Twelve Steps to Communication Success

Twelve Steps to Communications Success

(Scoring Key: Any "No" Answers and You're in Trouble)

Test Question

Yes

No

1. Does your communications & marketing function report directly to the head of your agency?

2. Can you: Coordinate a news release through your entire organization, get it posted on your Web site, have it emailed to key internal/external customers, and integrate the news into your staff training function--and do all of this the same day the release runs?

3. If your agency runs a customer service/call center operation of any kind, are you certain that 100 percent of policy changes are available to call center staff on the day decisions are announced?

4. Whenever possible, do you get direct, honest feedback from advocacy or public interest groups on your news releases and marketing products as part of the coordination process?

5. Do you have a smooth, well-planned process for notifying public interest, media and congressional staffs when bad news about your program is imminent?

6. Do you have (at least) quarterly worldwide video-teleconferences with your communications counterparts in the field, as well as with the main reporters who cover your agency?

7. Is your communications shop in charge of the content and layout of your agency Web site--especially the front page?

8. Does your communications team have a rock-solid relationship with the "report card" or organizational-performance czar in your organization--to keep the marketing staff honest with their data?

9. Have you created a customized Media Room/Hot Issues page for your Web site, which captures key messages, challenges, and frequently-asked questions for members of the media?

10. Can you show a chart for the last two years depicting the exact date of all negative/adverse press coverage and the date of your organization's response to the media?

11. Are your routine, customer, and congressional correspondence templates updated automatically as soon as your agency announces a policy change or modification?

12. Do you produce simple, customized communications plans for special agency initiatives, which include a program overview, key audiences/messages/target dates, as well as key messages for the entire organization?

Bonus Question:

Have you linked the monthly objectives of your agency communication plan with your worldwide recognition program, so that you are recognizing people each month for special contributions they've made in the same interest area as you're hitting with your comm plan?