In our daily lives, we find ourselves immersed in communication, in different areas such as at work and even at home. However, we hardly ever stop to think about the importance and the fundamental role of good communication in our lives.
In our daily lives, we find ourselves immersed in communication, in different areas such as at work and even at home. However, we hardly ever stop to think about the importance and the fundamental role of good communication in our lives.
After reading the following article, you will have more knowledge about the tools that can be used for optimal communication, including an effective communication plan that is highly important for performing wise communication actions.
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Summary
- A communication plan is a tool that will help us to organize and control how your company is communicating, whether it does it efficiently or not.
- Performing an analysis of the environment in which your company is immersed will be an extra benefit to detecting upcoming threats and opportunities.
- The correct application of a communication plan will influence the internal climate, making communication channels more fluid and reliable.
What you should know about a communication plan
What do we mean when we talk about a communication plan? Under this term, we refer to a document that contains strategies, objectives, policies, and even communication actions. Whether with internal audiences, such as employees, or external audiences, such as consumers, suppliers, the surrounding community, etc.
Within communication, preparing a plan is not as simple as it sounds, since its preparation will have a significant influence on the work environment, productivity, and relations with the external community.
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As mentioned above, this document will contain the communicative actions to be carried out with the various stakeholders, which is why it is a fundamental piece for any organization.
Who are stakeholders?
A stakeholder is someone on whom an organization depends for the fulfillment of its objectives, as well as someone who is affected by the fulfillment of the organization’s objectives (1).
Indicators that you need a communication plan
Has it ever happened to you that some projects did not materialize effectively because of a misunderstanding between employees or managers? If the answer is yes, pay attention to the following.
Quite often, people don’t realize that a communication plan could save their projects. The keywords are to research, organize and establish what you want to achieve. This way, you will be able to make measurements and controls to know if we are on track towards the objective.
How to put together a communication plan?
Step 1: Situational analysis
First, you must perform a situational analysis. That is to say, you have to know in what context your company is. This tool allows you to detect internal strengths and weaknesses. At the same time, you will be able to see external opportunities and threats that may influence your company’s objective.
Houben – SWOT Analysis: “Strengths and weaknesses make up an internal environment that can be controlled, while the other factors are in an external environment that cannot be manipulated (2)”
Step 2: Set objectives
Secondly, you must set your objectives: where do you want to go? To know which audience you should target with your future strategies. Your objectives must be clear, measurable and time-bound, so that it is easy to see whether and to what extent you have been able to achieve them.
Step 3: Establish strategies
Finally, you will need to establish the strategies and tactics and then implement them. At this stage, you will have to schedule the communication actions you want to carry out in a coherent and orderly manner. After being applied, you will be able to measure and evaluate the results obtained in order to know if it has been an efficient action.
What are the benefits of having an effective plan?
Below, we will tell you the benefits of having a communication plan in your company, whether it is small or large. It is essential to keep control and establish fluid communication channels.
Advantages
- Trust among your staff will increase in a way that will be reflected in employee productivity levels.
- In the event of an emergency or crisis, you will know how to act.
- The work environment will be positive, so many will be satisfied and their perception of the organizational culture will be positive
Disadvantages
- You will not be able to measure whether the actions you take have a positive or negative result.
- The work climate will have more gaps because the communication channels will sometimes be unclear about what actions or tasks to perform.
- Key messages will be general, therefore, they will not have the same effect as one with prior research and planning.
How to develop a strategy in a communication plan?
The concept of strategy can be understood in different ways. Its first conception can be observed in Greece, where it was understood as ”planning”. However, there are several authors who approach this term differently.
George L Morrisey – Author: “It is the direction in which a company needs to move to fulfill its mission. It is the pattern that integrates the major goals and policies of an organization, and establishes the coherent sequence of actions to be taken.”
The strategy must respond to a previously established objective, usually written in the infinitive to make it clear what action is to be taken.
A clear example would be the objective of increasing engagement on Social Networks and its strategy of creating posts with great interaction with the public. If you have more objectives, you must establish the corresponding strategy and tactics in order to achieve an optimal result in the communication actions.
Are there tools designed to monitor and evaluate if the plan worked?
Of course, there are measurement tools! That is why it is essential to add this stage in the planning to be able to know what the results obtained were and to improve them.
Among them, you can find questionnaires, surveys, and even observe graphs with percentages and make a comparison between the previous and the present.
The importance of measurable objectives lies in the fact that at this evaluation stage, you can see whether there were improvements. This way, you will be able to adapt the communication plan correctly and apply the changes efficiently.
Conclusion
To establish a communication plan, you must first carry out the background analysis step, which includes a SWOT analysis. Following this step, you must establish clear and measurable objectives that will lead to the drafting of strategies and tactics for future communication actions. In order to achieve the goals and objectives set at the beginning.
Having a communication plan is important for improving the internal climate and even productivity. Having fluid communication within a company will improve the feeling of identification with the company’s philosophy and culture, so that it will be possible to work more comfortably.
References
1. Terzolo, M. Thesis work. 2014. Retrieved from: http://nulan.mdp.edu.ar/2074/1/terzolo.2014.pdf
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2. Nikulin, C & Becker, G. (2015). A Systemic and creative methodology for strategic management: Case Study Atacama Region-Chile. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation. Vol 10.
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