Business Word

Putting the Horse Before the Cart
Why Proper Planning Is Essential for Effective Communications

by Peter Zvalo

Everyone knows that planning is important. Whether you are going on a vacation, renovating your home, or deciding a future career move, the success of any of these undertakings depends, in large part, on thorough planning.

The same principle holds true in communications. Mature organizations rely on communication plans for effective budgeting and allocation of resources. Conversely, young, upstart organizations seeking to establish themselves in the marketplace frequently make the mistake of "putting the cart before the horse": they implement communication activities in the absence of any serious planning effort. They are likely to view the planning process as being costly and time-consuming, and an impediment to getting things done. These organizations realize, too late, that an initial investment in planning would have saved considerable time and money in the long run.

Strategic and Tactical Communications Planning

A solid communication planning framework is essential for any medium- or large-size organization. As a minimum, the communication department should have a long-term strategic plan as a backbone for all communication initiatives developed in support of the organization's business goals and strategies. An effective strategic plan, which may typically cover a period of between two and five years, should describe, at a high level, how the communication group intends to contribute to the organization's business goals (which are described in the company's Business Plan). Senior corporate managers and managers of the communication group should be able to clearly see what types of projects the group is likely to undertake in the upcoming planning period and how the group will implement those projects. The key elements of a strategic communication plan are:

• Summarizing the company's business needs.
• Describing the strategic approach for meeting those needs (i.e., What types of projects are being considered? What is the objective of each project? Who are the target audiences? What key messages need to be communicated? What are the anticipated outcomes? How will performance be measured? When will each project take place?).
• Describing the resources that will be required to implement the strategies.
• Showing what resources are currently available (if in-house resources are not adequate, this may build the case for expanding the group or for greater outsourcing of specialized services).

Strategic plans by themselves may not prove to be very useful, at least not from an employee perspective. That's because they are, by nature, conceptual and deliberately light on detail. The target audience for strategic plans are senior managers (who are typically the people who allocate budgets for individual departments) and for managers within the department itself (who should have a clear understanding of the mandate and direction of the department of which they are an integral part). Employees (i.e., those who do the actual work) may never see a corporate strategic plan, nor should they need to. That's because employees are the implementers of tactical (operational) plans that are developed using the strategic plan as their basis.

Tactical plans are operational in nature. Usually, a separate plan is developed for each project that was introduced at a high level in the strategic plan. A tactical plan can be a one-page memo for a relatively simple project, to a document spanning hundreds of pages for a large, complex project. Whatever its size and complexity, a tactical communications plan should expand on the general information presented in the strategic plan, and include the following:

• How the project conforms with the strategies outlined in the strategic communication plan.
• Purpose and scope of the project.
• Desired outcomes of the project.
• Messages that need to be communicated.
• A detailed work plan and schedule for completion of the project.
• A breakdown of the specific deliverables.
• Detail on resource requirements (e.g., types of expertise required, and estimates on the number of person-days needed for each main task).

The Alternative to Communication Planning

Is there an alternative to planning? What are the pitfalls if planning is circumvented?

The alternative to planning is simply to follow the boss's direct order. Using this approach will get the job done, allowing you to put out many small "fires" in a relatively short period of time. It will also make the boss happy, at least in the short term, because he or she will be able to see results quickly which will, in turn, make him or her look good to senior management. Presiding over a staff that is busy producing tangible work may also feed the manager's ego; he or she may derive satisfaction in knowing that staff will comply with his or her wishes. The absence of a planning framework may be a non-issue for a relatively long period of time—but this can change very quickly when the axe begins to fall.

Organizations that operate in the manner just described are inherently inefficient. While many people may appear to be very busy (which leads some organizations to go on hiring sprees), their time and energy may be better spent doing other tasks. With no planning structure, there is often duplication and overlap, as each department works in relative isolation of the others. Worst of all, senior managers are put under pressure to provide more funding for the invariably spiralling costs of operations, yet there is an absence of accountability on where the funds are being spent.

Following a period of turmoil in which costs rise, production drops, and profitability withers, organizations begin to see the need for greater accountability, control, and coordination; in other words, planning becomes the focus of a newly revitalized organization.

In the area of communications, good planning is more likely to lead to better communication initiatives. The benefits of improved communications can be felt throughout the organization, as the company's image is enhanced both externally and internally. For example, well positioned communications initiatives can help to improve sales, develop stronger partnerships with suppliers, and raise employee morale and productivity. With effective planning, these results can be achieved using a minimum of resources, with each employee possessing a clear understanding of the organization's vision and role in contributing to the realization of that vision.

Peter Zvalo is a contributing editor to Writer's Block.