Three templates for effective communications planning

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In this blog, I wanted to share three examples of communication plan templates that address this and allow for more detail and thinking through of the communication and dissemination process.

I think that each of the templates has merit in their own ways, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether you think they’re useful, and what processes or discussions you have had about communicating evaluation findings on projects you’ve worked on. What level of effort or thought about communication do you typically put in? Are there any barriers to communicating evaluation results that you’ve come across? What’s worked and what hasn’t?

Evaluations are a huge investment, in terms of both money and time. However, despite this investment, many evaluations are not used.

There are a number of factors that can affect use of evaluations.  Validity is one  - was the evaluation’s methodology up to scratch and defensible?). There are external factors  - was the evaluation report released just as a big story broke in the news, and did this bolster or hinder receptiveness to the evaluation’s findings? And then there’s the demand factor. How much do the key stakeholders and audience want to know about the evaluation? Do they care at all? Are they interested?

Sometimes, they will be. You may have a whole range of key decision makers and influencers hanging out for the release of the evaluation report, ready to jump at the findings and take the recommendations on board. That’s great. In this case, you might be able to get away with releasing the report online (ideally with an executive summary) and holding a dissemination workshop and have a great impact on your stakeholders.

However, as is often the case, it may be more of an uphill battle to get the attention your evaluation findings deserve. This is where communications planning is really important, and unfortunately, often overlooked – or not done to the extent it perhaps should be.

One of our priorities for the BetterEvaluation website is providing better guidance about evaluation reporting. 

But we know that effective communication is not just about having good reporting formats.  It’s important to think through some key questions about what it is you’re trying to achieve, and who you’re trying to reach. So we’re also focusing on improving the guidance about communication plans for evaluation.

Communication planning in evaluation can often be evidenced in a one paragraph discussion in the inception or final report outlining what the evaluation team is planning to do. However, this can often miss the important considerations of why

In this blog, I wanted to share three examples of communication plan templates that address this and allow for more detail and thinking through of the communication and dissemination process. I think that each of the templates has merit in their own ways, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether you think they’re useful, and what processes or discussions you have had about communicating evaluation findings on projects you’ve worked on. What level of effort or thought about communication do you typically put in? Are there any barriers to communicating evaluation results that you’ve come across? What’s worked and what hasn’t?

Template for Strategic Communications Plan

Communication Toolkit, W.K. Kellogg Foundation (2006)

View the Template for Strategic Communications Plan

What are the key features of the plan?

I came across this resource while browsing the W.K. Kellog Foundation website and noticed it in the Most Popular Resources section. It’s not specifically targeted towards communicating evaluation results but is easily applicable in this context.

The document breaks strategic communication planning into eight key elements:

  • Determine Goal
  • Identify and Profile Audience
  • Develop Messages
  • Select Communication Channels
  • Choose Activities and Materials
  • Establish Partnerships
  • Implement the Plan
  • Evaluate and Make Mid-Course Corrections

It then contains a number of worksheets designed to guide the user through some key questions that will help in developing a plan, as well as overviews and advice on how to approach each element.

How could this plan be used?

I’d use this as a first step planning document, and could be used by an individual or in a meeting with a team where the questions could be used to guide a brainstorming session.

Why would you recommend it to other people?

I particularly like the way the structure of this resource really forces users to stop and think through important considerations before jumping into picking reporting options, but also that the questions and advice posed cover a lot of things that might otherwise get missed in communications planning – for example, what makes new information credible to your audiences? Are there others who can influence your primary and secondary audiences?

 

Template: Evaluation Communication and Learning Plan

DEQAS: Decentralized Evaluation Quality Assurance System (2017)

View the Evaluation Communication and Knowledge Management Plan for Decentralized Evaluations (DOC, 4.0MB)

What are the key features of the plan?

The template is made up of three sections:

1. What is a communication and Learning plan and why is it important? 

Which briefly discusses the purpose of a communication plan and answers some FAQs such as when the plan should be developed, and who should develop it.

2. Components of an Evaluation Communication and Learning Plan 

Here we’re presented with a diagram outlining the evaluation phases where communications planning is important (hint – it’s all phases), alongside target audiences, products/information, and communication means.

3. The Communications and Learning Plan Template

a filled out an example of what a communications plan might look like, divided into two parts: internal communication and external communication.

How could this plan be used?

While the template was designed to give guidance to decentralised evaluation teams going through WFP’s DEQAS process, I think it’s a great example to get all users thinking about the different components of communication during an evaluation.

For this purpose, the most useful part of this resource is the example plan itself. It’s a simple planning matrix in two parts (internal and external) and outlines what communication product or information should be given to whom at what organisational level of communication, from whom, how, and why. Best of all, it breaks this down evaluation phase, including communication activities during:

  • planning
  • preparation or development of the TOR
  • inception
  • data analysis and debriefing
  • dissemination and follow up

Why would you recommend it to other people?

