In Melcrum's guide to Strategic planning for internal communicators author Barbara Fagan-Smith, CEO of ROI Communication, urges practitioners to nail down the top business priorities when developing communication strategy and plans.

No matter what method you choose to devise your communication strategy says Fagan-Smith, it's crucial that your plans are refracted through the lens of the organization's key priorities.

Yet this is a notoriously difficult thing to pin down, she continues. Even if you ask a handful of senior executives what the top 4 or 5 strategic objectives are, you'll probably get several different answers. This is where your preparation before the communication planning session proves vital.

Rather than seek answers "cold" from your bosses, it's much more effective to first work it out for yourself offline – then take these pre-prepared answers to your CEO, boss or senior leader and ask: "Are these correct? Would you say these are our top priorities for the next year?" It's much easier for them to react to what's already been pulled together – and comment on it and amend it – than give an on-the-spot answer from nothing.

How to find out what the business priorities might be
Spend an afternoon before the meeting looking for any messages reiterated constantly across:

1. The chairman's message in the annual report
2. Senior management presentations to investors
3. Executive briefings and press interviews
4. Minutes of board meetings
5. CEO's webcasts/voicemails/all-hands emails

Pick out the 4 or 5 messages that crop up repeatedly across all of them. The likelihood is that they're the key strategic priorities. If you present them to a key leader and they agree, you now have something concrete and vital to add to the mix of comments pulled together in this step of the process.

This is an extract from Melcrum's practitioner's guide to Strategic planning for internal communicators.

Are you planning to attend the IABC 2008 International Conference in New York later this month? If so the Melcrum team would love to meet you! Come along to the Melcrum stand in the exhibition area and say hi.

See you next week!

P.S. Melcrum is also attending the VMA Group's summer drinks party on board HMS Belfast in London on 9th July. Come along and join us if you're in the London area.

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The Source for Communicators is a free resource for corporate communicators from Melcrum Publishing.
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