Summary of "How to Effectively Communicate Your Strategy"
High-level summary
- Communicating a strategic plan is as important as creating it. If stakeholders don’t understand the direction, the plan won’t be effective.
- Central principle: relevancy — tailor what you communicate to who needs to hear it, how they need to hear it, and how often.
Relevancy: focus messages on the right audience, with the right detail, delivered through the right channel at the right cadence.
Frameworks and playbooks
Strategic management lifecycle
A simple context for where communications fit:
- Develop → Refine → Finalize → Communicate → Monitor progress
Simple Communications Matrix (step-by-step playbook)
- List audiences (internal and external).
- Break the plan into discrete pieces/elements (mission, vision, long-term objectives, departmental actions, annual initiatives, KPIs, etc.).
- Map which piece is relevant to each audience (what they must know).
- Choose the delivery medium for each audience (PDF, PowerPoint, flyer, meeting type).
- Define delivery cadence/frequency (how often to update them).
- Track and report progress vs. the plan (keep stakeholders in sync).
Audience segmentation
- Internal: board, directors, staff, individual contributors.
- External: community, donors, investors. Tailor messaging and detail level to each segment.
Key metrics, KPIs, and timing
- KPIs are the primary measurements reported to governance bodies.
- Emphasis is on linking whatever KPIs you have to the right audience and cadence rather than prescribing specific numeric targets.
Reporting cadence examples:
- Board: quarterly updates (e.g., Quarterly Business Reviews) on progress against KPIs and long-term objectives.
- Community: biannual or as-needed public updates.
- Staff: operational/department-level frequency (regular updates tied to action steps).
Operational detail for staff:
- Staff often need high specificity (for example, a department goal might be broken into “10 action steps” that individual contributors own).
Concrete examples and actionable recommendations
Audience relevance (what to tell whom)
- Board members: mission, vision, long-term strategic objectives, and KPIs.
- Individual staff member: department-level goals and the specific action steps they must take, plus high-level mission/vision context.
- Community member: long-term vision and the top few initiatives for the year (high-level).
Medium selection (how to deliver)
- Board: present at a board meeting (slide deck, QBR).
- Community: press release or community engagement meeting.
- Staff: director meeting with staff plus department-level collateral.
- Collateral formats: PDF, PowerPoint, flyers — choose formats appropriate to audience and channel.
Frequency and cadence
- Decide and communicate how often each audience will receive updates (quarterly for boards, biannual for community, more frequent for staff).
Presentation tips
- Make content engaging: use graphics, color, and enthusiastic delivery.
- Keep communications relevant and concise.
- Provide concrete next steps for operational teams.
Ongoing alignment
- Don’t stop at the launch. Continuously update stakeholders on progress against the plan and KPIs, monitor feedback, and iterate communications.
Practical checklist to apply immediately
- Build a communications matrix (audience × plan elements × medium × cadence).
- For each audience, document the single most important things they need to know.
- Pick formats and channels that fit the audience (formal meeting vs. public announcement vs. one-on-one).
- Schedule regular KPI/status updates and assign owners for each update.
- Design materials with clear visuals and concrete next steps for operational teams.
- Monitor feedback and iterate the communications approach if stakeholders remain unclear.
Presenter / source
- Kim Perkins, M3 Planning
Category
Business
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