Services

An audit of the communications function gets under the hood for a closer look. We review goals, strategy, scope of work, and the team. We look at the operational and tactical roles of the department and assess how well the function is contributing to the objectives.

An audit is useful when reorganization is needed, when teams are merging, or when leadership responsibility for the communications is changing hands. It’s also useful to examine how well distinct parts of the overall function work together.

This work commonly reveals process or approval issues, a skills or resources gap, a mismatch between team and leadership on goals and expectations, or a tactical/strategic plan in need of renewal.

Our basic audit involves briefings from leadership, interviews with leadership and staff, and an assessment of strategy, tactics, and metrics. Our audit highlights strengths and areas for development and makes practical recommendations to improve function and performance.

Audit add-ons:

Your team is running without a communications strategy or plan because no one has time to develop them. So, the team runs all year with a week-to-week or month-to-month plan, or no plan at all. This can be stressful for communications leadership, as they constantly feel on the back foot. It can be frustrating for senior leadership who may get questions from board members or stakeholders about what’s coming or what’s going to happen. It’s also less than ideal for communications staff when they’re only dealing with today’s tasks, without a wider picture of the whole quarter or the whole year.

I work with leadership and communications to develop a communications strategy and practical plan that reflect the organization's time frame and priorities. I collaborate with the team to build the initial plan and provide guidance and support so they can develop subsequent plans themselves.

Strategy and planning add-ons:

Evolving organizations have evolving needs, and even experienced communications leaders may find themselves in unfamiliar territory sometimes. The leader who is a stakeholder relations expert may need to launch a digital advocacy campaign or manage an advertising buy. A leader in marcomms may need to tackle a significant internal change management project or develop a plan to address stakeholder issues. Sometimes leaders want a partner they can lean on for management advice, to help them lead and manage their team, or to handle difficult conversations that need to happen.

We offer one-time, short-term, or ongoing support for communications leaders. This can mean being available while the team manages an issue, or a more formal arrangement where we work alongside leaders, on site or remotely, during a period of change or crisis. We tailor our support to your needs.

We help leaders build the right communications team for the organization. In many organizations, senior leadership does not have communications experience. When faced with hiring a new communications leader, they may be unable to clearly articulate what the organization needs or identify the type of experience the right hire should have.

Finding, interviewing, selecting, and onboarding the right hire has never been more time-consuming. We work with leadership to develop accurate and practical job descriptions, develop long lists and short lists from a large applicant pool, participate in interviewing, and help organizations evaluate candidates against needs.

There are many reasons your communications team might be short-handed or without leadership. Among the most common are retirement, termination, an unexpected leave, or just a long hiring process that’s taking even longer than expected. We can provide experienced, full-time interim leadership while the organization determines its next move.

If the team or leadership has reached capacity, yet the demands keep coming, we offer fractional support to take over a key project, manage a critical issue, or handle additional demands on an overloaded team. Our fractional leadership offering is flexible – we can offer part-time support with a pre-determined number of days or hours a week, or an on-call service that leaders and team can access as needed.