Have you ever been in that position where someone senior says the comms team needs reviewing? I have, and it can be a worrying time. But actually it can be a very positive opportunity. And it can bring real attention and benefits to the team if done well.
by Darren Caveney
I’ve seen first hand the journeys many comms teams have travelled over both my own in-house career leading teams, plus the past 11 years as a comms consultant. I can think of some who have gone from rock bottom to best in class. Even for less arduous journeys there are lessons and benefits. The common thread is that many of these journeys begin with a comms review.
I believe that reviews these should be done in collaboration with the comms team to ensure it’s supportive and understanding, rather than some I have seen which have been imposed cold and sometimes dropped from a great height.
I have just completed another comms review and thought it might be helpful to share my top 7 lessons, and the benefits I think they bring.
1. Follow the money
Comms spend frequently exists in other departments in my experience. And this presents a couple of problems. First off, it’s unfair if comms teams are being cut but this other spend goes unnoticed. And secondly, it can see departments commissioning work and activity which isn’t always fit for purpose.
Often these other budgets, posts and activities are called something else or coded 'creatively' so it isn't easily identifiable. Which raises a red flag for me.
On a lower level, this activity might include things like print or advertising. On a larger level it could be the commissioning of say a pr agency without a conversation with the central comms team taking place.
Either way, that activity, and those decisions, should sit with the central comms team to ensure effectiveness, value for money and alignment with organisational priorities.
Making friends with the right person in the Finance team is important to undertake a proper financial review here to understand the true scope of comms spend by an organisation. Plus it will often provide the evidence of a better way to use these funds.
2. Mind the gap - Measuring and understanding skills
It sounds a daft question but do you fully know what is in your team, and are individual skills being best deployed? It can be easy to overlook the assets you sit on when they are cajoled into sometimes dated structures.
Do you use a skills matrix to assess strengths, and gaps, across a team and the people in it? I use a skills matrix in my reviews and have found it really useful.
Do this well and it will really help to shape both your new learning and development plan for the year ahead, plus highlight possible areas for change in terms of comms delivery.
3. Are you well structured?
Is your current comms structure still fit for purpose?
As the role of comms has evolved over the past decade some team structures have been left behind. Is yours set up to deliver, or is it set up to fall short and hold you back?
A comms review can really help to put a spotlight on this, particularly amongst your senior leaders who might think that things are fine as they are.
4. Comms for comms
How is your own internal self promotion going? Does the team do this, and if so how, where and when?
What does best practice look like here - how do others do it and what can we learn? Sad man that I am I collect many examples of these resources and I really believe the best ones can make a real difference to how teams can be perceived internally.
We are all storytellers but telling our own story has to be a priority for us. Who else will tell it for us otherwise, and will they tell it accurately?
5. Work demand vs our corporate priorities
It’s vital to check in on this every year to ensure focus and to not get drawn into what I call ‘demand drift’ (which is easily done, as we know)
We have talked endlessly about priorities for years now but organisations aren’t always good at it and nowhere does this play out as clearly as in comms.
I remember a review where a chief exec told me that the comms team wasn’t strategic enough. I cheekily asked if the organisation was strategic enough. Comms very often reflects the wider organisation here. Everyone has a role to play in being strategic and having clarity on what the team will deliver - and more importantly, what it won’t.
There are simple exercises we can undertake to asses work demand vs real priorities - either during a review or as a solo exercise - I think it’s time really well spent.
6. How are we doing? What others think.
This can be informed by point number 4 but it’s important to ask the question of our relevant stakeholders. They may think we’re performing better - or worse - than we think we are. There could be a perception gap we don’t fully understand if we don’t check in and ask the right questions.
Any good comms review will include this step.
And all key stakeholders should be asked the question, not just the friendly ones.
7. Take the wins
Often when a review happens it's because someone somewhere thinks there is an issues with comms. In the reviews I have delivered, this is sometimes true but certainly not always.
Every team does good things and we should celebrate these wins and build from them. In my experience we rarely have to tear everything up and begin from absolute scratch following a review.
Telling people where they have done well is extremely important, especially right now where there are a lot of pressurised comms people and teams. Comms has never been harder so a good review will take the opportunity to highlight good work and successes.
If you haven’t undertaken a review of your comms team for a while the summer could be an ideal time to do so. If you want to pick my brains, or ask me to help, you can shout me HERE.
Darren Caveney is creator and owner of comms2point0 and creative communicators ltd and organiser of the UnAwards.
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