Want to communicate your business strategy to the lines of business responsibles, market leaders and those in charge of support functions? Taking either a top-down or bottom-up approach, it often falls to the communicators to spread the news. This can be comfortable or uncomfortable, depending on the content of 1-to-3-to-5-year plans to be presented and discussed.
Combining strategy and communication
At the yearly gathering of all lines of business heads, local office representatives and chiefs of support functions, everyone wants to be heard and seen. Trying to juggle everybody’s priorities and demands as a communication professional isn’t always easy. “Yes, your strategic input is valuable too.” “We should formulate some specific communication measures.” “But how will we communicate that to your clients? I’ll be glad to help pull some ideas together and write up a communication plan, you know,” I’d hear myself say.
No loose ends – wrapping up the day’s content
To keep track of all that is communicated on such a highly intense and fully packed day, we decided to record the presentation sessions as webcasts and send a link to all participants thereafter. This way, they could review the discussions leading up to the decisions taken and recap the day’s content. What was my role as a communication professional? I made sure that the internal technical set-up was ready, the recording was handled by Solutionpark and the link sent to participants the following day.
From a communication perspective I like to structure content, categorize it and create user-friendly download sections in my webcasts. This way, the viewer can easily navigate through the various subjects, especially if there are a number of different aspects or speakers involved. Explaining your company’s strategy, the ‘Whys and Why Nots’ is a valuable experience, and I find, an emotional topic that deserves to be documented on video.
Posted in corporate communication, internal communication, shareholder communication, strategic communication
Tagged briefing, communication professional, corporate identity, corporate philosophy, corporate values, external providers, self-perception, Solutionpark, strategy, video, webcast
I know, nobody likes to do them, but sometimes it is simply more than pure necessity; our beloved briefings. We find them tedious and a waste of paper and time, tough it’s only fair to our suppliers and business partners to say in writing what we want and how we see things. And it’s always a good exercise for ourselves as communication specialists to bring to mind where we are currently standing. This includes our situational analysis, our expectations, our thoughts, our guidelines, our self-perception of an organization. There is a reason why companies have a (documented) corporate identity, a corporate philosophy, corporate values, a vision and mission statement and even a code of conduct.
Clarity is ke
y
I want to be clear on what direction we are heading in, my business partners and I, together as a team, and, I want to get the go-ahead from top management in advance of making my suppliers run around like headless chickens, just because I was incapable of giving accurate and comprehensible instructions. Here is the deal.
What should go into a good and comprehensive briefing:
- Situational analysis
- Goal
- Target audience
- Key messages
- Company image and perception, CI/CD, corporate values, style, language
- Implementation (tools, channels, resources, content, structure)
- Expectations
- Timeline
- Budget
10. Extras (e.g previous examples, additional items etc.)
Too much? Not enough? Well, the more detail and clarity the better. Your external providers will be thankful. Give it a try. It’s worth it. You will be able to use the framework and structure of your briefing over and over again, adapt and update it. Good luck!
Want to communicate your business strategy to the lines of business responsibles, market leaders and those in charge of support functions? Taking either a top-down or bottom-up approach, it often falls to the communicators to spread the news. This can be comfortable or uncomfortable, depending on the content of 1-to-3-to-5-year plans to be presented and discussed.
