The ten commandments of a successful communication strategy

During my communication studies, I often had several books and models that I would always go back to when I was stuck or wanted some extra expertise. One of the authors and a former teacher of mine that I found myself consulting was Mr. Michels. Last year he published a new book called ‘The Communication Model’. A great source to use as a guide when creating your own communication strategy. A while back, he shared the ‘ten commandments of a successful communication strategy’ (in Dutch) and I was inspired to add to this and turn it into a helpful blog. I hope this helps you create an effective communication strategy that not only fits your organization’s goal but also your organization’s voice.

This is always your starting point. Aligning communication goals with organizational goals provides a strategic framework for a company to increase its overall value contribution. By embedding communications strategies in the overarching organizational strategy, a company ensures that its messaging and outreach activities are directly linked to broader business objectives.

This alignment provides a cohesive and integrated approach, ensuring that communication efforts effectively support and reinforce the organization's mission, vision, and goals. This synergy not only ensures that internal and external stakeholders better understand the company's purpose, but also promotes consistency, credibility, and purpose for all communications activities. Ultimately, this alignment ensures that communication efforts actively contribute to the success of the organization and play a vital role in achieving its strategic goals.

For each case, determine what the added value of communication is. Making a clear distinction between organizational problems and communication problems is crucial to effective problem-solving and resource allocation. By assessing each situation on a case-by-case basis, a company can determine whether a challenge stems from operational problems within the organization or whether it is primarily a communications-related problem. This careful investigation allows for targeted solutions and ensures that resources are deployed appropriately. Understanding the root cause helps avoid superficial solutions that may not address the underlying problem.

Moreover, it allows scenarios to be identified where communication can indeed add significant value. In cases where the problem is communication-related, strategic messaging, transparent information dissemination and engagement initiatives can serve as powerful tools to bridge gaps, align stakeholders and contribute positively to problem solving. This approach promotes a more nuanced and tailored problem-solving strategy, optimizing the impact of communications efforts in addressing specific organizational challenges.

Get crystal clear:

- Who is the problem owner?

- What is the urgency?

- What are the available budget and space in time?

- What are the expectations about the end result?

Answering key questions such as identifying the problem owner, assessing urgency, understanding available resources (budget and time) and clarifying expectations about the end result is essential to creating a robust communications strategy. Knowing who the problem owner is provides accountability and facilitates efficient decision-making. Understanding urgency determines the pace and intensity of communication efforts. Knowledge of available resources helps realistically plan and allocate budget and time, optimizing efficiency. Finally, clarifying expectations about the end result provides a clear vision of the communications strategy, aligning efforts with the organization's goals and ensuring that desired outcomes are achieved. In essence, these questions serve as essential pillars that guide the development of a targeted and effective communications plan tailored to the specific needs and challenges of the situation at hand.

In other words, look at influence and involvement. Determining stakeholders and target groups is a crucial step in developing a comprehensive communication strategy. The Power-Interest Matrix by Mendelow is a valuable tool to categorize stakeholders based on their level of influence (power) and interest in the organization or project. Here's how to use it:

1. Identify Stakeholders: Begin by listing all potential stakeholders related to the organization or project. These can include internal and external parties such as employees, customers, suppliers, regulatory bodies, community groups, and more.

2. Assess Power and Interest: Evaluate each stakeholder's level of power of influence and interest in the organization or project. Power refers to their ability to influence decisions, and interest relates to how much they care about the outcomes. High-power and high-interest stakeholders are typically the most critical to engage with closely.

3. Create the Matrix: Plot each stakeholder on the Power-Interest Matrix based on your assessments. This results in four quadrants:

• High Power, High Interest: These stakeholders require close collaboration and regular communication.

• High Power, Low Interest: Keep these stakeholders satisfied with periodic updates but avoid overwhelming them with unnecessary details.

• Low Power, High Interest: Keep these stakeholders informed, but you may not need their direct involvement.

• Low Power, Low Interest: Minimal effort is required for these stakeholders; keep them informed as needed.

By using the Power-Interest Matrix, organizations can prioritize their engagement with stakeholders, ensuring that communication efforts are strategic, targeted, and effective in building positive relationships and managing potential challenges.

