ITRIWomen in Information Technology ConferenceUniversity of ArkansasMarch 11, 2011

Strategic Communications

This is where you live!

Strategic Communications 

• Today we will talk about communicating strategically and strategic communications.

• More strategic approach to developing and delivering powerful strategic communications’ that resonate with stakeholders

• Reflect the changing needs and practices of the communications universe we live in today.

Some Messages We See

Shows organizations are NOT listening or monitoring what is going on.

• Too corporate

• Not responsive to stakeholders

• Disconnected from the front line

• Designed to be one-way

About Strategic Communications

• Even brilliant leaders sometimes approach corporate communications in a haphazard way.

• Companies don’t always understand the significance of communications and PR, and they don’t plan or execute a strategy.

• Have a strategy in place that leads to good planning and consistent messaging.

What’s wrong with this picture?

About Strategic Communications

• Strategic communications is similar to playing chess.If you get it.

• The term “strategic planning” is complicated, intimidating, time-consuming, and it makes you lose interest.

• Strategic planning works and is highly effective.

• Organizations are now continuously being challenged to be more strategic in their communications efforts.

• More as the dissemination of an occasional publication or press release

About Strategic Communications

• More deliberate, innovative, savvy and less reactive than a series of isolated events

• Essential to the overall success and integrated throughout the organization

Ways to view strategic communications:

As a result of this movement, an array of new tools, resources and trainings have been developed to:

About Strategic Communications

• Help organizations better understand the concept of strategic communications

• Assist companies in developing communications strategies, and evaluate them for both accountability and learning purposes

It’s a New Day!

• It’s a new world in which organizations must operate.

 

 

A different kind of thinking for a different kind of world

• The old ways of doing things are not going to survive without some updating.

• How can we navigate or contribute to helping our organization through this communication muddle?

It’s a New Day!

•Communicating a concept

•Communicating a process

•Data that satisfies a long-term strategic goal of an organization by allowing facilitation of advanced planning

•The development of programs designed to influence target audiences and achieve management objectives

•A new breed of communication that is more comprehensive and more effective 

Just What Is Strategic Communications?

• Strategic communications uses an evaluative process where the communications are planned in advanced with a desired effect.

• In a perfect world, the effect is evaluated and analyzed. 

• Depending on the effectiveness, the plan is then adjusted or tweaked as part of the continuous improvement method.

Evaluative Process

Plan

Act

Analyze

Effect

StrategicCommunications

Roll video – The Office 

TRUE

TRUE

FALSE

TRUE

FALSE

Why your organization must have a strategic communication plan?

• To effectively use communications as a tool to help solve a problem

• To assist with issues and project management, the organization’s programs, and day-to-day business operations

• To be more proactive and strategic, rather than reacting to the existing environment

• To deploy resources more effectively and strategically

 

Why your organization must have a strategic communication plan?

• It represents a significant step for any organization.

• Adopting such a plan represents a cultural shift toward communications and a clear recognition that all the organization’s efforts have a communications element.

• A plan has the power to transform an organization, both in terms of your credibility and status in your community, as well as the way you work together as a team to achieve your mission and vision for your community.

Key Components of a Strategic Plan

You gotta have a plan!

Developing a dynamic strategy is one of the most important things that you can do. This critical activity can help you identify your direction and develop key opportunities for success. The goal is to create a practical, useful strategic plan that will demonstrate real results.

 

Mission

Vision

Strategy

Tactics

Key Components of a Strategic Plan

MISSION: Describes why you exist – what you do and who you serve.   VISION: Explains your organization’s direction for the foreseeable future, usually, over the next few years.  STRATEGY: Goals that define how your organization can leverage opportunities, and achieve its vision for the organization with desired outcomes.  TACTICS: Steps that move your organization forward in achieving your goals.

Communication Tactics: Be sure to use various communication channels (face-to-face, internal media, advertising media, social media, news media, etc.) and find the most appropriate channel to use with each key audience. Identify and prioritize audiences.

Measure results! Defined metrics allow you to measure your progress. Develop realistic, specific and measurable objectives that identify business’ expectations.

