Need to develop a strong and compelling strategic communication plan? Here are nine steps to take you through the communication strategy process, from concept to creation.

By Kidendei Segereti

As a basis for monitoring progress, assessing results and developing new programs, strategic planning helps ensure your internal communication function stays relevant and responsive to the needs of your business. But for many of us, the process can be unnerving.

“Where to start?”, “What does it take?”, “How do I drive the process? And, “How will I measure success?” are common questions that, despite the increasing business focus of today’s internal communication function, give strategic communication planning a reputation for complexity and challenge that often far exceeds reality. 

1. Map the present situation

Ensure alignment with your organization’s business by understanding where it currently stands and where leaders want to take it. An expansive, agreed picture of the current state of the organization – how it looks and works – makes sure all major issues are covered. To capture this picture, ask your planning group to describe the current state of the organization and pool answers, grouping similar answers together and discussing them for clarity. 

2. Talk to key stakeholders

Set up interviews with internal customers to learn what their priorities are. Gaining a good understanding of business issues allows you to offer effective solutions and highlights your consultative value as a function. Use Sue Dewhurst’s (B)ARROW framework to ask the right questions:

3. Future state vision

Envision the elements of an idealized future – how you want the internal communication function to look, feel and operate a year from now. This offers specific details that all stakeholders understand and are more likely to support.

4. Prioritize vision elements

 Identify a handful of the elements from Step 3 that are most important to the business and function. Assess current performance to get a clear picture of the success of all key enablers, compared to their relative importance. Review grouped themes and separate out the enablers (activity that makes success possible) from the outcomes (end-result from the successful execution of that activity). 

5. Develop actionable objectives

Turn the three to six vision elements into actionable objectives. Each should have specific “end points” (providing an indicator of success) and consider available human and financial resources, programs, products or services that must be allocated to achieve the goal.

6. Develop and prioritize potential strategies and tactics 

Create sub-teams and brainstorm a range of potential strategies to achieve each of these objectives, and a further range of tactics to support each strategy.

Organize strategies into categories and consolidate similar suggestions. When critical mass is achieved on ideas, discuss the merits of each strategy proposed, e.g. which are most likely to work and which are most likely to face difficulties? Vote on the top 6–8 tactics for each

7. Define metrics, timelines and responsibilities 

Create the detail behind those strategies and tactics. Namely, how success will be measured, the timeframe and who will be responsible.

8. Develop strategic and tactical plans

Consolidate the wealth of ideas your planning sessions have generated, and integrate into a document with clear responsibilities for your team and other stakeholders, for management review and approval.

Work with stakeholders and team members to clarify the finer details of each part of the plan. Map the results into a clear, detailed strategic plan.

9. Implementation and beyond

It’s time to put the plan into action, but remember: Implementation is only the beginning of a long process of activity, measurement, re-evaluation and re-strategizing.