What do you do if your Strategic Communications team needs to enhance efficiency?

One of the critical components to effective and strategic communications that many teams especially in research based organizations seem to overlook is finances. Granted, research is the core business of the organization. When budgeting for scientific experiments and expertise for projects, it is important to engage communications specialists in realistically budgeting for strategic communications as a core deliverable of the program as opposed to leaving communications as an afterthought or add-on.

Alas ! Tis the age-old hunt for strategic comms efficiency! Sometimes, brilliant minds get stuck in brainstorm loops. May want to try this recipe: 1. Sprinkle in Speed Dating: Short, sharp meetings focused on specific goals. No time for tangents! 2. Dash of Delegation: Empower team members to own tasks, fostering accountability and focus. 3. Heaping Helping of Automation: Utilising tech to streamline repetitive tasks. More time for strategic thinking, less time for formatting. Hope it helps cook up some great strategic communications :) !

Setting up clear expectations about the tasks at hand with clear context helps the team in identifying their communication strategy .

Workflows need to be evaluated first and challenges or redundant processes eliminated to create a smoother flow. Using project management tools to allocate tasks will allow you to manage the tasks efficiently. Besides regular training, we can take an initiative to guarantee that the digital tools and communications trends are updated in a timely manner among all team members. Promoting the freedom of opinions reveals and allows discussions within the team which will finally result in more ideas that are innovative. The targeted method of the performance evaluation towards results’ goals and indicators assist to keep attention and promote effectiveness.

1o Know the market to the point of knowing what kind of products and/or digital content sell the most;2o Develop a strategy on how to reach these communities;3o Use the power of these communities to make my products or services known (related or not to products I sell). It will increase clicks; 4-o The Interaction Design will take care of the rest.

- In my experience, first of all you need t9 identify the opportunities to improve in your team. A good idea can be to implement a satisfaction survey. - Once you identify those opportunities, set with your team goals yo achieve those opportunities. Goals based on the smart model so that they can be easy to achieve and measure. - Always reinforce collaboration between the team. - Provide constant training and a reward system to celebrate achievements.

1. Define Clear Objectives: Establish specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for the Strategic Communications team. For instance, aim to increase content production by 20% within the next quarter, or improve response time to client inquiries by 30% within six months. 2. Enhance Collaboration: Set goals that foster better teamwork and collaboration within the team. For example, aim to implement a new project management system to streamline communication and task assignment, or conduct regular team-building activities to strengthen interpersonal relationships and boost morale.

List and make specific corrections to team activities that do not fit with the overall strategy, that do not fully utilize individual members in team activities, and that duplicate (or are inconsistent with) individual members' activities. Some activities will be reviewed, some will be reviewed for utilization (frequency, frequency, etc.), and some will be reviewed for responsibilities, which will be categorized and managed accordingly. Once the items to be revised are determined, a target date for completion is set and a specific schedule is determined. All correction items, improvement details, and schedules are shared among the team members to unify the team in one direction.

Once the needs are assessed, it's crucial to set clear and achievable goals. These goals should be aligned with the overall objectives of the team and the organization. Whether it's improving collaboration, streamlining processes, or enhancing creativity, having specific goals will guide the team towards measurable outcomes.

And there are those that will be allowed a space as outliers in the gaussian curve. These are the ones that will upset the balance from time to time such that would trigger evaluation of routines

Microsoft Copilot is an excellent generative AI tool that has literally changed my life, much like my iPhone did. Understanding your stakeholders' needs is critical. However, when conducting a discovery meeting, it’s challenging to facilitate the conversation and listen. With Copilot, you can transcribe the meeting and have it extract any necessary data based on the transcription. You can ask it which questions were not answered, what recurring themes emerged, or even what the tone of the meeting was, and it will provide an answer. It can even begin to draft an early strategy based on the conversation. If your stakeholder agrees to have Copilot record your conversations, you will never have to worry about valuable information slipping away.

Technology plays a significant role in enhancing efficiency. Identify and implement tools and platforms that can automate repetitive tasks, facilitate seamless communication, and improve project management. From communication apps to project management software, leveraging tech can streamline workflows and boost productivity.

Getting the right tech for the job is crucial for efficiency. Everyone is talking about AI, and it is super helpful for planning, content generation, and so much more, but don't discount good old organization tools. Having a comprehensive content calendar, good guidelines in place, and the right tools for efficiently creating what is needed day to day. If Excel does that job, you got it at a discount. If Hootsuite does it, then that works out too.