Audience / Stakeholders

Managers: The most common audiences are employees – including potential and temporary employees, contractors, unions and board members. Marketing Communications: These are suppliers, customers, retailers, consumers and competitors. Public Relations or Corporate Affairs:

• Local authorities

• Global authorities

• Opinion makers

• Local and global media

• Trade media

• Professional organizations

• Community leaders

• NGOs – non-governmental organizations

• Elected officials

• Regulatory agencies

• CBOs – community

based organizations

• Grassroots groups

• General public and investors

• National groups

• Detractors

Audience / Stakeholders

• You don’t communicate; your audience does. Once they receive your messages, they “re-create” them.

• Employees want clarity about the recommended path of action, and for it to “make sense” in their context. They want to be able to take in quickly and easily.

• The result of your strategic planning effort is invaluable. Employees will learn more about their business environment and what impact the business.

• A strategic plan brings business a clear direction and strong sense of purpose.

• Remember…strategic planning is a management process that includes direction and a series of steps that helps a business do things to achieve their goals.

This is not how your audience should respond to your strategic communication messaging!

Leaders must agree on key messages: What information will be most useful and persuasive for these stakeholders?

  Mitchell Communications Group – Message Package

 

A message package helps you do many things:

•Organize information in an easily understood and accessible framework

•Help spokespersons deliver information in a smooth, logical flow

•Give stakeholders what they need to hear

•Allow organization to deliver a key message that relates directly to the business, and helps enhance the organization’s overall reputation

Develop Your Key Messages

Develop Your Key Messages

The most important part of the package a strategic communicator brings to the situation: Key messages. What makes strong key messages?

•Directly support the business

•Communicate a bigger theme, idea, positioning or approach by the organization to the issue

•Consider the context: what is going on around the organization

•Are memorable: short and sweet

•Show organizational accountability: processes, procedures, safe guards, philosophy statements, mission statements, research, etc., all of which support the company’s position

•Sound credible and reasonable to the audience (meets or exceeds what they expect of you)

Key messages should be simple and clearly written.  

• Select channels to communicate and get feedback.

o Consider digital: online community monitoring, email, Twitter, blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn.

o Others to include: focus groups, surveys, customer hotlines, customer service representatives or teams in the field, advisory boards or neighborhood groups.

o Look at internal and external. Include personal meetings, emails, memos, notice boards, conferences, trade shows, talks in the company parking lot, presentations, and so on.

• Choose the channels that will boost the impact of your messages.

• Customize what works best for your company. Stay away from cookie cutters.

• Face-to-face potentially has the most impact.

Deliver the Key Messages

 Two thoughts:

1.DIGITAL 2.SOCIAL MEDIA Social media has changed the rules for strategic communications. The keeper of the message can now be anybody’s game.

Strategic online communications

It’s a New World!

We’re in an era where the consumer is creating his/her own sales experience. Control of the message is their hands. It’s a scary proposition to most marketing and strategic communications professionals. This paints a picture of a different environment: a complex, moving, evolving world.  •360-degree relationships

•360-degree vulnerability

•More messages, more feedback, more noise

•Stakeholders in different relationship and proportion to the organization

•Communication going on between stakeholders that organization can’t control

•Detractors – must identify them as they are coming in

•Listening and monitoring device (antennae) – must learn to monitor the conversation anticipate evolving issues or potential crises, understand evolving trends

•Increased traffic, increased risk, more noise and distraction

•I can’t see and monitor everything anymore – too much going on and things can sneak up behind you

•More hazards, more unknowns, more potential for disaster

It’s a New World?

Summary

• Messaging is crucial!

• Communicating strategically is crucial!

• There’s more to it than just giving our stakeholders what they need to hear. Anyone can do that.

• It’s our job to advocate for our organizations. We need to develop and deliver business-impacting messages that help our organizations achieve their goals.

• Think of your strategic communication plan as your roadmap. You know where you want to go, but you need a route to get there. The plan is your communication route. It forces you to think long term.

 

Summary

• Craft an evaluation strategy that gathers the feedback.

• Implement more effective communications approaches.

• Choose the communications you will engage in, so you aren’t pulled in umpteen directions. Identify whom you need to reach, what you want them to know, and how you will reach them.

• Gain the influence you need by listening better. In short: communicate better. Can you afford to do anything less?

• Have a much better chance of helping our organizations successfully establish and maintain positive relationships with stakeholders, enhance their reputations and achieve true business results.

 

What’s your strategy?

Without a strategy, communication is just talk!

Cynthia PuryearMitchell Communications Group

www.mitchcommgroup.comTwitter: @cynthiaPR.comLinkedIn: Cynthia Puryear

PH: 479-443-4673