communications planning
communication planning process
Rather than having an "I want to do something now" attitude, it's important to plan your communications for them to be successful (see diagram below).
Background
What are we communicating about? |
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Objectives
What do we want to achieve with our message? |
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Key Audiences
Who exactly are we talking to? |
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Issues
What are the issues of concern to the key audiences? |
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Communication Strategy
What is our overall approach and is it a fully informed one? |
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RESEARCH
(if information is lacking) |
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Key Messages
What are the key messages we want to communicate? |
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Tools/Methods
What channels will we use? What channels do our audiences use? |
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Action Plan
What actions are required to start, maintain and complete the process? |
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Accountabilities and Timelines
What are the timelines for each stage, as well as the whole project and who's responsible? |
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Budget
How much money have we got to spend? |
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Measures
What is our measurement tool and goal? |
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Finalise Communications Plan1 |
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Notes:
- Finalise communications plan
- Get agreement and sign-off from all participants and organisational authorities. Be clear and in agreement so that there are no surprises or problems internally when the communication begins.
- Prepare for impact — what will the communication result in? Do increased calls and product demands need extra staff? Think this through.
- Implement plan
- Check all stages are on track. Ensure sign-off and delegated authorities are clear about their role and monitor if required.
- Review progress
- What will be your review processes? How often?
- Refine the strategy, vehicles or message if review suggests you should. Should you increase activity? Decrease? Promote outcomes?
(Adapted from Toolkit for Managers, Public Health WWW Networking Project).
communications plan
The end result of the full communications planning process is a communications plan which documents the process for effectively communicating with all stakeholders (see following template).
Communications plan template
Note: This template gives you a set of headings to use in your plan and, under each heading, some notes on what you should to put there. In the print version this advisory text is in italics; for greater readability online we have left it un-italicised.
Executive summary
Write this last. Provide an overview of the plan. State the problem or opportunity and explain how communications can help. State the objectives and expected outcomes, and cite any research used in forming the plan.
Purpose/goal
State briefly why you are communicating and what you hope to achieve e.g. market, inform, manage expectations, change behaviour etc. This should be no more than two sentences.
Background
Set the context. How did we get here and why have a communications plan? How does the project/communications fit with the business objectives, purpose, vision and values? Describe the project and provide background.
Situation analysis
What are the business issues, problems and/or opportunities? What are the communications initiatives that could help? Consider the issues that might affect the way you communicate. These may be political, environmental, socio-economic, legal, operational, etc. Include any research, previous history or lessons learned from previous projects.
Objectives and measures
What are your communication objectives and how will you measure them? The objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely). You need to have something to benchmark your measurements against so the objectives can be evaluated at the end. This may involve surveys (informal or formal/email, phone or written), observation (do people look at the notice board?), team meetings, face-to-face enquiries, unsolicited feedback to managers, team leaders etc. Note: Your communications objectives are not to be confused with the project objectives — they are in addition.
| Communication Objectives |
Measures |
|
E.g. To increase awareness of your services among new migrant communities by 20% |
20% more new migrants surveyed after the project were aware of what you provide, compared to those surveyed prior to the project commencing |
Stakeholders
Identify your key stakeholders. These are people or organisations that have an interest in the outcome of the project.
| Person or Organisation |
Their interest |
Our interest |
Target audiences
Who are the target audiences you wish to communicate with? Segment your audiences by internal and external. Remember to be specific e.g. internal audience may be your staff, but specific staff may need specific messages communicated to them. You may have some secondary audiences as well such as the general public.
Risks/issues and mitigation
Identify any communication risks or issues that might affect your project and outline how you will mitigate them. When identifying risks, be sure to make the distinction between what is a risk, and what is a consequence of a risk. Use the matrix below to determine the level of risk. Ensure the mitigation strategies are picked up in the Action Plan and responsibilities assigned.
| Risk |
Mitigation |
Risk without mitigation |
Risk with mitigation |
|
E.g. The organisation will be criticised for lack of consultation |
Consult as widely as possible, keep key stakeholders informed |
Med High 8 |
Med Low 2 |
Use the following diagram to determine communication risks.
| Impact (if risk happens) |
Likelihood (of risk occurring) |
| |
low |
medium |
high |
| high |
6 |
8 |
9 |
| medium |
3 |
5 |
7 |
| low |
1 |
2 |
4 |
Key messages
What are the messages you wish to communicate? Ideally there should be one overarching key message or phrase people can remember and repeat, or at least no more than 3- 5 key messages (i.e. the most important things you want people to know). Then develop a series of secondary messages, which may be used for different audiences or situations. These secondary messages could be in the form of Q & As. Note: Messages are not "explanations". Keep these brief.
Tools and tactics
What communication tool/approach or combination of tools will be most effective? Most communication strategies use several tools. For example a broadcast email will provide a different result from an email direct from the Chief Executive, which will differ again from using staff meetings. A media release is a cost efficient way of getting information to the general public but with no guarantees of publication whereas a paid advertisement is guaranteed to run. Other tools to consider include newsletters, fliers, posters, brochures, face-to-face meetings, the website etc.
Timing
When is the best time to run the communications — what else is happening at that time? (e.g. Is it election year? How will that impact? Is it school holidays with people away? etc). Also include key project milestones or events that will spark the need to communicate to your stakeholders or audiences.
Budget and resources
These need to be factored in from the start. Good communication costs money and you may need to pay for some external communications expertise to help implement your plan. These costs will need to be budgeted. Remember that design, printing, advertising and distribution are all separate costs.
Action plan
Outline what needs to be done, who will do it and when. You must make sure all those with responsibilities agree to them. This plan will need to be regularly monitored and may need updating during implementation. Identify whether it is the project manager or project sponsor who has final sign-off on materials.
| Date/Timing |
Action |
Responsibility |
Monitor effectiveness
It is important to monitor the effectiveness of your communications plan as the project is implemented, as you may need to reassess your tactics. At the end of the project, hold a debrief and determine whether your objectives were met and work out what you would do differently next time.
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