As school leaders it is very likely that you have engaged in strategic planning with a focus on improving academic outcomes, employee recruitment, long-range capital needs, and myriad other issues and needs in your community. Likewise, administrators are increasingly understanding the value of improved communication and engagement with stakeholders including employees, current and prospective families of students in your system, business and community leaders, and other groups within your community otherwise not connected to the school system. Despite this acknowledgment from school leaders, many are uncertain about how to develop strategic communication plans effectively.
In the context of capital programs – or levy campaigns – we learned early on that it is often too late to begin building understanding and connections after the board of education has made a commitment to seek additional funding. In baseball terms, this would be equivalent to trying to change the starting pitcher in the third inning. Perhaps the more easily understood metaphor of building the airplane after take-off resonates for you. In either case, the better game plan, err, flight plan, is developed before the game begins.
Here are five tips to help you develop a game plan that will assist you in effectively building your strategic communications plan.
- Recruit
It’s imperative to build a team that includes multiple perspectives. Each team member must understand that, while they have their individual experiences and expertise, the purpose of the work is to improve communication in your school community. This is not the time to insulate yourself with “yes” people. - Research
Review and analyze current communication practices, processes, and protocols. This key step identifies strengths and opportunities for improvement. Further, the diverse team you have built should be able to identify actual and perceived gaps in existing practices. - Plan
It’s important to be realistic in choosing which area(s) are selected to be the focus of improvement efforts. Be sure to ask yourself what capabilities are in place to impact change. Perhaps improvement efforts are already in process related to an area identified by your team. If so, it is good to see alignment with what has been observed. However, be disciplined to stay the course with the identified area(s) to be addressed in this strategic planning effort. Remember, biting off too much can dilute the impact of improvement efforts and strain resources that will be needed to implement strategies and tactics. - Implement
Now that your team has narrowed its focus, it’s time to develop actionable and measurable steps to address the specific area of focus. Be intentional not to conflate goals, strategies and tactics. Your goal should be aspirational. For instance, “We want to increase traffic to our student registration website.” Strategies then define what you will do; this is your game plan. Tactics, therefore, are the “plays” that you will run to win the game. For example, a tactic in this example would be to design and launch an email drip campaign to your current families with information about the school registration process, timelines, and calls to action. - Evaluate
Often forgotten is the final and very important step of evaluating the outcome of your efforts. If you were seeking to effect outputs, this can be done quantitatively by simply counting the actual outputs. Or, if you seek to change outcomes such as attitudes and opinions, the evaluation can be conducted through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Most importantly, do not omit this vital step in your learning process.
Continuous learning
In the same way, coaches tweak a game plan with a new wrinkle or new play depending on the opponent leaning on results from prior games and experiences. Similarly, when you’ve reached the evaluation stage, be ready to show your community you have in fact listened and improved. The game never ends.
Not sure where to start? Your School Spirit PR team is here to help evaluate your current strategy and develop a game plan to help your school be more intentional about waving banners. Book a Huddle today.
