A communication plan is an essential tool of human resources, marketing, public relations management and corporate affairs. It is a road map for receiving your message across to your audience. Time spending on your approach will increase your ability to reach your preferred outcome.

Steps for creating a communication plan

  1. Choose your communications goals and objectives
  2. Select your target audience
  3. How often should you communicate
  4. How to communicate the results
  5. Select what resources are available for communicating

Choose your communications Goals and Objectives

Initially, decide the goals that they are supposed to extent with the communication plan. The goals of your plan should weave nicely with the goals of the assessment.  Be different as a result of communicating. Some probable goals may be:

  1. Increase the awareness of your program among the key leaders
  2. Increase the number of people participating in your program
  3. Raise funds for your program

Some strategies will help to consider your evaluation are:

  1. Announcing the results to interested people
  2. Motivating important groups toward change
  3. Educating audiences to use the information you are sharing
  4. Decision making helps to future program users

Gaols and objectives

Select your Target Audience

In developing a communication plan, one has to consider different audiences who will accept and evaluate the results. Probable audiences can be both internal and external and they should be identified early in the evaluation process. If there are multiple audiences in the evaluation process, it may require a different communication strategy for each audience. Some examples of audiences to be include:

  1. Potential and Present funders
  2. Policymakers
  3. Stakeholders
  4. The media
  5. General public
  6. Other

Target audience

How often should you communicate?

Sometimes you have to communicate your temporary results before the total evaluation process is completed. Share your results frequently which can influence the pace of your evaluation efforts. Funders may require quarterly or semi-annual results and the media may see the results once at the end of the project. Results are shared more often and as soon as possible you should identify, when different constituents need to review results.

How to communicate the results?

In various types of ways the results can be communicated. Media, software and other formats are available to communicate the evaluation results with targeted constituents. Based on the audience the medium required to communicate will differ. Constituents may communicate in a timely manner with an appropriate method of communication. Funders may have to see executive summary of results and Press members of may interview skilled individual. Make sure that members of your assessment team are happy with numerous communications formats.

Communication Results

Choose what resources are available for communicating

Depending on the availability of staff, funds, and other resources you can communicate your results. Explore other organizations, departments, and units that are willing to support the communications plan or be a willing partner to maximize efforts. Search for “free” or donated resources to save time and resources. The following services support for communicating the final evaluation results:

  1. Publishing
  2. Disseminating
  3. Editing
  4. Printing

If the message is controversial, you have to plan for a face to face communication.To generate awareness, written communication is sufficient. Communication Resources