How OKRs are the Linchpin of Strategic Communication Planning

According to reports by Workforce*, 60% of organizations failed to develop a lasting plan for strategic communication, which is a big number worth considering. Due to ineffective communication with their stakeholders, organizations tend to experience a lack of information among their workforces. This lack of information further causes various roadblocks to accomplish business success.

To save your “perfect on paper” strategic business plans, strategizing and planning the communication process is the right solution to all your troubles.

But, before we begin, let us learn:

What is Strategic Communication Planning?

Strategic communication produces and delivers effective messages that meet corporate objectives using extensive planning and market research. It oversees organizing and managing a company’s internal and external communication operations.

By developing a strategic communications plan, businesses can ensure that their marketing and communication strategies are aligned with their business objectives.

A strategic communications plan provides team members with a sense of direction. Ensuring every team member follows the right path to achieve desired goals and objectives assists in optimal resource utilization.

Now that it is clear why strategic communication planning plays a vital role in attaining success, the question is how to make the most of it.

Step-by-step Guide to Strategic Communication Planning via OKRs

What are Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)?

OKRs are a successful framework for goal setting and performance management used within an organization to define, convey, and monitor goals. They form an intrinsic part of your comprehensive strategy to align objectives and thus achieve organizational success.

Most importantly, the OKR framework can get embedded within the organization’s functioning seamlessly, making strategic communication through OKRs quite successful.

Now, we talk about a few of the steps that are no less than a perfect guide to mapping out successful strategic communication:

1. Communicate Strategy with Stakeholders

Once you are done with OKR goal creation, your job is not over. You must communicate OKRs, well-aligned with the organizational strategy, with your stakeholders. Remember, while putting a strategy into action, transparent communication is key. Everyone on board must be clear on what they are expected to achieve. Objectives (O) stating “what and why to achieve” along with the key results (KRs) concluding “how to achieve” must be clear during goal setting.

Pro Tips

*Consider employee priorities and goals as you write objectives during the planning phase of the OKR cycle.

*Connect individual goals with the strategic goals of your organization.

2. Convey the Importance of OKRs

Once the OKR framework is devised, and everyone has been informed, one cannot jump straight to bringing it into force. People must be aware of what is coming, why it is necessary, and why it is necessary “now”. The second step in strategic communication planning is to ask, “Why do they need OKRs?”. Employees must know how and when it will affect them and project and task deadlines. They should see the road ahead and avoid being caught off guard. Here, the agile approach comes in handy for you. Break down your strategy execution and OKR into bits you can accomplish in some time. Then have employees share their progress with their teams at daily stand-ups.

Pro Tips

*Define and communicate OKRs at all organizational levels and set check-in deadlines regularly.

*Ensure the information flows through the organization transparently.

3. Align Individual and Company’s Strategic Goals

Alignment is achieved when employees in an organization work in the same direction towards a common goal. Throughout the business, OKRs use both top-down and bottom-up alignment strategies. While the latter links individual OKRs with corporate goals to increase engagement and growth, the former allows management to allocate OKRs to their teams to achieve the intended objectives. By maintaining collaboration and increasing communication, this alignment can be achieved efficiently.

Pro Tips

*Align all users around OKRs that are at the top-most priority.

*Communication with your employees must be an open, two-way process.

4. Conduct Weekly Check-ins

Now that OKRs are set, and everyone is well-aligned with your organization’s goals, it is time to track progress. Through the weekly check-ins feature of the Unlock:OKR software, you can track your employees’ progress towards their set goals. You learn about your teams’ weekly whereabouts, what they worked on if they faced any challenges, and their focus of work next week. Besides, holding meetings helps leaders share progress and results with everyone in the company. Your Workforce can, thus, stay aligned, on track, and aware of each other’s progress and priorities.

Pro Tips

*Hold meetings to review OKR progress, discuss upcoming plans, and resolve challenges or roadblocks.

5. All-hands Meetings are a Must

Inter-department management meetings should be conducted quarterly or annually. Such meetings are critical to track progress amongst the different departments of your company and how the business is progressing. They also answer the question: Is the organization marching towards achieving its goals? All-hands meetings help ensure everyone is well aligned, for instance, marketing, sales, and production, and marching towards the organization’s goals.

Pro Tips

*Management meetings help leaders review progress on OKR goals for all departments in the organization.

6. Maintain Transparency Throughout

OKRs and transparency are closely tied to one another. Your employees should be able to see how they are doing at their OKRs. They must know when something goes wrong and how it needs to be corrected. Discuss the progress of your employees in company-wide meetings. You may even do so one-on-one. Your company must be forward-thinking and invested in the success of its Workforce. Besides, make your company’s performance on major KPIs visible through a report or dashboard. Doing so keeps your employees well-informed and clearly and effectively communicates strategy across the entire business. Remember, your employees are your most important stakeholders.

Pro Tips

*Share your company’s progress with stakeholders outside the organization via presentations or social media. Your customers thus learn how much you value their business.

7. Welcome Employee Suggestions

In goal setting, the top-level management creates the parent objective, but the team creates the key results. These key results act as pathways to reaching organizational goals. Each employee thus gets a voice, planning based on well-informed decisions, boosting team morale, and more room for innovation. Unlock:OKR strategy communications planning software furthers the creation of bottom-up goals.

Pro Tips

*Use objectives to align people so they can implement them together and create measurable KPIs. Communication must be open and transparent between employees and managers.

Are You Leveraging OKRs for Your Strategic Communications Plan?

Without a proper strategic communication plan, overcoming the gap between “working on the business” and “working in the business” could become farfetched. When employing OKRs, communicating your strategy boils down to: 1. if you can align your employees with your organization’s objectives, and 2. everyone in the company should possess the right mindset. Objectives and key results boost effective strategy execution because they help to communicate strategy across teams and departments, besides ensuring alignment. Most importantly, OKRs can be effective in strategy communication only when there is transparency. Employees must know what is going on and how their efforts tie into the company’s objectives.

To learn more about strategic communication planning and how Unlock:OKR helps you tailor your OKRs to fit your strategic needs, start a free trial today!

*Workforce Management Software News, Blog, and Resources | Workforce.com