Building an Effective Organizational Communication Plan

Introduction: Why Communication Planning Matters

Proper communication is the backbone of any organization. Effective organizational communication ensures that management across all departments remains cohesive and that everyone is working toward common goals at all times. Successful communication versus shoddy communication can often be the decisive factor between a company that meets its goals and one that does not. While most professionals can identify what effective communication within an organization looks like, it can be more difficult to develop it from the ground up across a range of departments. This paper discusses a specific communication plan designed expressly to ensure that all branches and departments of a single organization remain aligned.

For the purposes of this paper, the communication plan applies uniformly across all departments. This approach ensures that confusion and miscommunication are kept to a minimum. Furthermore, the more effective a communication plan is, the more it should be used across all departments. Proper communication must be an aspect of every company in order to motivate forward momentum toward achieving goals. This report details how an effective communication plan will always include five distinct elements: "…audience analysis, communication objectives, communication channels, responsibilities, and timing. The plan should determine the many audiences, outline specific objectives relating to each audience, state the communication channels for each type of communication, specify which organization leaders are responsible for each communication, and show the timing of each message for each audience" (Newman, 2016).

Statement of Purpose and Transparency

The communication plan should begin with an overall statement of purpose. This is to ensure total transparency. Each department should know why the communication strategy has been developed in the first place and what it is intended to achieve. The statement of purpose should demonstrate how all organizational objectives can be met, and set an example of how to properly engage with all relevant stakeholders and participants.

The statement of purpose should also serve as a basic reminder of the organization's past successes, so that all participants at every level and scope of the business understand what the organization does best. Within the overall communication plan, the statement of purpose can play an important role in adjusting and influencing both behavior and perceptions where necessary (NCVO, 2017). Where the overall communication plan intends to get everyone mentally and task-wise on the same page, the statement of purpose helps all branches of management — from upper management to front-line supervisors — adopt the appropriate mindset going forward.

Situational Analysis: PEST and SWOT Frameworks

The second part of an effective communication plan is a succinct rundown of the circumstances at hand. This should include a concise outline of the what, where, and why of the organization, as well as an examination of the organization's overall communications strengths and weaknesses. This section should illuminate what has and has not been helpful to the organization over the last five to ten years.

A PEST Analysis as well as a SWOT Analysis would greatly benefit this part of the communication plan. A PEST Analysis "involves listing the Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors that could affect your organization's work. These could be positive or negative factors and should include issues that are likely to have an impact on how your organization operates" (NCVO, 2017). Each element should be briefly explained in terms of how and why it will have an influence. For example, the political section could address how changes in government policy affect the current business climate and methods of operation.

Likewise, a SWOT analysis means taking a hard look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats connected with the company, and stating explicitly what these elements mean for overall communication priorities (Jones, 2008). This section of the communication plan requires asking difficult questions, such as how threats can be turned into opportunities and how the organization can use its strengths to address some of its weaknesses. An optional addition to this section might be a competitor analysis, ranking competitors against particular criteria and identifying where their strengths and weaknesses lie.

Aligning Organizational and Communication Goals

The next section of the overall communication plan should outline the organizational goals alongside the communication goals, so that all participants can view a side-by-side comparison. This section should clearly demonstrate how the communication plan will assist the organization in achieving the bulk of its goals (NCVO, 2017). This is also a good place to present the main principles of the communications strategy, along with the key ideas the organization wants the public to understand.

This section is particularly important because it must be presented not as something additional or supplementary, but as something that is innate to the company's goals and integral to accomplishing the organization's main mission. For example, the policy goals of a youth center for runaways might be to educate team members to successfully work with the teens who use the service. Accordingly, the corresponding communication goal might be "to make sure all team members comprehend and can articulate the standards of conduct expected."

In addition, a brief section on all relevant stakeholders within this scenario would be beneficial. Engaging in a rundown of both the external and internal audience members — and identifying where connection priorities lie — can bring the organization a greater sense of clarity (Jones, 2008). Pinpointing the main audiences the company needs to reach is vital to fine-tuning the broader communications strategy.

References

Jones, P. (2008). Communicating strategy. Gower Publishing, Ltd.

Newman, A. (2016). Communication planning: A template for organizational change.

NCVO. (2017, June 23). Developing a communications strategy — Knowhow Nonprofit. Retrieved from