Defining the vision for communication within an organization is paramount because it provides clear direction for the role and boundaries of the communications team. Setting the goal helps define what the communications team should achieve and, just as crucially, what it should not achieve. A well-defined vision aligns communication efforts with the organization's goals and ensures consistency and relevance.

It clarifies the team's responsibilities and helps them focus on strategic messaging, brand representation, and fostering positive relationships. At the same time, it prevents the team from dealing with issues outside the team's scope, maintaining efficiency and preventing potential alignment with broader organizational goals. In essence, a clear vision guides the communications team in contributing meaningfully to the success of the organization, while avoiding unnecessary distractions.

What is the main difference between the current and desired situation? Conducting a GAP analysis when creating a communication strategy is essential because it identifies this discrepancy between the current state of communication efforts and desired objectives. This analysis helps identify areas where improvements are needed so the organization can effectively bridge the gaps.

Tips for a successful GAP analysis include clearly defining communication objectives, assessing current practices and results, identifying key stakeholders, and understanding the competitive landscape. By systematically evaluating these elements, an organization can develop targeted strategies to improve its communication processes, align them with overarching business goals and ultimately improve overall effectiveness in conveying messages to internal and external audiences.

Note: a SWOT or Confrontation Matrix would also be useful at this stage.

Also, formulate concrete goals to get there. Defining ambition, or the dot on the horizon, is crucial for an organization creating a communications strategy because it provides a clear and inspiring vision to strive for. Establishing this overarching goal serves as a unifying force, aligning communication efforts with the organization's long-term goals. Concrete goals are essential to delineate the steps needed to achieve the ambition. These specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals provide a roadmap, breaking down the larger vision into milestones that can be accomplished.

By setting concrete goals, organizations can ensure that their communications strategies are not only ambitious but also practical, enabling focused and measurable progress. This approach improves strategic planning, accountability, and the overall effectiveness of communications initiatives by contributing to the broader success of the organization.

Naming a strategy using a metaphor transforms it from an abstract concept into a tangible, relatable entity, enhancing its memorability and impact. A well-chosen metaphor imbues the strategy with meaning, making it easier for stakeholders to grasp and connect with. This increased clarity fosters a shared understanding of the strategy's purpose and goals.

Furthermore, make it visual, work out your strategy in a road map or infographic. Translating the strategy into a visual format, such as an infographic or road map, takes this concept a step further. Visual representations provide a clear and accessible overview, aiding in communication and ensuring that team members can easily comprehend their roles in achieving the strategy. The combination of a metaphorical name and a visual representation not only makes the strategy more memorable but also increases the likelihood of successful execution, as it becomes a concrete and shared vision that guides collective efforts.

Creating a content strategy with a message house is essential for ensuring consistency and clarity in communications. The message house serves as a fundamental framework, defining the core message and themes that form the basis for all content. The core message summarizes the organization's main story, while the themes represent the supporting pillars. This approach guides content creation by providing a structured and unified direction, preventing mixed messaging, and improving brand coherence.

To develop an effective message house, start by formulating a concise and compelling core theme or key message. Identify key themes that align with the organization's values and goals. Tips for success include involving key stakeholders in the process, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives, and regularly reviewing and refining the message house to adapt to changing needs and contexts. This structured approach not only streamlines content creation but also reinforces a cohesive brand identity across communication channels.

Determine: who does what and when. Setting priorities and clearly determining responsibilities post-creation of a communication strategy are pivotal steps in transforming plans into tangible outcomes. While having a well-crafted strategy, plan, and approach is crucial, the execution often falters without established priorities. Prioritization ensures that crucial tasks are addressed promptly, aligning with strategic goals.

Moreover, clearly defining who is responsible for each aspect and establishing timelines fosters accountability, preventing tasks from slipping through the cracks. Priorities, therefore, act as a catalyst for translating the theoretical into the practical, ensuring that the communication strategy is not just a document but a dynamic roadmap guiding actionable steps toward organizational objectives.

This is not a set in stone step-by-step plan but more a guide to help you get your communication strategy written and executed. Start by looking into what your real goal is, and what the role of communication is, and go from there.