The search for focus and flexibility

Communication World, April, 1995 by Dennis Signorovitch

How to make plans that help, not trap, you

Get two or more professional communicators together these days and the talk will quickly turn to the growing demands on their time and budgets, compounded by shifting organizational priorities and shorter deadlines.

The cynic might ask, "So what's new?" But it would be hard to dispute that today's delayered, reengineered, cycle time-reduced business world hasn't caused new stresses and strains in our communication departments. The sheer velocity of change has made our task all that more complex. Some have responded by turning up the rhetorical volume. It's nearly impossible to get through a professional conference without hearing glib references to "shifting paradigms," "change management" and other incantations designed to ward off today's challenges. Unfortunately, we tend to come away from these revival meetings with our spirits refreshed and a few new communication techniques to try back at the office, but lacking a real understanding of how to shape the acknowledged need for extensive change into a full-scale plan of action.

Planning is not an easy task for anyone, but it is especially difficult for communication professionals. And for good reason. Line operations and most staff functions can readily measure their success in terms of their plans. Executing the plan may be challenging, but measuring performance can be reduced to simple questions. Are they on plan? Did they make plan?

Even if these questions were asked of the communication function (and they usually are not) most communicators would say that measuring our effectiveness is not that simple. Achieving plan goals is one way to evaluate our performance, but the ability to respond to a contingency, to a last minute request, or to the unexpected opportunity are equally important. In certain situations, they are all that's important.

As a result, communication managers too often duck the need to reconcile this conflict between the desire to operate from a plan and the work-a-day contingencies that so often define our success. They are good, even brilliant, firefighters. Yet they avoid all but the most tactical planning needs.

The issue cannot be avoided much longer. The search for a balance between the need for focused plans that address changing priorities and the flexibility expected of us is central to the success of business communication today.

And what do we need to find that balance? At the most basic level, it starts with a set of leadership behaviors and skills that redefine the relationship between communicators and the organizations they serve. Not another "how to" list, but a combination of traits, behaviors and self-imposed expectations that can serve as the scaffolding to build your own focused and flexible communication plans.

Know the business plan and the budget

It is surprising how often communication professionals ignore this basic piece of advice. In the daily pursuit of deadlines, many fail to take the time to work their way through these essential business drivers. They can recite the corporate vision fluently, and may even have had a hand in writing it. But their understanding of the operating plans and budgets is hazy at best.

If that weakness describes you, then start your planning process by sitting down with those operating plans and perhaps a supportive line manager or business planner who can walk you through the information. Otherwise there's little chance that your communication plans will align with the company's business interests.

Customer service drives strategic engagement

You also will need to get closer to your customers. The interpersonal skills, attentiveness to detail and follow-through involved in achieving customer satisfaction will create a sense of confidence about the communication process and about you. Many of today's line managers still have a limited understanding of, and little direct working experience with, professional communication and the communication planning process. It is up to you to create the kind of positive working relationship that predisposes them to seek out and cooperate with the communicator on larger strategic communication plans.

Necessities are virtues

While you are delivering on management's routine expectations, stay alert to opportunities to expand those efforts into more significant strategic initiatives. Often a manager will already have a particular work product in mind - a publication, say, or a video. When this is the case, you will find that there is usually far less resistance to creating a more sophisticated plan around the need. In other words, it is an opportunity to get them to "trade up."

Today's employee communication arena is crowded with these opportunities. Most of us already have the responsibility for employee publications, videos and other products. But can we honestly say that we have tried to understand that work strategically?

Be realistic

While you are out there exploiting the strategic potential of basic communication activities, keep in mind that your planning initiatives must be well-grounded in the prevailing management doctrines. For example, if your company is embarked on a major effort to change reporting structures, to decentralize or to centralize responsibilities or realign certain operations, it will be difficult to gain acceptance for a communication plan that runs counter to these prevailing currents. Conversely, a plan that clearly supports those broader organizational efforts will find the going easier. "I Did It My Way" may be an appealing old Sinatra refrain, but it will never be the anthem for a successful communication plan.