COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT PLAN

PROJECT:
OWNER:
IMPLEMENTATION TIMEFRAME:

Situation analysis/context

Describe the current environment and the need for the project.

Communications purpose

What is the reason for communicating with staff? Is it to change raise awareness? Is it to change behaviour?

Planned outcomes/objectives

What are some of the milestone achievements that will demonstrate that you are on track to achieve your purpose?

Planned outcome / Measurement tool / Target

Issues analysis

It is useful to consider what issues might exist in the environment into which you are communicating. By understanding issues (perceived or real) you can:

-manage your project in such a way as to mitigate the issues

-develop a strategic communications response to the issues/perceived issue

Issue/Perceived issue / Potential impact / Strategic response

Target audience

The UON workforce is large and diverse. It is important to consider which cohorts are most relevant to your project.

Some useful stakeholder groups for internal communications include:

-Executive Committee

-Heads of Schools

-Unit Directors

-Faculty Associate Directors

-School Executive Officers

-PAs to Pro Vice-Chancellors

-Business Partners (HRS, Finance)

-Staff engagement reference group

-Early career researcher group

STAKEHOLDER
/STAKEHOLDER GROUP / INTEREST:
What is this stakeholder hoping the project will achieve? What do they stand to gain from the project? / CONCERN:
What are they worried about? What has potential to cause a negative response?

Key messages

Having the right messages is a critical aspect of any communications plan. Messages will help you shape your narrative and call your audience to action. Key messages should be clear, concise and active statements that are delivered consistently.They may need to be tailored to different audiences or be ‘chunked’ around core concepts or components of the project.

Communication channels

There are numerous communication channels available for communicating with staff.

Channel / Target audience / Content / Frequency / Format
Website – current staff landing page / All staff / Awareness raising – major initiatives/events / As required / Online
Website – staff update / All staff / Reminder – deadline / As required / Online
Website – news/events / All staff / News and events relevant to staff / As required / Online
In the Loop / All staff / Celebratory, what’s on / Fortnightly / HTML email
Leadership Brief / All staff via managers/
supervisors / Behind-the-scenes, strategic progress / Monthly / Cascading brief
Screen savers / All staff / Various (minimal text) / As required / Image file
Training/Workshops / HR lead sessions on a particular subject/ / As required / Face-to-face/online

A range of locally managed communications channels may be useful to include in planning, including:

-Email

-Team meetings

-Faculty/Division newsletters

-Faculty/Division/School/Unit meetings

-Yammer (informal)

Materials

In addition to digital material, some communications programs might call for the production of hard copy materials.

Item / Quantity / Distribution channels / Budget
eg. A6 Postcards / 500 / Internal mail / $200

Action plan

Action / Date / Date / Date / Date / Date
eg. In the Loop
Schedule meetings with Faculty AD’s