[00:00:00] Mel: Hi, and welcome to Less Chatter, More Matter, a podcast about all things communication without the waffle. I'm your host, Mel Loy, and in this show, I will give you short, punchy, practical communication tips and insights. You can start using in your communication practices right away. I'm a former corporate communication executive who happily took a redundancy, started my own business, and never looked back.

[00:00:27] Mel: These days, I use my 20 plus years of experience to help guide organizations of all shapes and sizes in how to communicate more effectively. I'm wife to Michael, cat mum to Cookie, aunty to 12 nieces and nephews, a yoga teacher, and a group fitness fanatic. I promise these episodes will always be short, sharp, and helpful, so let's get amongst it.

[00:00:52] Mel: Hey friend, and welcome to this week's episode of Less Chatter, More Matter, where the waffle is limited and the knowledge is [00:01:00] shared. As we hurtle towards 2024, things are definitely not slowing down around here, but it's all fun stuff.

[00:01:09] Mel: On the weekend, I celebrated my 40th birthday. It was a very low key day, which is totally necessary this time of year. It is too hard to organise anything more than that. But I got to spend time with my nearest and dearest, which was great. And as part of my celebrations, I am raising funds for the Smith family, which for those of you who don't know, is a charity that helps kids get what they need to fully participate in education.

[00:01:34] Mel: I'll pop a link to that fundraiser and to the Smith family in the show notes if you're keen to check it out. Also, another big milestone this week, or last week, was my book manuscript finally got sent to the editor. So this is a first pass edit where they look at the big picture stuff, like structure, tone, messaging, all that sort of stuff.

[00:01:55] Mel: Do they need to move something around or delete content, whatever. Then [00:02:00] it'll come back to me. I'll make those revisions. And then it goes back to the editor for the line by line check for things like grammar and spelling and punctuation. Then it goes to a specialist to lay it out for both the print version and the ebook version.

[00:02:15] Mel: And then it goes back to the editor for one final check for things like, you know, do the page numbers match up with the contents and all that sort of thing. So it's quite a process, but it's totally necessary, of course. And I'm heading over to Malaysia again at the end of February to speak at a change conference.

[00:02:31] Mel: So I'm hoping to have a small print run of the book done for that and then launch it properly back in Australia early in March. So if you haven't yet - sign up to the waitlist, so you're the first to know when pre sales open and I've got some special launch deals cooking away in my brain. So you'll be able to get those as well.

[00:02:50] Mel: Now, speaking of 2024, that's what today's episode is all about, planning your communication strategy for the next 12 [00:03:00] months. I'm going to take you through my step by step guide, and I've got a template for free, of course, for you to get started. So stay tuned for more on that at the end of the episode.

[00:03:10] Mel: Okay, let's get into it. There are four big steps I'm going to take you through today to help you prepare your communication strategy for the year ahead. And within each step, there are a series of questions that you will respond to either as yourself as an entrepreneur, or as a team, as a corporate communications team.

[00:03:27] Mel: So step one is review and reflect. It's really important to do this before you even look to the future. This is the time to take to look at the previous 12 months and ask yourself a few probing questions. Question number one. What goals did you achieve? So this question is an opportunity for you and your team to give yourselves a bit of a pat on the back and it's not just about what goals you achieved, but by achieving those goals, what did that enable you to do?

[00:03:59] Mel: What value [00:04:00] were you able to add or what were you able to progress as a result of achieving those goals? Reflecting on those achievements is also your opportunity to think about how you can build on those in the next year. Question number two, what didn't you achieve that you wanted to? So go back to the goals you set at the beginning of 2023 and highlight those that weren't achieved or maybe were partially achieved.

[00:04:25] Mel: This is the opportunity to work as a group to pinpoint why those goals weren't achieved and what needs to be carried forward into the next year. Question number three. This is a good one. What were the roadblocks? As a team, what obstacles did you face when you were trying to achieve your goals this year?

[00:04:43] Mel: And when you think about those obstacles, what are the ones that are likely to reoccur next year? And now you know about them. How can you work to be better prepared to mitigate them or move around them? Question number four in this step is what worked well? [00:05:00] So think about what worked really well for your team last year that you should keep doing or even build upon.

