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Issue Management

What's missing from your communications plan.

Print - FPinfomart - Newstex Blogs - Tuesday June 24th, 2008

Does your communications plan have a go button?

Many don't. Each year, I review dozens of company, government and organization communication plans designed to approach all sorts of business initiatives, collaborations, issues and crisis scenarios. Most follow some variation of the standard format: situation analysis, goals, objectives, strategies and tactics. Many end with time-lines that plot key milestones, events and deadlines leading up to them.

What's often missing, however, is a thought-out implementation strategy -- the consensus plan to put the communications plan in action.

Implementation strategy is how you're going to get the understanding, buy-in, resources and ongoing participation from the people who paid you to write the communications plan in the first place. It's where you answer complicated questions like these:

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Am I personally able to lead implementation of all aspects of this communications plan? How am I going to address my weaknesses?

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Do I have the right people and resources to implement this plan? Where do I proposed getting them if I don't? Does management think I have everything I need?

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Should I use outside help, hire people, retrain the people I have? How would management react to hiring a new consultant or PR agency? How will I go about it?

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What will leaders and management think about my plan? What will get them excited about it? What will surprise them? What will make them nervous? Where are they most likely to be ambivalent? What will they not understand? What will they discount as an issue or worthwhile approach?

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What are the obvious challenges to and questions about my communications plan? What are the agendas driving them? How will I answer them?

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What is it I don't know that would influence whether or not my communications plan is accepted and implemented?

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What kind of internal consensus do I need to get support for this plan? How am I going to get it? Briefings? A PowerPoint presentation? Hallway lobbying? An internal ad campaign? Dinner with other managers?

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Who inside the organization is most likely to either not understand or have legitimate issues with my communications plan? Do they matter? How do I respond to them?

- How am I going to maintain strategic continuity as situations or people change while the communications plan is being implemented?

Thomas Edison said that "The value of an idea is in the using of it." If you don't know specifically how you're going to get the green light for your communications plan, then you risk having created no value at all.

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The above industry news summary was extracted using dna13's media and market monitoring software. dna13 offers on-demand, communications and stakeholder management software designed to help PR professionals manage, monitor and measure their outreach, relationships and corporate reputation. The web-based solution helps you organize your communications workflow around the campaigns and issues you.re tracking, for synchronized management 24/7 and around the globe. The automated media monitoring function lets you define unlimited search terms as it scans the largest collection of TV, print, Internet and blog media content available electronically, bringing full text and video direct to your desktop. No more ordering broadcast clips. Instead, click a button and watch a clip stream on your computer. Real time alerts on breaking news, and comparative keyword analysis of markets, mediums and outlets . even competitor coverage, puts you in a position for agile reaction. Create campaign outreach and media analysis reports with our integrated Clip Book publishing wizard and share electronically with your stakeholders and team members in multiple formats.