This works

Today, I bought someone a present from a company called This Works. Great name! It made me think back to a Black Belt when we were taken to task for insisting that it was impossible to give a straight A-Z of "what works" in any internal comms job in any organisation.

I had the same sensation when I heard Angela Sinickas speak earlier this year. She was sharing data about what types of channels seem to work with different stakeholder groups. She kept stressing that these were just averages. But still people seemed to be taking it as gospel that x channel should therefore always be used for y audience. I sat wondering why everyone was scribbling down loads of notes about other organisations' data, rather than taking away what seemed to me the fundamental point that gathering this kind of data about their own stakeholders would give them the right answers for their organisations.

There's a difference between saying a) 'These are the principles that work. Now work out how they apply to your organisation in the specific scenario you're dealing with' or b) 'For audience a, always use x channel.' 'In scenario b, always use z approach'. For me, b = bad, a = good. I start every single project afresh, not knowing when I set out how I'm going to do it.  But I apply principles to help me work out the right course of action. What are they? Just good old comms planning, basically ...

1. I ask what we're fundamentally - in BUSINESS terms -trying to achieve and translate it into communication objectives.  If I could get every IC person to do one thing, this would be it. I wish I had £1 for every time I've looked at a plan or sat through a role play where people have described beautiful channels and measurement processes and I couldn't get past thinking "yes, but what are you actually trying to do?" "And what's the point in all this measurement if you haven't established what you're measuring in the first place?"
2. I find out everything I can about the stakeholder groups I'm dealing with, preferably by talking to them. If I don't do this I feel like I'm working in the dark and any approaches I come up are just taking pot luck.
3. I find out who the key individual stakeholders are, go and see them, establish a relationship with them, ask them lots of questions about what they think needs to be done and test out ideas.  I find out who really makes things happen and try and enlist their help. And I keep in touch with these people often. They generally know the answers better than I do. As do the people I talked to in 2).
4. I look for an angle that's actually going to interest the people we're working with. I've given up kidding myself that people are interested in corporate bleurgh. So what's the hook or approach that will make it worth their attention?
5. I look at what tactics will work for the audience and scenario I'm dealing with. Particular favourites for me are using stories, involving people, finding the influencers and drawing them in, passing the story from colleague to colleague instead of from 'us' to 'them'.
6. I measure a lot to find out what's going on and what else I need to do. I'm not keen on surveys, but that's just a personal thing. I find it quicker and easier to do a few focus groups or ask each member of the team to ring around 10 people with a list of 5 questions.

Are you asleep yet? I'm writing lots to make up for being so quiet over the past few weeks and the fact that tomorrow is my last day before I break up for Christmas ...

Sue