[00:05:06] Mel: And then also think about why those things worked well. So what parameters were there or what things are in place that meant those things worked really well for you? And again, what outcomes did they help you achieve? So it's one thing to say we ticked a box, but and you know, things were hunky dory. But what was the value add that that by doing those things well that you achieved?

[00:05:31] Mel: The final question in this step is what needs to be improved? Now, improvements could be anything from systems and processes to technology, skills, capabilities, ways of working, quality of output. Even relationships. Again, this will, this review step will help set you up for the planning for next year. So, having that list of improvements is going to be a good basis for the future plan.

[00:05:59] Mel: So [00:06:00] once you've done your reflection and you have ideas for what needs to be built upon or addressed in the next year, step two is now to look to the next 12 months. And again, there's a series of questions that you personally or your team needs to answer in this step. Question number one. Are the business goals remaining the same or do you need to pivot?

[00:06:20] Mel: So remember that our communication goals should always align to the business's goals. Our job is to help the business achieve its strategic objectives. That's how we show value. So take a minute to check if the goals are remaining the same for the business or if they're changing. And therefore, do your goals also need to change as a communicator?

[00:06:43] Mel: Question number two. What are the opportunities for 2024? So when we think about opportunities, think about people, the key relationships that could provide value, who you could learn from, and what you want to achieve personally to develop your skills and your knowledge? [00:07:00] Also, what are the trends that you might need to factor in as opportunities?

[00:07:04] Mel: So for example, can artificial intelligence provide opportunities for your team to work smarter, not harder? This is where you can do a bit of blue sky thinking. Question number three is the flip side. What are the potential challenges? So there are always going to be challenges. We know this. And in fact, some opportunities might also present with some challenges.

[00:07:27] Mel: So for example, AI can have opportunities to be more efficient and creative, but there may be challenges in the skills required to use it or security, for example. Challenges you may need to find mitigations for can also include things like resourcing constraints, we've all felt that, issues in the sector that you operate in, the economic environment, more competition in your sector, and so on and so on.

[00:07:52] Mel: So this step is kind of like a bit of a SWOT analysis. If you've never done a SWOT before, S W O T, it stands for [00:08:00] Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. You could very well do a SWOT here if you wanted to, but I do find the questions I'm posing are more targeted, so it's easier to respond in ways that develop an action plan with less overlap between the different segments in a SWOT analysis.

[00:08:19] Mel: And question number four in this step is, what are the big events that you need to factor into your plan for 2024? So, for example, elections, cyclone season, business anniversaries, et cetera, uh, your annual general meeting. You're going to plug all of those into your calendar for the year ahead so that you've got a good picture of the things that are known that you will be addressing throughout the year.

[00:08:42] Mel: Okay, so now you've got the picture of the year ahead, it's time for step three, and that is set your goals. There's only one big question for this step, just one. What do you need to achieve with your communication in order to achieve business goals? So again, what do [00:09:00] you need to achieve with your communication in order to achieve business goals?

[00:09:05] Mel: So this goes back to looking at the business goals and determining how your work as a communicator or as a communications team can contribute to the business achieving those goals. So for example, maybe it's about supporting growth strategies, supporting building employee engagement, customer satisfaction, brand awareness, advocacy.

[00:09:26] Mel: Corporate social responsibility and so on. Again, it's all about helping the business move forward and this is where you will really be able to demonstrate. The value that communications can add to a business.

[00:09:40] Mel: Okay, so once you've completed step three and answered that one big question, and that will take you a while, then it's time for step four, and this is about developing your plan. So you've got the big picture in mind. You've got the outcomes in mind, right? What you want to achieve; your goals. Then we can start to build the plan to help you achieve those goals.

[00:09:59] Mel: So there are [00:10:00] three key questions to answer here. The first question is: What tactics or tools can you use to help achieve those goals? So, for example, maybe you need to focus on boosting search engine optimization. Maybe it's adopting AI in some ways, uh, building more thought leadership. Whatever those tactics or tools are that you need in order to achieve the goals, we're going to start mapping those out here.

[00:10:25] Mel: So we're starting to get quite granular and very tangible now that we've got the end in mind. The second question is what skills or knowledge might you need to acquire? So, again, could it be knowledge of using artificial intelligence? Could it be building crisis or change communication skills, social media skills, digital marketing, knowledge of corporate social responsibility measures, uh, all of those things that you may need to build either yourself or within your team in order to help you use the tools that you've got to achieve your goals.

