The importance of a communications plan

(Photo credit: Trey Gibson - unsplash.com)

Effective communication occurs when the message is understood as the sender intended to.

This is a sentence I read somewhere, and it stuck with me, mostly because I consider it to be true.

Practice makes perfect, and it is in practice that I developed my organizing skills. And I do think that no improvement can be seen without making sure things are well organized. That applies, too, in communications. Those who think that storytelling is the only skill needed for efficient communication are terribly wrong.

The need of a plan is far more necessary in communications, in making sure the message is received and understood as intended.

Main reasons why you need a communications plan:

•         To have your goals and objectives clear as daylight.

•         To establish audiences, messages, channels, activities, and materials.

•         To clarify roles of the communications team.

•         To have a better understanding of your resources and to be able to plan ahead for those you’ll be needing on the way.

•         To consider possible obstacles and emergency scenarios.

An important thing to know about a communications plan is that it evolves. It is drafted when the goals of the company are set, but it may suffer changes and it should do so. Keep in mind how the COVID-2019 pandemic changed how companies function. We all had to adapt on the way. Nobody knew how to respond to the crisis, but we adapted to the challenge.

Personally, I think each company must have a yearly communications plan. Preferably, drafted at the start of the year and updated according to the needs that may occur during the unfolding of the year. A communications plan will never include all possible happenings throughout a year, but it will highlight main challenges and activities to be considered.

When drafting a communications plan, it would be useful to use the template of the year before and to insert what other wishes/ changes the management would want seen in the coming year. This sounds easier read than done, but with the right people and all the necessary information it can be achieved.