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Please find pasted below Econnect Communication’s first newsletter for the year. The title of this edition is: Communication plans and strategies – dust collectors or useful documents?
We hope you enjoy it. All the best for the rest of the holiday season and for 2002. Remember you can check out past newsletters on our website.
With regards The team at Econnect Communication (Jenni Metcalfe, Lin Martin, Louise Ralph, Michelle Riedlinger) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONTACT ECONNECT COMMUNICATION – phone 07 3846 7111; EMAIL admin@econnect.com.au; website: http://www.econnect.com.au. Econnect is committed to planning and delivering innovative and effective communication in the natural resource and environmental fields to ensure a sustainable future. We work with clients and their partners in an open, respectful and cooperative manner fulfilling our commitment to conservation and social justice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEWSLETTER 7, 21 January 2002 Feel free to reproduce any of the following articles as long as you acknowledge Econnect as the source; and feel free to send this newsletter to anyone else who might be interested and/or put onto our newsletter contact list. Past copies of newsletters can be found on our website. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WHY DO A COMMUNICATION PLAN OR STRATEGY? By Jenni Metcalfe Many projects or groups do not have people with years of experience in communication or marketing. Scientists and managers who have little communication training or experience often need to serve as spokespeople because of their knowledge and expertise. Communication specialists can help formulate policy, coach from the wings, act as liaisons, and train other staff, but they cannot replace the important inter-change between "the experts" and stakeholders/partners.
The key to successful communication is effective planning. Even those with extensive communication experience may improve their efforts by improved planning. The hope is to replace last-minute, poorly conceived communication efforts with thoughtful ones. Just like good science or good policy, good communication takes some forethought and an appropriate level of resources. "…funding [research] efforts generously while scrimping on communication is false economy. And putting communication towards the bottom of every "to do" list is a way to guarantee that there is never enough time to communicate effectively. Instead, communication must be part of [achieving research outcomes] rather than sugarcoating them." (Adapted from `Attacking a problem with the facts', C. Chess, EPA Journal)
"There's not enough time" is the most common reason for skipping the planning stage. In fact, ad-hoc communication efforts often take far more time than carefully planned ones. Staff will often find themselves playing "catch-up," developing informational materials and holding meetings that might have been unnecessary if planning had occurred. Just as scientific sampling without planning can slow down an assessment due to the need to rethink and re-sample, it is ultimately more wasteful and time-consuming to develop a brochure or fact sheet without thinking through how it will further your objectives.
Meaningful planning can help to: * integrate communication efforts with organisational and management goals or with research and development efforts * increase the effectiveness of communication programs * allocate appropriate resources to communication efforts * increase dialogue and reduce unwarranted tension with stakeholders/partners
Having said all of the above… it is also true that as a consultant (and previously a communicator with CSIRO), I have been involved in many time-consuming communication planning exercises where the nicely bound documents have ended up gathering dust on the shelves. While the process of planning was useful (see next article from Lin), it was frustrating to see good communication plans/strategies go to waste.
Probably the most rewarding experience in developing communication strategies has been with the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. We worked with the Commission to develop their first communication strategy. This strategy very closely reflected the concerns and needs of partners as determined through a Basin-wide consultation process. Since being approved two years ago, its implementation has been championed by the Commission’s Communication Manager, Lawrie Kirk. Seeing the results of all the hard work actually making a difference is a real buzz! (For a brief summary of the 7 steps in the Commission’s Strategy – see later in this newsletter) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VALUE IN THE PROCESS OF CREATING STRATEGIES By Lin Martin In our observation as consultants, once completed many communication strategies fail to deliver for two main reasons: lack of long term commitment by the organisation, and lack of or inability of a ‘champion’ within the organisation to continue to drive it. Staff leave and the strategy continues to gather dust on a shelf.
But what is not often understood is the long term value generated by comprehensively undertaking the process of developing a communication strategy.
In many strategies we have worked on – this process value has often been of more importance than implementing the strategy itself, particularly if an organisation has not undertaken this exercise before, or for some time. If well designed and well resourced, the processes of research, consultation, involvement, negotiation, feedback can: § cause the organisation to reconsider who its partners are and what their expectations and obligations are to these partners § begin to build or build stronger relationships with internal and external partners § develop strong ownership of the strategy by both internal and external partners § highlight issues or areas of concern that need addressing § highlight opportunities or tactics that are working well and can be strengthened
It takes time to realise maximum value from the process and a well designed process must have sufficient time built into it. Time to do sufficient research, identify key partners, time to talk with them, give them time to consider issues, time for them to talk to others, and then time to get back to you. Time for creative or ‘off the wall’ innovations to gel. Time to build rapport,
Each strategy, situation and organisation are very different, and as consultants we learn enormously during the process of developing the strategy. If you are developing a communication strategy, it is important to build into the process some means of sharing the information that is collected with your management, clients and key partners so the process becomes an educational experience for all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES TO PLAN By Michelle Riedlinger It is easy for the community to
lack faith in government processes that involve them in planning.
Developing targets and indicators for sustainable development can be
challenging if you consider the concerns that are often voiced by many
sectors of community. These concerns include: However, as Alan Atkisson (www.atkisson.com)
points out, bringing people together to plan and find common points of
agreement can be an end in itself. Getting people from various community
sectors together to develop indicators may not seem like doing much but it
can set up a long-term process where the habit of finding common points of
agreement is developed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Murray-Darling Basin Commission’s Communication Strategy Guide outlines 7 steps to effective planning of communication: 1. Identify key partners (“partners” is a more equitable word than target audiences, clients, stakeholders etc) 2. Clarify desired relationships 3. Agree on key messages 4. Define objectives 5. Select strategies 6. Choose a mix of tactics and consider resources 7. Incorporate evaluation
Many strategies and plans start at step 5 or 6… which may be one reason they don’t work and collect dust! For a copy of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission’s Strategy Guide, see their website: www.mdbc.gov.au ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Planning is really all about being
creative. Check out the Creativity Web , and Australian resource centre
with tips and tricks on how to be creative.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative/ Try the creativity
kickstarts, puzzles, books, software, techniques, quotes, affirmations and
humour. "Being creative is seeing the same thing as everybody else but thinking of something different."
Learning how to think creatively
can help us keep up with change. In a net shell: Make a difference. For further information on any of the articles provided, please feel free to contact us at Econnect. Any feedback on this newsletter would be gratefully accepted. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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