Does your company's communications plan have a go button?
Many don't. Most follow some variation of the standard situation analysis, goals, objectives, strategies and tactics.
What's often missing is a plan to sell the plan internally. It's where you answer complicated questions like these:
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Am I able to lead implementation of all aspects of this communications plan? How am I going to address my weaknesses?
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Do I have the right people and resources to implement this plan? Where do I proposed getting them if I don't? Does management think I have everything I need?
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Should I use outside help, hire people, retrain the people I have? How would management react to hiring a new consultant or PR agency? How will I go about it?
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What will management think about my plan? What will get them excited about it? What will surprise them? What will make them nervous? Where are they most likely to be ambivalent? What will they not understand? ]
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What are the obvious challenges to and questions about my communications plan? What are the agendas driving them? How will I answer them?
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What is it I don't know that would influence whether or not my communications plan is accepted and implemented?
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What kind of internal consensus do I need to get support for this plan? How am I going to get it? Briefings? A PowerPoint presentation? Hallway lobbying? An internal ad campaign? Dinner with other managers?
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Who inside the organization is most likely to either not understand or have legitimate issues with my communications plan? Do they matter? How do I respond to them?
- How am I going to maintain strategic continuity as situations or people change while the communications plan is being implemented?
"The value of an idea is in the using of it," wrote Thomas Edison. If you don't know specifically how you're going to get the green light for your communications plan, then you risk having created nothing at all.
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