The Holy Grail Of Communications

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Created on Monday, 19 December 2011 18:56

By Jens Thomsen, Impact Brussels

I know I'm about to repeat myself, but I can't help it... I've already talked about the importance of consistancy in communications several times, and I'm now going to do it again.

Those of you that know me and have worked with me may think I'm a little obsessed about consistency and deadlines and you're partly right. In fact I'm really obsessed about consistency and deadlines in communications. Regularity is what gets your great content out there. Without rigorous deadlines and message consistency you don't have communications, only great content.

When you've identified your audience and picked the most effective communications channels it's time to start thinking about planning and executing your communications activities. And this is when consistency should come to your mind again.

Run through the various steps of your communications activities, from early planning to execution and follow-up, and try to identify the weak spots.

Do you have a clear format for your planning?

Is your planning infrastructure in place (procedure for collecting information, digital planning document that all involved can access etc.)?

Have you broken down your activities into daily, weekly and monthly tasks (including responsibilities)?

Do you and your colleagues possess the skills it takes to create your organisation's content or do you contract the development of the content, and who is actually going to do it?

Who will track the tasks and responsibilities in order to assure that everything gets done on time?

In each of these steps there is a risk that your activities can be delayed. This is certainly a risk if in the past your organisation has only had limited communications activity. Consistency must be anchored in planning procedures, work routines and the necessary infrastructure.

If for instance you find out too late that you have to create a new mailing list or html template before you can send out your press release or newsletter then there is a real risk that it'll not go out on time.

Resistance to change

Consistency, and the lack of it, is a strange animal, and it's often related to our resistance to change. We can be ever so gung-ho about the vision and perspective of initiating new activities, but when the enthusiasm about the end result is put to its test by the daily challenges of learning new things and changing the way we go about our work, resistance sets in.

Most of us can be amazingly consistent when it comes to producing reasons and excuses for not doing what for some reason we don't want to do – especially if that task is a new one that we have never done before. We may find the new task challenging because we have no clear idea about how to do it, or we may put it off because of fear of failure.

This can often be the case in communications activities where the result of our effort will potentially be seen, and evaluated, by many people. At least that's what many communicators feel if they are not experienced. They may fear that their writing skills are not up to the job and that other people will come to the same conclusion when they read their content.

Often people are not willing to admit their limiting thoughts about themselves, or they simply don't realise they have these thoughts. The result, however, remains the same; that things are left undone, deadlines are not met, and your communications become ineffective and fail.

Anticipate trouble

So if your organisation is still struggling with its communications, and if you're looking for ways to raise your game and improve your communications impact, consistency is it. Consistency is the holy grale of communications!

It hasn't got much to do with the creation of your messages and your content, but it's absolutely vital to the outcome of your communications activities. Get the infrastructure and work routines in place so your communications can become consistent, and you're at least 80 per cent done.

I cannot emphasise this enough: As simple as it may seem, consistency is really the hard part of communications. So sit down, take a look at your plans and ambitions and try to anticipate where in the proces you and your colleagues may run into trouble or fail.

You may be just fine, but spare your organisation the frustration of hitting a brick wall further down the road when indeed you could have spotted the problems well before you set out. Get your foundations for consistency in place and you're good to go.