A lot of communication plans focus on dissemination after an evaluation and don’t address communication during the earlier stages. This template might help users to consider why and how to do this.

The template doesn’t go into great written detail about why each stage is important or how to go about developing the plan, however it was designed as an accompaniment to the DEQAS: Decentralized Evaluation Quality Assurance System Process Guide, which has a number of additional resources hyperlinked within (including a technical note on Stakeholder Analysis on p.39).

 

Developing an Effective Evaluation Report: Setting the course for effective program evaluation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity​ (2013​)

View Developing an Effective Evaluation Report (PDF)

What are the key features of the plan?

This guide was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) and Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO), and ICF International as part of a series of technical assistance workbooks for use by program managers and evaluators. It provides guidance on the process of writing an evaluation report as a whole (noting that this process starts in the earliest stages of an evaluation project, rather than at the end). Step 6. Ensure Use and Share Lessons Learned focuses on planning for communication and dissemination. It discusses effective dissemination strategies, considerations about audiences, and lists some options for supporting use.

The guide also contains a number of useful worksheets and templates relevant to the creation of a strong communications strategy, including:

  • Stakeholder inclusion and communication plan exercise: designed to capture the key stakeholders, their relationship to the evaluation, and the best mode and timing of the communication
  • Stakeholder information needs exercise: which builds on the above to identify the specific information each stakeholder group needs
  • Stakeholder interpretation meeting exercise: this includes a template to develop a timeline of stakeholder feedback sessions throughout an evaluation and advice on running these. Unfortunately, the link within the guide to the Western Michigan University checklist for facilitating the development of a formal stakeholder interpretation meeting is no longer active, however, we were able to find a link to the Feedback Workshop Checklist (PDF) here.
  • Communicating results exercise: This is where the ‘communication plan’ itself is found, and includes matrices for describing the channels and formats, and outlining the objectives and timelines of communication, and gathering feedback and tracking the strategy.

How could this plan be used?

Although the communications plan template itself doesn’t capture as many elements as the DEQAS template discussed above, the supporting worksheets and templates have the potential to help users think through and document a number of important factors relevant to communications planning.

Why would you recommend it to other people?

This resource gives a bit more detail on processes surrounding the development of a communication plan, including processes to set up and engage stakeholder groups, as well as linking to other CDC resources, such as Developing an Effective Evaluation Plan (PDF), for more detail when necessary. The fact that this is one section within a guide on report writing also helps to ground the communication activity within the wider evaluation process and has the added benefit of including specific tips for creating dissemination products such as the report and the executive summary.

Updated - User suggested communication plan templates

How to Write a Communication Plan in 6 Steps with Editable Templates

Amanda Athuraliya, Creately (2019)

This series of templates was suggested by Amanda Athuraliya (Creately). The recommendation below was completed by Alice Macfarlan (BetterEvaluation).

View How to Write a Communication Plan

What are the key features of the plan?

This is less of a plan and more of series of templates for communication planning. The resources were created by Creately - an online, subscription-based services diagramming tool. As such, the templates linked in the blog all link to Creately templates that you can edit but not save unless you sign up. That said, the tools listed are all fairly common and if you weren't willing to sign up you should be able to search online for information on creating these in common software.

Apart from the overarching 'Communications Plan', the post list a number of steps for communications planning and includes possible templates for these. The steps and templates include:

  • Perform a situation analysis
    • SWOT analysis
    • PEST analysis
    • Perceptual map
  • Identify and define objectives and goals
    • SMART goals infographic
  • Understand and profile your key audience
    • Audience profile
  • Decide the media channels and create a strategy
    • Media channel strategy infographic
  • Create a timetable for publishing
    • Gantt chart
  • Monitor and evaluate the results
    • No template included (but it's good to see it mentionned at least)

How could this plan be used?

Unlike the other templates mentionned in this post, this one isn't specific to evaluation. It seems more geared towards products and businesses than people communication evaluation findings. This doesn't mean it's not relevant - I think the steps listed are really good to go through, but I'd recommend having a look through the templates and thinking about if and how they would be useful for your needs. For example, audience profiling will be a useful thing to do for most communication exercises, and mapping this out in an infographic can be useful, while the situational analysis you might do might be more tailored to external political factors than focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors (as suggested in these templates) - but this depends absolutely on your situation and needs so it's just worth thinking through. 

Why would you recommend it to other people?

The other templates I've suggested have been largely text-based, whereas this one is all about visualising this information, which, as well as being easily shareable, can be a useful way to help you think outside the box or unblock your thinking if communication planning doesn't come naturally to you. 

What do you think?  Have you had experience using any of these resources?  Are there other resources for planning evaluation communication that you’d recommend? Do you have good examples of evaluation communication plans you’d like to share

 

Editor's note: This blog was updated on the 4th of July 2019 to include an additional resource recommended by a BetterEvaluation user. If you'd like to recommend a communications plan template to be added, please get in touch through our contact form!

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