All issues and improvement items, as well as improvement methods and schedules, are shared among the members. We recommend the use of a platform solution for sharing. By selecting a platform that allows various information elements such as text, audio, video, schedules, spreadsheets, etc. to be shared via PC and smart phone, various information regarding team activities can be shared among members in real time. In addition, sharing on the platform should not be a one-way street and feedback from members should be accepted. It is important to share and give feedback at the same time.

The best approach for enhancing efficiency in a Strategic Communications team is to Leverage Tech. However, I disagree with the assumption that solely relying on technology guarantees improved efficiency. An example I've seen is teams investing heavily in various tech tools without considering their compatibility with existing workflows or staff capabilities, resulting in implementation challenges and limited efficiency gains. Therefore, while leveraging technology is crucial, it should be accompanied by a holistic approach that includes assessing needs, setting clear goals, providing staff training, monitoring progress, and adjusting tactics as needed to achieve optimal efficiency and productivity.

In today’s world a training example could include tailored training on social media analytics to save time and effort for a strategic communications team by enabling efficient data analysis, streamlined reporting, improved targeting, real-time monitoring, and measuring impact. With this training, the team can quickly identify key insights, generate automated reports, target their audience accurately, monitor conversations in real-time, and evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. This empowers them to make informed decisions, optimize their approach, and achieve their goals with less time and effort.

Investing in training tools is very important, but consider not just spending money to purchase commonly available tools, but also building something with your team that is relevant to your actual work. Project objectives, activity items, improvement items, and timelines. By managing and accumulating this information as a log of successes and failures, it can become an effective e-learning tool within the team.

Investing in training and development is essential for equipping the team with the skills and knowledge needed to excel. Provide opportunities for continuous learning, workshops, and upskilling programs tailored to the specific needs of the team. This not only enhances efficiency but also fosters a culture of growth and innovation.

In addition to sharing information and feedback on all team activities, we also monitor actual activities and share with the team the evaluation and review of activity deliverables. A loop of "Goal→Plan→Activity→Evaluation→Review→Replan" is set as a standard for all activities, and is shared among team members to ensure that the loop can be backed up.

This is pretty basic--but enhancing efficiencies across a comms team needs to starts with ensuring each team member is crystal clear on the organization's mission, how the comms team fits into that mission, and what each comms team member does to contribute to that mission. Importantly, this information must be socialized to colleagues across the organization. If not, your comms talents may be sidelined and pressured into projects outside of this scope, leading to employee burnout, poor customer service, and ultimately, a bad reputation within the organization, which has it's own set of terrible consequences. Of couse, in the event of a PR emergency, plans for flexibility (list of talent + how to shift priorities quickly) are needed.

Context in communications can change rapidly and professionals need to have the capacity to adapt fast. As in many other jobs, planning is key to set a baseline strategy with clear and SMART goals to be monitored and assessed regularly. If some tactics are not giving the expected results, do not hesitate too change them. And be prepared and flexible enough to respond to new, spontaneous needs.

I take a different perspective as a CEO of more than 35 companies over the years & a film producer. I look at the best qualified experts & let them make the decisions. I have learned that anyone who believes that they're qualified to do everything or can't deligate authority are the captains of a sinking ship. I was an actor & tried to get any part on movies that had good or great directors. As a producer it's nice to tell the difference from someone who's not in charge as an actor. How directors treat actors & crew members is important & if the supporting staff & actors are upset all the time that's in my opinion not a good director. I witnessed both kinds. Hire the best & you'll always look good because of your choices.

All six, provided “leverage tech” means deepening your reporting and analysis of comms messaging performance analytics, creating/enhancing your intake and prioritization process, and applying an air traffic control methodology. For your strategy to demonstrate ROI for the function and the business you need to consider innovating and deploying every fundamental element routinely.

Create detailed and coherent multi-scenario Standard Operating Procedures that contain a clause for their continual revision and updation. Such SoPs would enhance efficiency while maintaining reasonable flexibility and providing room for contingency. The SoPs should be built in an algorithmic (flow chart format) and provide broad instructions exhaustively (for all cases) and specific instructions for all critical (high impact and high likelihood) cases. SoPs enable process automation by facilitating easy monitoring and control.

From the top, there needs to be less red tape. There needs to be SOPs where certain processes need not be long and dragged out, that involves every single person. Too many cooks can spoil the broth. Then there needs to be a way to ensure that information from all departments is shared efficiently so that important initiatives are not missed out. This can be done through simple inter-department meetings or even a simple company-wide update email. I have heard of communications teams who are oblivious to the happenings in their own company because they were never informed. I am also a believer in using the help available, whether it is using tech to do media monitoring or using a PR Newswire for press release distribution.