WHAT MAKES A GOOD COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY?

Get clear on your WHY

• What are you trying to solve? 

• A strategy can have more than one purpose. Keep it to a max of three smart objectives. 

• Communication without purpose quickly turns into noise and your efforts are wasted or worse. 

AUDIENCE

• Get clear on your audience and WHY you are targeting them. 

• For instance, in a recent strategy for a large team in a large complex company the plan prioritized three groups:  the team itself to improve team cohesion and effectiveness, the broader Division to empower other teams within the same sphere (it can get embarrassing when one team doesn’t know what a sibling team is up to), and cross-functional partners to give them context to continually improve partnership/the purpose of your collaboration. 

• Target your communications to the audience. Make it EASY for them. You can have different approaches to each group. 

• Think about indicators of effectiveness from the start. Is there a behavior change you are looking for? How will you know if your approach has improved partner relations? 

HOW

• Too much or unclear communications get ignored. Always Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) your key message. 

• For efficiency, see where there are two-fer opportunities and recycle/re-package communications products if it suits your intentions. 

• Communicate your communications strategy. Seems silly, but be upfront with your audience on what to expect, the cadence and your why. If you have to change the cadence, communicate that. Set expectations and then communicate as you adapt.

As with any strategy, get buy-in and remember that the whole world need not say yes. Pick the folks whose buy-in matters. Once you launch, give your approach at least a couple months to start working magic. Tough times are the most important time to keep communicating.