[00:10:59] Mel: So there's the [00:11:00] tools, but then there's also the knowledge and the skills. And the final question to answer in this step is: How will you measure your success? And then how will you use that measurement to demonstrate the value you add to the business? This is super important. Nobody is going to recognize your value if you don't talk about it.

[00:11:21] Mel: You need to toot your own horn, but in a way that makes sense to your business stakeholders. So, apart from setting measures for your own team's goals to make sure that you are actually progressing towards them, how can you also develop measures that show how you contribute to the business goals? And then how can you share those with senior executives?

[00:11:42] Mel: So putting them in a sense that they will understand using the language that they understand and who it is you're going to target specifically amongst the C suite to be able to share that data with them. And once you have those measures, then you can build out the process around them as well. So how frequently will [00:12:00] you measure, uh, how will you pull that together?

[00:12:02] Mel: How do you share that with others? And so on and so forth. Okay. It's time for your episode recap. Don't forget to stay tuned after the recap though, because I'm going to share a template with you to help you with this planning, but I want to talk you through it. So it makes sense. So, step one in your 2024 planning is to review and reflect.

[00:12:23] Mel: And the five key questions we ask in this step are, number one, what goals did you achieve? Number two, what didn't you achieve that you wanted to? Number three, what were the roadblocks? Number four, what worked well? Number five, and what needs to be improved? Step two, then, is to look to the next 12 months.

[00:12:44] Mel: The four key questions to answer here. Number one, are the business goals remaining the same, or do you need to pivot? Number two, what are the opportunities for 2024? Number three, the flip side, what are the potential challenges? And number four, [00:13:00] what are the big events that you need to factor in? Step three is set your goals.

[00:13:06] Mel: And there's only one big question for this step. And that is what do you need to achieve with your communication in order to achieve business goals? Once you set out those goals, step four becomes developing the plan to get there. And there are three key questions in this step. Number one, what tactics or tools can you use to help achieve those goals?

[00:13:28] Mel: What skills or knowledge might you need to acquire? And how will you measure your success and use the measurement to demonstrate the value you add to the business? Okay, so I mentioned that there will be a free template to help with this. And I've got you covered. It's a 2024 comms planning tool. Now, I'm just going to talk you through it so when you get it, you've got an understanding of how to use it.

[00:13:52] Mel: It's a really simple three page Word document. I've kept the look and feel super simple. It's not branded in my branding at all, so [00:14:00] it's really easy to customize for your own business or put it in the format that works for you. Now, page one is essentially the strategy on a page. It shows how your communication goals line up to the business goals, how your comms strategies help to achieve those goals, and a list of the tactics that you'll use to bring those strategies to life.

[00:14:19] Mel: When you get the template, you'll notice I've got three business goals in there, but feel free to add as many as you need. I typically find most businesses have three to five goals in their strategic plan. This is the page that you should always come back to to remind yourself of what you're trying to achieve.

[00:14:37] Mel: Now page two takes that to a more granular level, and it's a month by month calendar. And again, you'll notice when you get the template that I've created space for a theme for each month. So by creating a theme, you can help ensure all your content for the month. It helps to reinforce particular strategic ideas.

[00:14:53] Mel: It's almost like applying content pillars to your calendar. Page [00:15:00] three is then taking it away from the business perspective and taking it more internally to the team perspective. Page three is your plan as a team. So this is how you will work together or you can also use it for your own planning as a solopreneur to achieve your goals.

[00:15:16] Mel: So this is where you'll see categories like your team brand, your values, processes and procedures, technology, capability, and so on. Now, to make it even easier to use, I've also created a mock up example using this template to show you how to use it. And it might even give you some ideas. You never know.

[00:15:35] Mel: So to get the template. Just go to the link in the show notes and away you go. Super simple. We have just one more episode for 2023 to go. So next week will be the year in review where I take a look back at some of the key milestones and trends in communications in 2023 and what we might expect to see in 2024.

[00:15:55] Mel: So I am really excited to bring you that. In the meantime, if you're [00:16:00] finding value with the podcast and the tools that I'm sharing, I'd love you to subscribe, rate and review the show. It only takes a couple of minutes and a Google review would also be appreciated. In the meantime, have an amazing week, keep doing amazing things and bye for now.