Contenu connexe Similaire à A Refreshing Approach to Strategic Communication Planning by Robin Russell McCasland Dallas TX (20) Plus de IABC Houston (20) A Refreshing Approach to Strategic Communication Planning by Robin Russell McCasland Dallas TX 2. What We’ll Cover Today
y
• The strategic process itself, with less “ick”
factor
– Why it matters; what it’s worth
• Ways to use the process for
– General planning
– Talent management
– Employee/audience engagement
– Branding
• Examples of social (media) and cultural
communication to support your strategies
– Easy, effective ways to incorporate social media
y, y p
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3. Why Plan Strategically?
• Helps an organization determine what they
need and h
d d how t get th
to t there
• Identifies how the organization will
define success
• Provides a road map with specific
directions/steps on how attain
p
that success
• Keeps everyone headed in the
same di ti
direction
There is no perfect formula for developing a plan;
do what makes sense for your gro p or your client
hat o r group o r client.
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
4. How Planning May Be Used
g y
• Aligning and supporting an organization’s
goals/priorities
– Ensuring channels are used most effectively to keep
employees informed and engaged; influencing behavior
• S
Supporting the priorities of a group within the
i h i ii f i hi h
organization
– Example: A communication strategy for HR to improve
employee engagement, to build an employer brand, to
increase participation in a particular benefit program
– Launching a new process, benefit, product, etc.
• A stand-alone strategy for the communication
department
– Ensuring consistent communication processes
– Maximizing your resources and channels
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– Providing resources and counsel to All rights reserved. need support
© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. groups that
5. Strategic vs. Tactical
Messaging
• Tactical messaging
– Provides information
– Doesn’t necessarily drive action or behavior
change
• Basic reminders announcements information
reminders, announcements,
• May be a one-time event
• Strategic messaging
– Targeted to various audiences
– Causes people to take action, affects change,
modifies b li f
difi beliefs
• Monitored and adjusted regularly
• Never “done;” updated and redefined over time
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
6. Traditional Strategic Planning
g g
• Agree upon why you’re planning (begin with the end in
mind)
• Strategic analysis
– Stakeholders
– Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)
• Strategy planning
– Goals and objectives
– Mission, vision and values statements (sometimes these come
before the strategic analysis)
g y )
• Action planning
– Budget, tactics, responsibilities, timing, measurement and
evaluation
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
7. Refreshed Approach
pp
• Easier to follow
– N i k t diti
No icky traditional planning l
l l i language
– We all have attention deficit, anyway
(Look! There’s a squirrel!)
There s
• Gets you to the same result
• Can be used in a variety of ways
– Feed multiple initiatives with strategic
communication that builds on complementary
messages
• Potential for the same (or better) results
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9. Employees Focus On…
p y
• Their jobs (we hope)
• Their next pay raise
e e t a se
• Why their benefits stink
• Why their boss sucks
• Why their coworkers are freaks
• Getting a pedicure
• The idiot who rear-ended the new car
• Bevo the Bulldog s preference to pee on the sofa or
Bulldog’s
bedspread
• Their favorite pro or college game
• Having to buy groceries after work
• Going to the parent-teacher conference
• Enrolling child in military academy after parent-teacher
conference
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
10. Employees Think
About…
Ab t
• Their jobs (we hope)
• Their next pay raise
e e t a se
• Why their benefits stink
• Why their boss sucks
• Why their coworkers are freaks
• Getting a pedicure
• The idiot who rear-ended the new car
• Bevo the Bulldog s preference to pee on the sofa or
Bulldog’s
bedspread
• Their favorite pro or college game
• Having to buy groceries after work
• Going to the parent-teacher conference
• Enrolling child in military academy after parent-teacher
conference
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
11. It s
It’s Not About You
• When it comes to strategizing communication
– It is not about you
i t b t
– It is about your audience(s)
– One message rarely fits everyone
• When communication is planned strategically and
carried out appropriately…
pp p y
– It reflects nicely on many stakeholders
It is very difficult to overcome a bad first
impression.
