Strategic Communication Management 1: The Communication Professional (Centurion)

Build your value as a strategic communication professional.

Course description:

This two-day course teaches communication professionals how to plan and implement communication initiatives grounded in business thinking that adds greater value to stakeholders and deliver business results. From analysing the business environment to defining needs, segmenting audiences and delivering measurable outcomes, you'll walk away with the tools and techniques to build your credibility as a trusted in-demand communication professional.

What to expect:

• Develop your strategic planning and execution skills
• Align your communication efforts with business outcomes
• Build measures and develop ROI for your communication efforts
• Develop a clear understanding of what drives value for stakeholders in today's communication environment
• Increase your perceived value within the organisation

Who should attend:

Professionals working in strategic communication, corporate communication, internal communication, external communication, corporate affairs or public relations. Those leading teams, projects, or having to influence others within the organisation.

Career Level: Foundation, Generalist/Specialist, Strategic Advisor

Course outline:

Upon completion of this course you’ll be able to:

• Build alignment between business needs and communication outcomes
• Know the elements of a strategically focused communication plan
• Develop a clear understanding of what drives value for stakeholders and increase your perceived value within the organisation
• Explore best practices, principles, processes and implementation elements designed to equip you with the knowledge and expertise to deliver business results
• Analyse the business and communication environments to understand how that affects your plan
• Develop research-based measurable objectives that deliver business outcomes
• Identify, segment, and analyse audience characteristics that inform your strategic planning
• Harness the power of preferred communication channels and connect with audiences at an emotional level
• Deliver tactical implementation on multiple levels through multiple channels with a consistent, meaningful voice
• Measure the effect of your work

Day 1

Overview of the strategic communication planning process

• Understand the needs of the business
• Align communication strategy with business needs
• The steps in strategic communication planning

Defining business needs

• Why it’s important to align your approach with business needs and how to take a brief from an internal customer
• How to convert a business need into a communication outcome

Setting SMART objectives aligned with business goals

• The difference between goals, objectives and tactics
• The difference between an output and outcome objective
• Align objectives with business needs
• Set measurable objectives

Defining your measurement approach

• Output versus outcome measures
• The difference between quantitative, qualitative and observational research
• How to set a measurement approach

Audience segmentation and analysis

• How to define and effectively segment audience groups
• How to analyse audience characteristics, why it’s important and how the analysis influences strategic direction

Day 2

Developing key messages

• Why key messages are important
• How to develop clear key messages
• Explore and understand the need to create message maps to bring messages alive

Tactical Implementation

• How to use audience insight and messages to inform tactical planning
• How to determine the right channel mix to achieve results

Measuring the impact of your communication strategy and defining ROI

• How to effectively measure results against objectives and define ROI
• Explore example dashboards

Personal brand

• The essential qualities of a successful communication professional
• Understand your impact on others and the value of collaboration
• Build your personal brand

Provide insight into your organisation and demonstrate your value

• How to demonstrate value by providing insight at every stage of the process
• Use insight to provide more opportunities for communication
• Discover where and how you add value and look at where you spend your time (time/value audit)

About the trainer

Dr Amanda Hamilton-Attwell ABC, IABC Fellow

Dr Amanda Hamilton Attwell was the first woman in Africa to be awarded a Doctorate in Communication Science. Over the last 34 years, Amanda has taught, coached and mentored thousands of communication professionals. She has worked with hundreds of organisations to demonstrate the value of strategic communication and has delivered significant business results for her clients. Originally a journalist and a lecturer at the University of South Africa, Amanda has spent most of her career conducting communication and organisational research at the National Productivity Institute in Pretoria. In 2000 she started Business DNA as a communication and organisational research group. As her client base grew she extended her services to include training and implementation solutions. She specialises in stakeholder research, measuring communication ROI, communication audits, communication structure, facilitation of strategic planning, communication professional development and the design and implementation of communication campaigns specifically to address absenteeism, unsafe behaviour and poor production. She has served on numerous community and industry boards and committees. She was a board member of the Gauteng Chamber of Commerce and Industry for several years, is the past president of the Northern Areas Chapter and deputy president of the Africa Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).