Steve Nichols

I have heard it said that if you “fail to plan, you plan to fail”. That is perhaps a bit strong, but the essence of any good communication must be the initial plan. In fact, some organisations have staff whose sole job is communications planning without ever communicating anything themselves.

But what should a communication plan look like and where do you start? To help get you going you can download a sample communication plan in MS Word format right here on the CiB web site.

OK, you may want something a little different, but it is a start and at least makes you think about what you are trying to achieve.

So if you have downloaded the plan, we can begin. I hope you are sitting comfortably!

At the top you'll see the more mundane information like your name, the title and the date. But you will also note the word “version”. This is important as otherwise you will never know if you are working to the same plan as everyone else. And if you think that plans never change, think again. I think my personal record was version 38 of a small comms. plan for one client who spent more time on the plan than on the communication itself.

The communication was, however, rolled out precisely as required – there were no surprises and no snags, thanks to the plan.

With versioning, start with v1.0 and work your way up. Small amendments to the plan can be dealt with by calling them v1.1, 1.2 etc. Bigger changes require that the plan now becomes V2.0 and so forth.

The background to the communication is important as it sets the scene. This is sometimes important for senior managers and executives who may have to approve the plan, but don't want or need to know every single detail.

Then we have the objectives. What are you trying to achieve and why? This might be simple or complex, but answers the question as to why and what you are communicating in the first place.

The measurement of your communication's effectiveness is important. It may be hard to measure, but including it in the plan focuses the mind on IF and HOW you could measure the communications impact. This is far better than just ignoring the measurement completely.

Your approach defines the language you use and the general methodology. This is important when briefing agencies, writers and photographers and prevents the “no, that isn't what we wanted” response.

Your audience must be considered, both in terms of the direct audience (the people you are communicating with) and the indirect audience – those who may and will find out what you are communicating. Bear in mind that ANY communication to staff will find its way to the press and probably quicker than you think.

You can now include any written element of your communication as well. This is helpful with sign-off as the recipient sees the whole plan and can place the words in context.

If the communication is for publishing on an intranet play close attention to the heading and summary or “one-liner”. Do they fit the space available Do they duplicate each other? Do they make sense?

The following matrix is the bread and butter of the plan – the who, what, when, where, how and why. When allocating times to your plan always consider that, internally, Mondays and Fridays are not good days for communications as many staff will be absent. So are the days leading up and following public holidays.

If scheduling printed publications make sure you have talked to your printer/designer and found out exactly how long they will need. Oh, and “10 days” usually means “10 working days excluding weekends and public holidays”, but check.

The dependencies section shows what needs to happen for your communications to take place. If, for example, a new office is being opened you will need to ensure that it will actually take place when you think it will, otherwise your communication will be a joke!

Considering any threats and contingencies forces you to think about what could go wrong or how your plan would need to change if something else happened. If the news was bad, would you have to brief your media relations team? Or what a stock exchange announcement?

Using the template as a starting point you should be able to plan your communications more effectively than if you just said “oh, we'll put a story on the intranet – what should it say?”.

Steve Nichols runs InfoTech Communications and works with a wide range of blue-chip clients. He is also one of the tutors on CiB's two-day Communication Foundation course that takes place in the spring and autumn.

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