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12. Why Should Anyone Change?
y y g
• Employees are focused on themselves
– Unless you give them good reason to take action
– Explain what happens if action doesn’t take place
– Provide a competitive scenario
• When communicating a change within an
organization, people are thinking
– What matters to ME?
– Have you considered ME?
– My boss/HR/company leaders don’t care about
ME!
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14. Keys To Your Plan
• Why do you need a plan?
• Who are the stakeholders?
• How large is the scope?
• What’s the hard-dollar cost tied to what you’re trying
What s hard dollar you re
to achieve (or the problem you’re solving)?
• How will this strategy benefit the stakeholders?
gy
• How does this strategy align with the larger
organizational strategy (if appropriate)?
• Do you have leadership support, or can you get it?
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15. The Heart Of The Matter
• What is your budget?
• What will employees and other audience care about
most?
• Which subgroups, if any, need different messaging, and
what are those messages?
h h ?
• What topics will need plain-English translation?
• Which parts of the strategy or messaging need to be
provided in languages other than English?
• Which existing communication channels will provide y
g you
with the greatest impact?
• Which new ones should you consider?
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16. Potential Dealbreakers
• What other distractions might prevent employees (or
other audiences) from paying attention to the
messages?
• Wh t other b i
What th barriers might prevent success?
i ht t ?
• Do you have adequate time to initiate and complete the
strategy?
• Do you have sufficient resources, or can you get them?
• Who may dislike the messages you are delivering?
– Can you craft the messages to help overcome their objections?
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17. Success…Or
Success Or Consequences?
• Wh t will define success for each stakeholder?
What ill d fi f h t k h ld ?
• What measures will you use to ensure your strategy
is working?
• What are the potential consequences if your
messages aren’t effective?
• What are the potential consequences if you don’t
don t
have a communication strategy at all?
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18. Analyze,
Analyze Then Act
• Highlight the “ah-ha” insights
• A
Agree upon k messages th t address th standout
key that dd the t d t
comments/messages
• Choose three to five on which to focus within one
time period
• Formulate prioritized actions
– Choose the message methods (including the addition of
social media, if appropriate)
– Assign responsibilities
– Assign deadlines
• Develop and maintain a timeline
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
19. Measure, Evaluate,
•
Communicate
Establish measurement metrics
– If what you are doing i t l strategic, th ’ a good way t
h t d i is truly t t i there’s d to
measure it
– Connect directly to a bottom-line business cost or other
bottom line
business-relevant statistic
• Share your progress and accomplishments regularly
y p g p g y
– Measure your progress routinely
– Demonstrate how communication is helping shape success
– Show how you’ve changed your direction, if needed, given
the interim feedback you’re getting
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20. Timing And Feedback Are
Crucial
C i l
• A significant initiative should be supported with a
longer communication timeline
– At least six months in advance for a major initiative
• G buy-in f
Get b i from top leaders
l d
• Senior managers
• Rank-and-file human resources
• The “cynics” group (we’ll talk about this in a moment)
• Then, employees
– L
Less complex projects; f
l j t four t six-month ti li
to i th timeline
– Simple projects; two to three-month timeline
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
21. Convene The Cynics
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• Whiners can be very helpful
• Get their input before you launch communication
• Ignore the “blah, blah, blah”
• Listen for the “gems” that could improve your work
• Thank them for the feedback
– Tell them how you used their feedback
– You might gain some converts, but if you don’t…
• Q it worrying about th
Quit i b t them
– Focus instead on the people who matter most
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
22. Communicating
Culturally,
Socially and
Strategically
“I’m in the checkout line at Randall’s. Someone comments
on the T-shirt I’m wearing from the company blood drive.
So I respond…”
23. Making Your Strategy
“Engaging”
Engaging
• In a challenging economy (at any time, really)
employee engagement is necessary for
successful g
talent management
– No longer confined to certain industries
• Consistent messages and actions are key
– Because change and ambiguity are the norm for
many
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24. Social Media Impacts
Engagement
g g
…therefore, your communication
strategy
• S i l media d
Social di does not change the need f employee
h h d for l
engagement
• It DOES impact the way you approach your strategies
– Instant and viral; anyone can do it
• Without appropriate social media policies it can be tough
policies,
to combat negative online communication
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25. What Engages Employees?
