexibility to move with the times.
Aim for a strategy that can be explained on one page, with no more than three priorities, in terms your team can actually remember.
4. Listen to the right voices and ask the right questions
Get a proper read on who your audiences are and what matters to them. Ask different people in the organisation for their views and note where ideas cross over and where they collide. Ask people what they are already doing to communicate – you can’t plan for it if you don’t know about it.
5. Get outside help
Your team will often share things with an outside facilitator that they wouldn’t think to mention in an internal meeting, often because they assume everyone in the organisation knows what they know. A facilitated session can let you step back and get a better view of what everyone does, knows and needs.
And having someone else write your strategy (always in collaboration with you) means you’ll not only benefit from their expertise and arm’s length perspective, but you’ll actually have a good chance of getting it done, because all those pressing reactive comms needs are not going away while you write your strategy.
Still not sure where to start? Get in touch.
Kendi Burness Cowan