The Source for Communicators

Melcrums Source for Communicators - A Free Weekly E-Zine for Corporate Communicators

August 29th, 2007 Where do I start with my communication plan?

This cry for help was recently put to one of the experts on the Internal Comms Hub by a practitioner facing the challenge of creating a plan compelling enough to win over a skeptical management team.

"A good internal communication plan starts not with what we need to do, but why we need to do it," was the response from strategy expert Bill Quirke. "One of the key principles of internal communication is don’t just tell people the what, tell them the why."

Typically, says Quirke, we would approach an internal communication strategy by identifying:

What are the key business ambitions of the organization, and its strategic aspirations for the future.
What, therefore, do employees need to think, feel and do in order to make those aspirations a reality?
Where are employees now, and what needs to change in their current perceptions, attitudes, or access to basic information?
What’s the role of the internal communication function in helping to close the gap of what we want for the future, and what we’ve got today?
What are the roles and responsibilities of leaders, managers, employees and communication professionals?
What are the communication activities we're going to need – and who will be responsible for what?
What’s the resource levels we need?

In the full article Quirke also suggests starting with a few questions for your management team to make sure you're on the same page in terms of expectations for what internal comms will deliver.

See you next week.

Mandy Thatcher
Editor
mandy.thatcher@melcrum.com

P.S. Visit Melcrum's Source for Communicators' archive for past issues of The Source.