• They want to be valued
– Let them know what they are doing well
– Differentiate their pay, benefits and perks
– Reassure them if and when you can
• They want to inspire
(
(and be inspired)
p )
– Help employees see that it is
how the company impacts the
world that makes a difference
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
26. What Matters To Employees?
• Inform them of problems before they read or hear
about them in the media
– Even if you don’t have all the answers, tell them when to
expect more information
• Give them opportunities to ask questions and tell you
what they think
– If you don’t, they will make things up
– Do something meaningful with the input employees provide,
and then let them know how you used the feedback
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
27. Social Media Impacts
Engagement
E t
• Companies use social media routinely as part of
ongoing communication strategies
i i ti t t i
• Social media can impact workplace culture significantly
if…
– Leadership is on board
– You choose the tools wisely
• Be in it and be consistent for the long haul
– O
Once you jump in, b consistent
j i be i t t
– Manage your outlets; don’t abandon them
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28. Perception Is Reality
• Internal and external communication are merging
g g
– How do you want employees to feel about working at your
company?
– H
How d you want th
do t them representing th “
ti the “promise” of your
i ” f
organization’s brand externally?
• They represent you virtually and in reality
– How do you want your CEO and other leaders to be
perceived internally and externally?
• Their presence (or lack of one) in social media can
communicate as effectively as anything else y do
y y g you
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30. Additional Planning Questions
• How do you wish to be perceived externally?
• How do you wish to be perceived internally?
• What’s the current external brand?
– Does it align with the perception you want?
• What’s the current internal brand?
– Does it align with how you want employees to behave and how
they represent your organization?
• What distinguishes you from your competitors?
– Do those attributes make your company more desirable to a job
candidate? Why?
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31. How Do You Know For Sure?
• How often do you get candid employee feedback?
• How often do you get candid feedback from vendors
and customers?
– Do you use a third party to help ensure the information
received is unbiased?
• How does your leadership define and perceive the
organizational culture?
g
– Which questions should you ask?
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32. Questions To Ask Each Group
• How should we operate?
• What do we value?
• What traditions do we uphold?
• How are we expected to treat others?
• What do we expect of employees?
• What should employees expect of us?
• What behaviors should we demonstrate
with our customers, partners and vendors?
• Do any of these groups perceive issues with the
company culture, or with talent management?
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33. How would the answers
to these questions be
digested by the public if
they were published in a
social media outlet?
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
38. USAA: Commentary Travels
Quickly
• Canceled an policy due to a bad experience
– Tweeted my experience; posted to Facebook
• Friends who have USAA coverage responded
• A few days later, the claim was paid
– Supervisor said a mistake had been made
• I reinstated my policy; added more coverage
• Tweeted my experience; posted to Facebook
• Looked at TweetDeck a month later and…are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
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41. Tools To Measure Social
Site
Media it does
What
Howsociable.com Measures mentions, related info from
many of the most common social media
f th t i l di
outlets
Geekchart.com Input information and get a calculation
(in a pie chart) of where your presence
is strongest
Addictomatic.com Shows where your brand/identity
appears in various social media outlets
pp
and where you may be lacking a
presence
Radian6 A comprehensive tool for tracking and
measuring social media, engagement,
listening; and
Alterian SM2 For PR/marketing professionals: Tracks
positive/negative brand segment,
iti / ti b d t
conversations about your company, and
competitors
45. 45
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47. 47
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49. 49
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© 2010 Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. All rights reserved.
51. Summary
y
• There is no “perfect” strategic planning formula; develop a
system that works for you
• Strategic is ongoing, changes over time, may never be
completed
p
• Strategic can influence, change behaviors
• Strategic can be measured; direct bottom-line impact
g ; p
• Social media impacts your communication, your culture,
employee engagement
• Don’t be afraid of social media; don’t ignore it; use it wisely
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