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In all of the case studies, we used a number of activities to assist the organisation in improving its communications. Every project will require its own communications strategy. However, the activity below will help in developing the right kind of communication strategy and ensuring that you use the right type of communication.
The development of a communications strategy is key to delivering a project which involves and engages employees in all parts of the organisation.
The importance of developing a communications strategy is shown in the successful outcomes of the Sheffield case study. The project team felt that to bring the different functions together, service users and staff both needed fully to understand the new service. At the end of the communications workshop, which was organised over the course of a day, all parties felt that they not only had ownership of the communication strategy, but also importantly saw the need for one and their role in contributing to it. The workshop helped impress the idea that the improved service would only be effective if all stakeholders worked together and understood each other's role and kept up clear communications.
Eighteen people attended the event including five trade union representatives. Staff ranged from care deliverers, team leaders through to managers. There was a mix of staff both from health and social services and two participants who had joint posts across both.
Objectives for the day were agreed to be to:
A range of activities was used to both engage people and to encourage them to think of what impact internal messages have on external messages. Participants were asked to 'look back to the future' and imagine it was 2020 and they were looking back to 2010 - five years from now. They were able to look down on the City of Sheffield and hear conversations taking place about the learning disabilities service both from providers, clients, families and carers, the general public and commissioners. Participants were asked to document what they were hearing and what messages this gave them about the service in 2010.
A shared vision emerged for the shape of the service for clients, families and carers in 2010. The group recognised this as very important in terms of communication both internally and externally and reassuring that all partners 'want the same thing'.
Further work was then done on 'how communication is done currently' and identifying enablers and barriers to good communication. Key points that emerged for good communication were involvement and empowerment - some additional time was spent specifically looking at what these mean in terms of communication.
If an organisation genuinely wants to engage with its workforce then it needs to communicate in an effective manner. By bringing together all parties to agree on a communications strategy, you will make sure that everyone has a role in communicating the project.
The main elements of a communications strategy are:
Some issues for resolution in the planning process of developing a communications strategy are:
There are different ways of involving stakeholders in developing a communications strategy. One way is through a workshop with the aim of providing everyone with an opportunity to play their role in shaping the approach to be taken.
A workshop like this should start with a briefing about the project and the importance of effective communication. Discussion should start with 'Why have a communications strategy?' Then ask small working groups to take a section of the strategy outlines above (for example, 'identifying the audience') and list answers to each of the questions posed.
Each group should report back with points of consensus identified during a plenary discussion. A joint working group could then be tasked with drafting an outline strategy.
At the conclusion of this activity, the organisation should be able to produce an agreed communication strategy.