effective communications: how to develop a communications plan

© 2016 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

While you are waiting for our webinar to begin - A few housekeeping items to check out:

Have a Question Click the Question tab and submit your questions to our analyst and host.

Presentation Dial-in information if you are unable to attend via VoIP

If you have any difficulties, please email [email protected].

? To keep up to date on Gartner’s webinars follow @Vickier0729 on Twitter and Vickie Romanchuk on LinkedIn. For a broader insight into Gartner you can find us @Gartner_inc on Twitter and Gartner on LinkedIn.

Visit our Attachment Tab and Download:

Effective Communications: How to Develop a Communications Plan

Heather ColellaResearch VP for Gartner’s Office of the CIO

9 years at Gartner, 34 years Industry experience

For a broader insight into Gartner you can find us: @Gartner_inc on Twitter and Gartner on LinkedIn.

@HeatherColella

https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathercolella

https://twitter.com/Gartner_inc

https://www.linkedin.com/company/2078

https://twitter.com/HeatherColella






3 © 2016 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Enterprises with effective communications:

Have a 19% higher market premium

Experience 57% higher shareholder returns

Are 4.5 times more likely to report high levels of employee engagement

Are 20% more likely to report lower turnover

The Sky is the Limit for Companies Who Communicate Effectively

Source: Watson Wyatt Communication ROI Study


11 types of communications commonly used by CIOs and IT leaders

The importance of understanding your stakeholders as part of the

communications process

How to develop a communications plan

In today’s webinar we will explore…

Great communication inspires action and commitment and drives better business outcomes.


There is a proven strategy used in an effective communications process

Organizations that get the full

benefits of effective

communications have their people

consciously manage this

communications strategy each and

every time they communicate—this

applies to the policy process as

well


STEP #1 Start with the end in mind


The communications core consists of 11 tools

1. IT Strategy

2. Performance Dashboards

3. IT Policies

4. Satisfaction Surveys

5. IT Updates

6. Transformation Management

7. Portfolio Reprioritization through Governance

8. Board Updates

9. Major Project Failure

10. Security Breach

11. Changes in Leadership

The Communications

Core

Specific Events

Difficult Communications


Other outcomes include….

• Improve how IT is perceived in the enterprise

• Engage the board in a meaningful conversation about strategy

• Mature the IT organization in its processes

• Forge a tighter relationship with the CMO

• ….and the list goes on


IT Strategy: The Single Most Powerful Tool in Your Arsenal Is Your Strategy

A Great Strategy:

Is Visionary

Is Clear

Is Succinct

Tells a story

Uses your industry as the IT analogy

Brings the unknown into focus


Opportunity:

- Display a trailer list to the mobile app.

- Add the capability to “like” trailers or add trailer to a movie watch list.

- Notify the customer when tickets go on sale for movies on their watch list.

This trailer is great!

I want to share with my

friends.

Can someone bring me popcorn?

Box office lines were really long!

Opportunity:

- Add “movie mode” to the mobile app.

- Send a notification to the mobile app asking the guest to activate “movie mode”.

Opportunity:

- Add native ticketing to the mobile app.

- Streamline the mobile transaction.

Opportunity:

- Add the concession purchasing to the mobile app.

- Send order to the guest’s reserved seat.

Example

11 © 2016 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.11 © 2016 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

STEP #2 Stakeholder communication can be complex, consciously manage the complexities


Map desired outcomes along a continuum, then plan the interactions


A formal stakeholder analysis provides important insight into what ‘like groups’ need


A formal stakeholder analysis provides important insight into individual needs and preferences

15 © 2016 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.15 © 2016 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

STEP #3 Create and work a communications plan


Communication plan components

Goals What needs to be accomplished?

Communicator Who is going to say it?

Stakeholder Targets To whom?

Message Content What exactly will they say?

Delivery Method How?

Delivery Frequency When? How often?

Feedback Did you achieve your goal?

Measures How do you know?

Communication Plan Components


Communications Plan: IT Strategy


Communications Plan: Performance Dashboards


Communication Type: IT policies.

Purpose: IT policies help create consistent action within the IT organization. They provide a framework for daily

decision making that enables the organization to continually deliver to excellent standards. To achieve these goals,

those impacted by the policies must have a clear understanding of what they are supposed to do relative to each

policy.

Communicator: The announcement of policies can be made via the service desk. Policies can also be

announced and stored within the project management office (PMO). The most important policies should be reinforced

during IT updates, by either the departmental leader who owns the policy or the CIO (See "Effective Communications:

IT Updates" ).

Stakeholders: Stakeholder targets should include IT personnel who will be impacted by the policies and the IT

organization overall in order to inform all involved about changes impacting end users relative to service-level

agreements. (See "Effective Communications: Stakeholder Analysis" ).

Messages: Present a clear definition of the policy — who will use it, when and where it applies, and how results will

be measured. This will help to establish consistent performance boundaries and lead to improved operational

performance. Helping people understand why the procedural changes are being made and explaining any related

exceptions are critical to enabling great performance. Ongoing monitoring of the policy is key to ensuring it is

consistently followed and still meets business needs.

Delivery method: Policies can be delivered as part of service desk packages or through tools such as Microsoft

Office SharePoint Server. Push out changes via IT update meetings and summaries to reinforce their importance and

ensure that those impacted are hearing the same message. Also, consider posting policy changes in a common

location so the entire IT organization can access them.

