COMMUNICATING THE STRATEGY

COMMUNICATING THE STRATEGIC planOtto Tawanda ChisiriYou may spend hours as a management team working tirelessly on your organizations strategic plan. Data is reviewed, the future envisioned, and words are put onto paper.

You may be confident in your strategic plan and energized about your path forward. But What do you really have? A piece of paper. INTRODUCTIONIt continues to be a piece of paper until it is communicated. A vision is only that until someone acts on it A strategy is only that until someone acts on itA goal is only that until someone acts on it.Everything you need to get done is through people.Getting your strategic plan to the right stakeholders at the right time is crucial to its success.Each stakeholder may have their view, their filter, their domain, and their livelihood they are concernedabout and protect against change. It is critical to know as many stakeholders as possible, what they can contribute, or how they depend on the strategic plan. The best case is that stakeholders improve the project roll out and adoption.

COMMUNICATING THE STRATEGIC PLANWho are these stakeholders?They include: employees, customers, managers, business units, executives, suppliers, partners, vendors, and departments; groups as well as individuals. Prior to the implementation of the strategic plan it is important to identifythese groups and individualswho have a stake in the success, and failure, and make sure that we understand the key concerns and motivations of these audiences in order tomitigate risk of over looking or under appreciating their position.This is ensured through stakeholder collaboration or stakeholder management.

Identify potential advocates and critics of the change;Eliminate resistance to change;Create a team atmosphere;Establish a level of trust;Create a sense of ownership for participants involved in the change; andRaise the level of communication effectiveness

Why is it important to collaborate with stakeholders?The INFOM model may be used in effective Stakeholder Collaboration.INFORM is a an acronym for Stakeholder Identify Analysis Norminate Feel Observe Manage MaSTAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION- PROCESSES

This initial step is where you brainstorm who your stakeholders are. As part of this, think of all the people who are affected by your strategic plan, who have influence or power over it, or have an interest in its successful or unsuccessful conclusion.You cant start communicating with stakeholders until you know who they are. Who are the main groups or departments affected by your strategic plan? Stakeholders can also be external to your organisation like the government and third party providers as well.IDENTIFYSenior executivesShareholders Governments

employeesSuppliersThe pressMiddle level managersLendersCustomersBudget officerThe publicProspective customersFuture recruitsThe communityIDENTIFYING PROCESSThe table below shows some of the people who might be stakeholders of the strategic plan.Remember that although stakeholders may be both organizations and people, ultimately you must communicate with people. Make sure that you identify the correct individual stakeholders within a stakeholder organization.IDENTIFY THE STAKEHOLDERS FOR YOUR STRATEGIC PLAN.INCLUDE BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS.CLASS EXERCISE 1

You may now have a list of people and organizations that are affected by your work.Some of these may have the power either to block or to advance. Some may be interested in what the success of the strategic plan and others may not care.The next important step is the nominating process which involves pointing out key people and prioritizing them.NOMINATING PROCESSYou prioritize the stakeholders by mapping out stakeholders on a Power/Interest Grid, classifying them by their power over the intended project and by their interest in it.NORMINATING PROCESS

For example, the senior leaders(top executives) are likely to have high power and high interest over the strategic plan. General employees may have high interest, but are unlikely to have power over it.Someone's position on the grid shows you the communication actions you have to take with them:High power, interested people: these are the people you must fully engage and make the greatest efforts to satisfy.High power, less interested people: put enough work in with these people to keep them satisfied, but not so much that they become bored with your message. Inform that which is relevant to them.

NORMINATING PROCESSLow power, interested people: keep these people adequately informed, and talk to them to ensure that no major issues are arising. These people can often be very helpful with the implementation hence they need to know exactly what is expected of them. Low power, less interested people: again, monitor these people, but do not bore them with excessive communication.NORMINATING PROCESSYou need to know more about key stakeholders. You may find that key people nominate themselves, which makes your role easier: it is better to work with people who want to be involved than those who you have to drag into the project. Your key, nominated stakeholders should ideally be people who are directly affected, with enough authority to make decisions about things that touch their departments. They are the person who you will use to channel communication back to their group.Prioritise the stakeholders on the list you have made earlier.High power, interested peopleHigh power, less interested peopleLow power, less interested peopleLow power, interested peopleNominate the key stake holders where appropriate.

