Developing Your Collaboration Communication Plan

Show of hands – how many of you have in place a communication plan for your complex, multi-stakeholder initiative?

A well-designed and well-executed communication strategy can mean the difference between:

• Smooth rollout vs. Choppy rollout

• People feeling in the loop vs. Unpleasantly surprised

• Productive stakeholder engagement vs. Disengagement that undermines success

• On time and on budget vs. Overtime and over budget

• CollaborGREAT vs. Collabor(h)ate

Here’s my handy list of the first 12 questions to answer as you gear up to write a communication plan that supports the success of your complex, multi-stakeholder collaboration:

• Who are our internal and external stakeholders?

• What information will they want/need to know?

• At what level of detail?

• What do they not care about?

• How often should each stakeholder/group hear from us?

• Given their interests and concerns, what points will need to be emphasized in the communication?

• What do we want each stakeholder/group to do with the information we share?

• How could we structure our communications for maximum engagement and follow through?

• What established communication channels could we use to reach each stakeholder/group?

• How do we establish access to those channels?

• Who should the communication come from?

• Who on our team will be responsible for making sure those communications happen?

• Who will serve as our team’s single point of contact for general inquiries, input, etc?

What other questions would you add?

If you could use a hand avoiding the predictable pitfalls of complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives, email admin@debmashek.com. Let me help you drive impact and achieve your vision.