Stakeholder communications plan

Running the play

Materials:
Whiteboard / Markers / sticky notes / Timer

PREP
Do your homework (30 min)

Create a table on a whiteboard or collaborative document. The column headers should be as follows, "Audience, Channels,
Comms, Links/More Info." Label the rows, "Daily, Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly, Ad Hoc."

Ask everyone to come to the meeting with their own brainstormed list of your audiences (stakeholders), which might include: your
executive sponsor, team members, leadership team, teams you're partnering with, adjacent or downstream teams, etc.

If available, the meeting facilitator should come to the meeting with a list of the team's existing communications with stakeholders,
including why you're communicating it and the channel/s you typically use. This list will contain every-day things like updates on
small decisions made via Slack channels as well as one-off communications like lunch & learn sessions or town hall presentations. 

STEP 1
Define the goal (10 min)

Create a statement, or group of statements, describing what you are aiming to achieve in preparing a stakeholder communication
plan. Use {NOUN} + {VERB} format. Have one person scribe at the whiteboard while the whole group brainstorms. Your goal
statements don't have to be perfect, so shoot for "80% there", and timebox the activity. You can always wordsmith it later if need
be. 
Example comms plan goals:

 Build trust with our stakeholders.

 Reduce risks stemming from duplicated effort and dependency bottlenecks.
 Educate downstream teams about what we're doing and how it may affect their work.

STEP 2

Define who your stakeholders are (5 min)

Break out into groups of 2-4 and review the stakeholder brainstorms everyone prepared as pre-work. Agree as a small group on a
the key stakeholders to be included in your communications plan. For each stakeholder, define the relationship to your
project/team. Are they a decision maker? Sparring partner? Expert contributor? Remover of roadblocks? 

Present back to the wider team and work to gain consensus on the stakeholders for whom you are building. 

STEP 3

Define your communication methods (15 min)

Now determine the most effective way to communicate with each stakeholder.

Think about what content you'll be sharing as well as the tool you'll use to share it. For example, with your direct team, you might
choose to communicate through a chat room dedicated to sharing minor updates and asking for input from each other.

STEP 4

Pull it all together to create your comms plan (20 min)

Use the table you created as pre-work to start building out a communications plan: 
  Daily
 Weekly
 Fortnightly
 Monthly
 Quarterly
 Yearly
 Ad hoc
For each frequency, write down the audience you'll communicate with, the channels you'll use, what you'll communicate, and links
to further details or artifacts.

STEP 5

Wrap it up (5 min)
Agree on an owner for the overall communications plan. You may even assign an owner to specific communications. 
We use communication for various purposes such as risk reduction, trust building, raising awareness, educating, and promoting
action. We can enhance the effectiveness of our communication with a plan.
Objectives:
1. Clearly define the most effective communication channels for different types of communication.
2. Utilise SharePoint Teams to communicate the value and vision of the OVC and the projects they undertake.
3. Ensure that every team member understands the vision and mission of the OVC team initiatives, starting with those directly
involved in the projects, and can articulate their value succinctly.
4. Foster a stronger sense of team spirit and collaboration within the OVC team.
5. Encourage better collaboration between stakeholders by promoting an understanding of how their work can mutually benefit
each other, identifying interdependencies, and utilising available tools.

What do we do
Method Audience Content Why? Frequency
Town Hall OVC + Academics + Completed work, overviews of  Inspiration from leader Quarterly
MAF SSC + CX quarterly accomplishments,  Broadcast work
messaging from leaders  Align OVC with Faculties
Field Questions

Team OVC leadership, Questions general comments to  Teams spirit Banter Ad hoc
Catch-up each team group, updates on specific  Cross team communication
MAF services,  Support channels
 Announcements

Individual Person to person Ad hoc conversation  Online chat Ad hoc

Catch-up
All hands Teams Completed work  Agile ritual Fortnightly
Demos  Shared understanding
Stand-ups Team What did I do yesterday,  Agile Ritual Daily
What am I going to do today  Team alignment
Any blockers  Identity and action blockers
SharePoint Anyone interested Updates, milestones, Inform others Update weekly
MyTorrens commentary on the subject Seek comments
Site relevant to the OVC Thought leadership

SharePoint Immediate team Project Plan, thoughts,  Project planning (roadmaps, one Continually
pages first, external teams documentation, summaries of pagers, actions, project posters,
second outcomes etc)
 Meetings – agendas, actions,
notes
 Elicit feedback
 Documents plans etc
 Sharing info

Newsletter OVC and Snapshot of OVC initiatives and  Share information in a more Monthly
Stakeholder results general tone in summarised
format.
Communication Schedule
Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan
Term Trimester 1 Trimester 2 Trimester 3
Orientation
OVC
Townhall
Team
catch-up
Individual
catch-up
All hands
Demo
Stand-ups

SharePoin
t
MyTorrens
Site
SharePoin
t
pages
Newsletter