EXERCISE 2

Begin to analyse the attitudes of the people who have been nominated as your key stakeholders: those named individuals who represent each stakeholder group. Contact them and explain about the strategic plan. Get them onboard and coming to meetings if necessary. All this will help you understand how they feel about the strategic plan.Do they support the it? Or would they rather it went in another way?FEEL

Key questions that can help you understand your stakeholders are:

What financial or emotional interest do they have in the outcome of the strategic plan? Is it positive or negative?What motivates them most of all?What information do they want from you?How do they want to receive information from you? What is the best way of communicating your message to them?What is their current opinion of your work as a leader? Is it based on good information?Who influences their opinions generally, and who influences their opinion of you?

Do some of these influencers therefore become important stakeholders in their own right?If they are not likely to be positive opinions, what will win them around to support the strategic plan ?If you don't think you will be able to win them around, how will you manage their opposition?Who else might be influenced by their opinions? Your initial stakeholder analysis is now complete.

A very good way of answering these questions is to talk to your stakeholders directly people are often quite open about their views, and asking people's opinions is often the first step in building a successful relationship with them.This can be summarized a stakeholder map, so that you can easily see which stakeholders are expected to be blockers or critics, and which stakeholders are likely to be advocates and supporters for your project. A good way of doing this is by colour coding: showing advocates and supporters in green, blockers and critics in red, and others who are neutral in orange.

You can see that a lot of effort needs to be put into persuading Piers and Michael of the benefits of the project Janet and Amanda also need to managed well as powerful supporters.STAKEHOLDER MAPOn your key stakeholder list who are (or potential) the critics/blockers; supporters/advocators and neutral stakeholders? And also indicate the amount of influence and interest that they have got. What actions can you take to get more from your supporters or win over your critics?EXERCISE 2

Having established where your key stakeholders sit in relation to the strategic plan you can start to influence their attitudes mainly by means of communication.The aim is to watch people over time, and help them move towards a positive way of thinking: a way that will help you achieve your goals.Keep a close eye on people as their opinions will swing between positive and negative over the life of the strategic plan.

OBSERVEA one-off analysis exercise is never enough: you have to continually monitor how people are reacting and manage accordingly.

Think Through What You Want From Each StakeholderIdentify messages you need to convey to them.Action and Plan the means of CommunicationThe last step is to monitor and manage your stakeholders and their expectations as the strategic plan progresses not just at the outset and when you need something from them.Put a note in your diary to touch base with your key stakeholder representatives every now and then just to keep them up to date. MANAGE

You can use the opinions of the most powerful stakeholders to shape the strategic plan at an early stage. Not only does this make it more likely that they will support you, their input can also improve the quality of the plan.Gaining support from powerful stakeholders can help you to win more resources. BENEFITS OF COMMUNICATING WITH THE STAKEHOLDERSBy communicating with stakeholders early and often, you can ensure that they know what you are doing and fully understand the benefits of the strategic plan - this means they can support you actively when necessary.Who does what to communicate the strategic plan?The following are suggested roles and responsibilities:

