External Communication Plan Template -- Yale

Communication Plan Template

 

1.        Purpose

The purpose of a communication plan is to support the strategic objectives and provide action items for the organizational communication of the (                                  ) for the next (__________________) years/months. This plan serves as a guiding map for all internal and external communication regarding _______________________for (target audience(s) ____________________________.

It includes strategic objectives, messages, audiences, media, responsibility assignments, measurements, evaluation and budget.

2.        Mission/Vision
(complete)

3.        Situation Analysis
(complete)

§   What methods of communications work? Which methods are ineffective?

§   Lessons learned

§   What are the communication issues we wish to address?

§   Frame the issues; what are the issues really about? Who is affected?

§   What is our communication infrastructure? (capacity) Who will do the work? How much staff time are we willing to commit to the effort?

4.        Business Goals/ Objectives (complete)

§   Identify the business objectives/goals of ______________________

§   Internal/external factors to be considered

§   What do we want to achieve through our communication? Why?

5.        Corresponding Communication Goals/Objectives
(complete)

§   What is the positive vision for the future? What are the changes we wish to see?

6.        Key Themes/ Messages (See table of Table of Messages and Audiences)
(complete)

Not necessary to organize messages in this manner, but sometimes helpful:

Theme: broad “highway” of directional meaning with several lanes or “messages”

Message: a unit of meaning that runs as part of and in the direction of the “theme”; concise expression of intent

§   Why change? How?

§   WIIFM? What’s in it for me?

§   What do we want our audiences to do? Do differently?

§   How do we want them to feel?

§   What do we want them to think?

§   How/what do we communicate to others who are not directly involved ?

7.        Media, Audiences, Schedules (See Communication Plan Implementation Matrix)
(complete)

8.        Training Managers to Communicate

(complete)

9.        Evaluation

(complete)

§   How we will know we are successful?

§   What measurements shall we use?

10.      Budget
(complete)

11.      Appendix

§   Listing of communication vehicles

§   Other

Media and Vehicles for Organizational Communication

 

Sample listing:

• Print newsletters/magazines
• Flyers
• Posters, banners, similar media
• Intranet
• Web site; other web-based media: blogs, webinars etc.
• News conferences
• Electronic newsletters
• Electronic boards, messaging and communication software
• Video
• Computer/video kiosks
• Multi-media presentation
• Town Meetings
• Lunch and learn events
• Face-to-face small meetings
• Virtual meetings
• Off site meetings, retreats, and events
• Onsite events, speeches, training
  
  

Table of Messages and Audiences
(make multiple copies for each identified objective)

	XXXXX	XXXXX	XXXXX		Other stakeholders
1. Business Objective
1. Communication Objective
Communication Message(s)

	XXXXX	XXXXX	XXXXX		Other stakeholders
2. Business Objective
2. Communication Objective
Communication Message(s)

Communication Plan Implementation Matrix

Purpose	Audience(s)	Timing | Frequency	Message	Method | Channel	Accountability

Links

Glossary of Negotiation Terms

Bloom's taxonomy - Affective Domain

bloom's taxonomy - affective domain - (feeling, emotions - attitude - 'feel')

Bloom's Taxonomy second domain, the Affective Domain, was detailed by Bloom, Krathwhol and Masia in 1964 (Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Volume II, The Affective Domain. Bloom, Krathwohl and Masia.) Bloom's theory advocates this structure and sequence for developing attitude - also now commonly expressed in the modern field of personal development as 'beliefs'. Again, as with the other domains, the Affective Domain detail provides a framework for teaching, training, assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of training and lesson design and delivery, and also the retention by and affect upon the learner or trainee.

affective domain
level	category or 'level'	behaviour descriptions	examples of experience, or demonstration and evidence to be measured	'key words' (verbs which describe the activity to be trained or measured at each level)
1	Receive	open to experience, willing to hear	listen to teacher or trainer, take interest in session or learning experience, take notes, turn up, make time for learning experience, participate passively	ask, listen, focus, attend, take part, discuss, acknowledge, hear, be open to, retain, follow, concentrate, read, do, feel
2	Respond	react and participate actively	participate actively in group discussion, active participation in activity, interest in outcomes, enthusiasm for action, question and probe ideas, suggest interpretation	react, respond, seek clarification, interpret, clarify, provide other references and examples, contribute, question, present, cite, become animated or excited, help team, write, perform
3	Value	attach values and express personal opinions	decide worth and relevance of ideas, experiences; accept or commit to particular stance or action	argue, challenge, debate, refute, confront, justify, persuade, criticise,
4	Organise or Conceptualize values	reconcile internal conflicts; develop value system	qualify and quantify personal views, state personal position and reasons, state beliefs	build, develop, formulate, defend, modify, relate, prioritise, reconcile, contrast, arrange, compare
5	Internalize or characterise values	adopt belief system and philosophy	self-reliant; behave consistently with personal value set	act, display, influence, solve, practice,

Based on the 'Taxonomy Of Educational Objectives: Volume 2, The Affective Domain' (Bloom, Masia, Krathwohl) 1964. See also 'Taxonomy Of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1, The Cognitive Domain' (Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, Krathwohl) 1956. This table is adapted and reproduced with permission from Allyn & Bacon, Boston USA, being the publishers and copyright owners of 'Taxonomy Of Educational Objectives' (Bloom et al 1956).

This domain for some people can be a little trickier to understand than the others. The differences between the levels, especially between 3, 4, and 5, are subtle, and not so clear as the separations elsewhere in the Taxonomy. You will find it easier to understand if you refer back to the bloom's taxonomy learning domains at-a-glance.

 From http://www.businessballs.com/bloomstaxonomyoflearningdomains.htm#bloom's taxonomy overview

Bloom's Taxonomy of Skills Overview

Cognitive		Affective		Psychomotor
knowledge		attitude		skills
1. Recall data		1. Receive (awareness)		1. Imitation (copy)
2. Understand		2. Respond (react)		2. Manipulation (follow instructions)
3. Apply (use)		3. Value (understand and act)		3. Develop Precision
4. Analyse (structure/elements)		4. Organise personal value system		4. Articulation (combine, integrate related skills)
5. Synthesize (create/build)		5. Internalize value system (adopt behaviour)		5. Naturalization (automate, become expert)
6. Evaluate (assess, judge in relational terms)

(Detail of Bloom's Taxonomy Domains: 'Cognitive Domain' - 'Affective Domain' - 'Psychomotor Domain')

Bloom's Taxonomy model (1956/64) and Kirkpatrick's learning evaluation model (1959) remain classical reference models and tools into the 21st century. This is because concepts such as Bloom's Taxonomy, Kirkpatrick's model, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Mcgregor's XY Theory, The SWOT analysis model, and Berne's Transactional Analysis theory, to name a few other examples, are timeless, and as such will always be relevant to the understanding and development of people and organisations.  From http://www.businessballs.com/bloomstaxonomyoflearningdomains.htm#bloom's taxonomy overview