A communications audit is an excellent way of finding out how effective your internal and external communications really are and improving the performance of your organisation.
If you would like advice on carrying out a communications audit in your organisation contact me for an initial discussion.
Why carry out a communications audit?
Key questions to consider:
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How well do you communicate with your employees and key stakeholders?
- Do your employees understand the strategic goals and objectives of your organisation, and how they can contribute to success?
- If the answer to the above is Yes, can the same be said for your stakeholders?
- Is information cascaded easily through your organisation or does it get stuck at middle management level?
- Which are the most effective channels of communication in your organisation, how do people really know what’s going on – is it through the grapevine or your weekly email update?
Benefits of a communications audit
A communications audit:
- Gives you a picture of how communications work in your organisation.
- Tells you what works and what doesn’t (and why) whether it’s newsletters, websites, blogs or face to face communications.
- Uses a systematic approach, combining methods such as one to one interviews, focus groups and surveys with key audiences.
It benefits the organisation because:
- The process itself helps to engage stakeholders. Provided they know that they are being listened to, people generally welcome the opportunity to give their views and improve their communication styles.
- It demonstrates commitment to investing in good communications in your organisation.
- It gives you practical recommendations to improve your communications.
- It can be a key driver for culture change.
Top tips for conducting a communications audit
- Identify the objectives of the communications audit and what resources will be needed to carry this out.
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Use the communications audit as a tool to improve the effectiveness of your organisation. There is no point in conducting an audit just for the sake of collecting data, it has to be a driver for change.
Measure yourself against the best in your field - think about how well you rate in comparison to organisations that are considered to be the best. - Make sure the process is robust, don’t just dust down the old employee survey or ask a few people close to you random questions about communications.
- It takes time, commitment and resources to transform the way an organsation communicates. Once you have implemented the recommendations of an audit keep communications under review, make sure it remains a priority in the way you do things in your organisation.
Contact Roma for further advice.