ASSIGN ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIESProvides overall leadership and guidance to the organization regarding the strategic planFormally and informally communicates the published strategic plan to the workforce, customers, and stakeholdersChampions the change that the plan representsWorks with the budget officer to plan for resource allocation to implement the strategic plan.SENIOR LEADERDevelops the best method for formally communicating the planChampions the strategic plan within own area of responsibilitiesCommunicates with employees about progress and lessons learnedAligns own department, division, etc., with the strategic plan.Senior Leadership TeamSupport the planPresent employee briefings or hold Q&A sessions on the planTranslate strategies and objectives into action implications for employeesAlign current work activities with the strategic planMid-Level ManagersSupports the planPlans ways to incorporate strategic plan resource initiatives into the budgeting processBudget OfficerHow should the plan be shared with the organization?The method by which the senior leadership team chooses to communicate the plan is extremely important. On the following slide are matrices of printed, oral, and technological communication tools that can be used, their benefits, and how to use them.Communicate the plan constantly and consistentlyAdvice: The formal communication of the published strategic plan should be handled as a special event to mark a new beginning, a focus on the future. Choose a combination of methods that will most effectively demonstrate to employees that this plan is real and will be implemented.None of the printed or technological tools should be used without personal involvement from the senior leadership team. Caution: If the organization had a previous strategic plan that was unsuccessful, employees may express cynicism toward the concept of strategic planning. If this is the case, it is important to build acceptance and support for the plan during the plan completion phase.If this is not done before formally communicating the plan, cynicism may deepen.Printed Tools

Benefits

How to UseBrochureConveys the strategic plan to the organization without a lot of detailDistribute to all employees at a special all-hands session and at new employee orientationsLetter/Memo Explains the strategic plan in the words of the senior leader Distribute to all employees to communicate the plan and its progress

Laminated Cards Are portableHelp employees focus on the planConvey the strategic plan to the organization without a lot of detail Use to focus on basics of planInternal Communication Tools- PrintedContdPrinted ToolsBenefitsHow to UsePostersRemind employees of the plan Display in common areas in the organizationStrategic plan/quality newsletterEducates the workforce in detail about the strategic plan and planning processKeeps the workforce informed of strategic plan accomplishmentsShares progress reportsEmphasizes commitmentShows the plans link with everyday workKeeps the focus on the plan Use the first issue to communicate the plan and the process Use subsequent issues to communicate progress, results, lessons learned, and new strategic initiatives Distribute to all employeesContd Printed ToolsBenefitsHow to UseSenior leadersarticle in thenewsletter Shows senior leader commitment Keeps employees informed and focused on the plan Senior leader writes about strategic planning and provides updates in theorganizations newsletterOral ToolsOral ToolsBenefits

How to UseAll-hands meetings Encourage Q&A on the part of employees Reinforce senior leader commitment Senior leader calls an all-hands to introduce and explain the plan Discuss strategic plan and progressBriefing materialswith a script Ensure consistency of message by leaders Show commitment to the plan Distribute to each department head and mid-level manager to explain to their employees Must be regularly updated May require a brief training sessionOral ToolsBenefitsHow to UseDepartmentmeetings Show senior leader commitment Relate plan to everyday work Keep employees informed on a regular basis Department heads hold departmental meetings to communicate the plan and share progress reports May require briefing materials so that all department heads convey the same information Hold meetings after plan review sessions with the senior leadership teamFocus groups Offer open forum for ideas and questions Hold focus groups to answer questions about the planQ&A sessions Allow employees to ask questions Hold after a department or all hands meeting at the subgroup levelContdOral ToolsBenefits

How to UseSpecial kick-offevent Involves all employees and leaders directly Educates and provides direction on the plan Encourages employees to participateNew employeeorientation Familiarizes the new employee with the plan Shows organizational and senior leadership commitment Allows them time to figure out how they can contribute Establish a special section devoted to strategic planningTechnological ToolsTechnologicaltoolsBenefits

How to UseVideotapes/Teleconferencing Provides a means of communication for an organization that has multiple sites in remote or dispersed locationsProvides a consistent message Videotape the senior leader explaining the plan to the organization Distribute to each department/ division/site with copies of the written plan and a letter explaining the purpose of the videotape Choose a point of contact at each site to answer questions (the senior leader of the site)E-mail Is accessible to all employees Easy to update Communicates the plan and progress updates Messages should come from the senior leader All employees must have e-mail accessibility All employees may not read sent messages, so this is not a substitute for personal interface with the seniorLeader43THANKY YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTIONTHE END