Rainy day thoughts

If the day’s objective was to keep people in, it’s working. Cloudy skies, imminent rain and cooler temperatures are perfect tactics for a dreary day.

This kind of day is also good for reflection. And, maybe pulling together the parts of a communications plan. Pulling from my previous blogs, they look like this:

• Background
• Objective
• Audience
• Strategies
• Tactics
• Timeline

Now BOASTT! You have a story to tell or a message to deliver. You’ve dumped all your ideas down on paper or in Word and massaged them into the messages you want to deliver. Now, what does your plan look like?

Start by capturing some background. What’s the history behind the need for a communication and how will the change support the business needs?

What’s the objective? Think about what you ultimately want to achieve. What’s your end goal?

Who’s your target audience? Who needs to hear your message and how do they want to hear it? Knowing your audience and how they like to receive information will help drive out your communication strategies and subsequent tactics.

What strategies will you follow? You’ll need a plan of action. What actions will you take for each strategy, leading to achieving your goals?

Once you have your tactics, it’s time to put them into a timeline. Considering your audience and other events that are going on at the same time, when will you deliver your message?

If today’s objective was to bring keep people in, its strategies are failing… The sun is now out and things are drying up. I think it’s time to enjoy some fresh air!