ABSTRACT
Communication is both sending (messaging) and receiving (listening) to complete the loop. Without recognition of the feedback, communication is incomplete. Strategic planning includes mission, problem/opportunity, goal/objective setting, strategy, tactics, and evaluation. While this is a linear portrayal; of the process, in reality, strategic planning is an iterative exercise.
In every planning exercise, the thinking and scheming matters greatly, but it’s in the human execution that intentions become reality and goals or achieved or abandon. Communication strategy relies not on analytical insight but resolve. Communication must address the challenge of winning the hearts and minds of the members of the firm for execution to take place. Big ideas land more effectively than safe ideas, and people who know themselves are in a better position to deliver on big expectations. Strategy is dependent on valid assumptions (what we believe to be true about the firm and its environment) and this is dependent on engagement of all members of the firm. Engagement tends to four primary components of engagement: (a) line of sight, (b) involvement, (c) information sharing, and (d) rewards & recognition.
