Moderator: Julie Baron, Principal, COMMUNICATION WORKS

1. HOW TO CONDUCT A COMPLETE COMMUNICATION ASSESSMENT Moderator: Julie Baron, Principal, COMMUNICATION WORKS Alex Vass, Communications Advisor, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Susan D'Alexander, ABC, Motorola Global Communications Sean Williams, Principal,  Communication AMMO, Inc.

2. Communications Assessment What’s a communications assessment? • The evaluation or measurement of the level of communication excellence at your organization • Deliverable: Understanding of communication history, current situation compared to company goals, position in the marketplace • Data collected serves as an input to communication strategy and plans

3. Communications Assessment Participant Poll #1 Could you convince your company/client to conduct a communications assessment today? Yes No I Don’t Know

4. Why Conduct a Communications Assessment • Serves as a vehicle for you to introduce yourself and the function, develop a broader network and elevate the importance of the function. • Provides you with an understanding of the communication history. • Provides you with an understanding of the current environment or situation. • Enables you to compare your organization to others.

5. Why Conduct a Communications Assessment • Enables you to conduct a gap analysis. • The baseline data enables you to identify improvements and/or areas where you are falling below standards. • The data collected serves as an input to your communication strategy and plans.

6. Communications Assessment Assessment Activities • Review • Audit • Interviews • Focus Groups • Surveys • Research • Observation

7. Communications Assessment Selecting a Sampling Size • Sampling: Statistical method of obtaining representative data or observations from a group or population. • Random Sample: Sampling method in which all members of group or population have an equal and independent chance of being selected. • Non-Random Sample: Sampling method which is used when it cannot be ensured that each member has an equal chance of being selected, or when selection is based on expert knowledge of the population.

8. Communications Assessment Analysis & Reporting • Compare and contrast • Recognize and celebrate what’s working • Identify low hanging fruit • Uphold anonymity agreement • Agree to maintain what’s working and improve • Marry data with business challenges, needs, goals • Offer actionable recommendations

9. Case Study: Royal Canadian Mounted Police Goal • Evaluate current communication processes • Evaluate perception of internal and external communications • Identify clear action plan to enhance communications

10. Case Study: Royal Canadian Mounted Police Process • Research • Interviews • Focus Groups • Assessment of findings • Report and Recommendations

11. Case Study: Royal Canadian Mounted Police What We Learned • Big task , so plan properly • Validated perceptions of communications; not a lot of surprises • Provided evidence to back up strategic considerations and tactics Ultimate Outcome • Ability to create a “strategic” communications plan

12. Case Study: Communication AMMO Measurement doesn’t have to be quantitative • Think: “Improve My Plans” • Think: “Snapshot of Data” • Think: “Support my editorial strategy” • Think: “Give me something to talk about at meetings”

13. Case Study: Communication AMMO Measurement doesn’t have to be quantitative • Quick polls or informal discussion topics • I am kept informed about the reasons behind company decisions. (most important) • My business /function does a good job of communicating information to all employees. • The information I receive from my business/function is complete. • I am kept informed about major changes occurring within my business /function.   • I am kept informed about major changes within the company. • These explain 53% of the variance in employee comprehension

14. Case Study: Communication AMMO More Topics • Ask about manager communication behavior: • Helps me understand how my performance contributes to the company's success. (most important) • Is positive about the company’s prospects for the future. • Shares business information with me.  • Regularly discusses my personal development plan. • These items explain 40% of the variance in employee comprehension

15. Case Study: Motorola Lessons Learned • It is never too late to conduct an assessment • Don’t assume you know what your audience wants • Assessments do not have to be extremely detailed or complicated • Don’t let time or budget prevent you from completing an assessment

16. Communications Assessment Participant Poll #2 What is the number one thing that will stop you from conducting a communications assessment? Management buy-in Lack of human resources Budget Time Other

17. QUESTIONS? Moderator: Julie Baron, Principal, COMMUNICATION WORKS, Jbaronworks@aol.com - 847-818-0782 Susan D'Alexander, ABC, Motorola Global Communications Sesda@sbcglobal.net Alex Vass, Communications Advisor, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Alex.vass@rcmp-grc.gc.ca Sean Williams, Principal,  Communication AMMO, Inc. Sean@CommunicationAMMO.com