Delivery frequency: IT policies are time-sensitive and should be immediately communicated to those who will

be impacted. They should also be reviewed on a regular basis by impacted department members to ensure they are

continually reminded of their responsibilities. Wherever possible, build the review of IT policies into IT processes to

create "just in time" application of relevant policies. For example, prior to implementing a change to the network, have

network administrators review relevant policies.

Feedback: During the development of policies, solicit feedback from a core group of individuals who will be

impacted by them. Include the people you are developing to become future leaders; this is an opportunity for them to

demonstrate their leadership skills and thought processes. Consider rolling out a draft version to all impacted for

review and input, as well as auditing where appropriate.

Measures of success: Over time, the consistent rhythm and style of delivering policies can improve the ability

of the IT organization to incorporate changes because personnel know what to do and when. Organizational

performance should therefore improve as measured in the performance dashboards.

Communications Plan for IT Policies

http://www.gartner.com/document/code/171069?ref=grbody&refval=1726741

http://www.gartner.com/document/code/171069?ref=grbody&refval=170514


Communications Plan: IT Updates


The communications core consists of 11 tools

1. IT Strategy

2. Performance Dashboards

3. IT Policies

4. Satisfaction Surveys

5. IT Updates

6. Transformation Management

7. Portfolio Reprioritization through Governance

8. Board Updates

9. Major Project Failure

10. Security Breach

11. Changes in Leadership

The Communications

Core

Specific Events

Difficult Communications

Communicate regularly

to demonstrate IT’s ability to

be great with the basics.

“Don’t wait for a crisis to

communicate—there will

be more questions about

who you are than about

your message.”

Be proactive and tie everything

to the strategy/vision.


Recommendations

Adopt a strategy for continuous communications

Know the outcome you want to achieve

Formalize a stakeholder analysis

Develop a vision for the organization —vision is the CIO's signature

Create an integrated IT communications plan that addresses the who, what, when, where, how and why for every interaction


Recommended Research

Effective Communications: A Strategy (G00170328)

Effective Communications: Stakeholder Analysis (G00170514)

Effective Communications: How to Develop a Communications Plan (G00170368)

The Art of the 1-page Strategy (G00281842)

Effective Communications: Performance Dashboards (G00171034)

Effective Communications: Lead Through Storytelling (G00201635)

Effective Communications: Policies (G00213993)

Effective Communications: IT Satisfaction Surveys (G00227558)

Effective Communications: IT Updates (G00171069)

Effective Communications: Difficult Communications (G00212849)

http://www.gartner.com/document/1133514











Upcoming webinars from the Effective Communications series

• Learn How Policies Improve Overall IT Performance View On Demand

• Creating the Communications Core View On Demand

• Stakeholder Analysis View On Demand

• How to Develop a Communications Plan View On Demand

• Portfolio Reprioritization through Governance Register Now: Aug. 11

• The Art of the 1-Page Strategy Register Now: Sept. 14

http://www.gartner.com/webinar/3186334






25 CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY I © 2016 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Below is a piece of free research you might find of interest:

The Art of the One-Page Strategy

Strategy can be an art or a science. Most CIOs and IT leaders experience more personal and organizational success when they demonstrate how IT contributes to business success using an artful approach to strategy development.

Thank you for attending Gartner’s webinar today:

Effective Communications: How to Develop a Communications Plan by Heather Colella

Link: https://www.gartner.com/doc/3092222?srcId=1-7199395386&cm_mmc=pres-_-RMGI-_-slide-_-inwebinar

Free until 12/31/2016

https://www.gartner.com/doc/3092222?srcId=1-7199395386&cm_mmc=pres-_-RMGI-_-slide-_-inwebinar

https://www.gartner.com/doc/3092222?srcId=1-7199395386&cm_mmc=pres-_-RMGI-_-slide-_-inwebinar

Experience live analyst expertise plus much more at a Gartner event.

Visit gartner.com/events

Events for CIO & IT Executives

CIO & IT Executive Summit 2016

14 – 17 November, Cancun, Mexico

Gartner Symposium/ITxpo:

The world's most important gathering of CIOs and senior IT executives

• Hundreds of analyst-led sessions, workshops, how-to clinics and more

• Role-based tracks designed to address your key priorities and challenges

• Immediately actionable take-aways—a clear action plan for the next three, six and 12 months

• Mastermind Interview Keynotes with industry leaders

• ITxpo exhibit floor with hundreds of top solution providers and exciting startups

October 24 – 27 Sao Paulo, Brazil

October 24 - 27 Gold Coast, Australia

November 6 – 10 Barcelona, Spain

November 15 – 18 Goa, India

September 26 -28 Cape Town, South Africa

October 5 - 7 Tokyo, Japan

October 16 – 20 Orlando, FL

Visit gartner.com/symposium


Increase the value of today's webinar experience

Download today’s presentation from the platform Attachment tab | webinar page

www.gartner.com/webinars | Reach out to your Account Executive

Interested in more webinars? Download our Upcoming Webinars on the Attachment tab or visit

gartner.com/webinars

Don’t forget to check out our on-demand webinars and share these resources with your

colleagues.

Before you disconnect, please rate and comment on your webinar experience with us today,

your feedback helps us make your webinar experience even better

If you have any difficulties, please email [email protected].

51

To keep up-to-date on Gartner’s webinars follow @Vickier0729 on Twitter and Vickie Romanchuk on LinkedIn

For a broader insight into Gartner you can find us @Gartner_inc on Twitter and Gartner on LinkedIn.

http://www.gartner.com/webinars

effective communications: how to develop a communications plan

Technology