How Communication Professionals Can Become More Strategic

How Communication Professionals Can Become More Strategic

For communication professionals, being strategic is a fundamental requirement for career advancement and having a solid reputation among the senior leadership team or clients. Yet, many professionals find themselves perplexed by feedback to ‘think big picture’ without concrete guidance on achieving this.

So, how can communication professionals broaden their strategic thinking? It starts with changing your mindset and recognizing that strategic thinking is essential at every organizational level. It’s less about your job title and more about what you bring to the role.

Here are four concrete steps to build your strategic thinking capabilities.

Observe and Seek Trends

To be strategic, you must deeply understand industry contexts and trends. Focusing on transactional tasks prevents you from seeing the larger picture necessary for effective and relevant communication strategies for your organization and the industry in which it operates. Adopt these fundamental practices to enhance your strategic vision:

  • Regularly explore and synthesize internal trends relevant to your daily work.
  • Connect with peers within and outside your organization to discuss observations and share insights across your network.
  • Understand and articulate how your role impacts the broader corporate strategy.

Ask Tough Questions

Strategic thinking involves questioning the status quo and considering various perspectives. When you start to question the impact of your projects, you begin to see more possibilities and develop better strategies. Consider the below questions to guide your thinking:

  • What does success look like in the short-term and long-term?
  • What potential challenges could arise, and how can they be mitigated?
  • How do the outcomes align with the overall goals of the organization?

Sound Strategic

The way you communicate can influence others’ perception of your strategic capabilities. As communication professionals, we’re good at articulating our organization’s key messages. It’s time to apply the playbook to ourselves and how we want to be seen and heard. Consider the following steps to articulate your viewpoint:

  • Structure your communication logically and succinctly.
  • Prepare your audience for high-level discussions by outlining critical topics in advance.
  • Start conversations with your main point rather than building up to it.

Prioritize Thinking Time

Strategic thinking also requires dedicated time for reflection, a willingness to engage in challenging discussions and embracing the unknown. Communication professionals must pivot often, work with less information and fewer resources, and deliver requests ‘yesterday’. Allow for thinking time (or dot-connecting time) in your schedule so that when you’re required to shift priorities, you have considered the ramifications on other tasks.

  • Use tools like Stephen Covey’s urgency-importance matrix to manage your commitments.
  • Block out time for reflection and treat it with the same respect as other meetings.
  • Embrace debate and use neutral peers as sounding boards for your ideas.

Developing strategic thinking skills involves more than just understanding your industry—it requires a shift in how you observe, reflect, communicate and act. As you begin implementing these practices, you may initially feel out of your comfort zone, and that’s a good thing. We work well when we’re challenged to think beyond what we know. By adopting practices that encourage strategic thinking, communication professionals enhance their impact, develop a reputation for getting things done and advance in their careers.

Alex Armasu

Founder & CEO, Group 8 Security Solutions Inc. DBA Machine Learning Intelligence

6 个月

Grateful for your post!

Alex Malouf

“Rising Star” communications professional; am passionate about storytelling and reputation building in emerging markets

6 个月

It’s often used as a copout as well Maliha Aqeel PMP, SCMP, MC, especially when there’s no examples shared and it’s the only feedback given.

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