How do you measure and evaluate the effectiveness of your project communication?

1 Define your communication objectives

Before you can measure and evaluate your project communication, you need to define what you want to achieve with your communication. What are the specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives of your communication plan? For example, do you want to increase awareness, knowledge, trust, satisfaction, or participation among your target audiences? Do you want to influence their attitudes, behaviors, or actions related to the project? How will you know if you have met your objectives?

2 Identify your communication indicators

Once you have defined your communication objectives, you need to identify the indicators that will help you measure and evaluate your communication performance. Indicators are the variables that show the progress or impact of your communication activities. They can be quantitative (such as numbers, percentages, or rates) or qualitative (such as opinions, feedback, or stories). For example, some common communication indicators are reach, frequency, engagement, quality, feedback, and outcomes.

3 Choose your communication methods and tools

After you have identified your communication indicators, you need to choose the methods and tools that will help you collect and analyze the data related to your indicators. Methods are the ways of gathering and processing the data, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation, or content analysis. Tools are the instruments or platforms that support the methods, such as questionnaires, forms, software, or social media analytics. For example, you can use a survey tool to collect feedback from your stakeholders, or a social media analytics tool to measure your online reach and engagement.

4 Implement your communication evaluation plan

When you have chosen your communication methods and tools, you need to implement your communication evaluation plan according to your communication objectives and indicators. This means that you need to collect the data at the appropriate time and frequency, analyze the data using the appropriate techniques and tools, and report the findings and recommendations to the relevant stakeholders. For example, you can collect baseline data before you launch your communication campaign, monitor the data during the campaign, and collect final data after the campaign ends.

5 Interpret and use your communication evaluation results

The final step of measuring and evaluating your project communication is to interpret and use your communication evaluation results to improve your communication strategy and practice. This means that you need to compare the results with your objectives and indicators, identify the strengths and weaknesses of your communication activities, and draw conclusions and recommendations for future actions. For example, you can use your communication evaluation results to adjust your communication plan, budget, channels, messages, or tactics.

6 Learn and share your communication evaluation lessons

The last but not least step of measuring and evaluating your project communication is to learn and share your communication evaluation lessons with your project team and other stakeholders. This means that you need to document and communicate the key findings, insights, and best practices of your communication evaluation process and results, and use them to inform and inspire your current and future projects. For example, you can create a communication evaluation report, presentation, or infographic, and share it with your project sponsors, partners, beneficiaries, or peers.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?