What is a communication management?

Communications management describes the methodology that will be used for managing communications, in this case, within your business and it includes a communication management plan and collaboration strategy. The communications management plan describes the specific deliverables, purpose, audience, message, frequency, and channels and other relevant information.

How can you use a meeting agenda in your business?

As soon as you begin planning what you need to do to start your business and what you’ll need to do to effectively run your business, you should also begin planning how and when you’ll communicate your progress. Remember that successful communication is an ongoing process, not a one-time event.

Communication is useful at all points in your business’s development - it can help get the word out about a new business, renew interest or help attract new funding sources. Follow these guidelines to develop a strong communication plan.

1. Purpose: Identify the purpose of your communication, do you want to increase awareness, share information, request feedback?

2. Audience: Tailor communications for who will receive it, each customer segment should be worded a little differently, if you want to get funding - consider different investor types!

3. Message: Plan and design your message. Work out what you need to say or write in order to meet your objectives.

4. Frequency: Will this be a recurring event or one-off like meeting notes or a follow-up email after a conversation. Don’t forget to check out our meeting agenda template too!

5. Channel: How can you communicate most efficiently - email, in person meeting, presentation?

6. Analyze and update: Decide how you’ll evaluate your plan and adjust it, based on the results of carrying it out. Is the weekly newsletter you send out being read? Are your meeting notes capturing key details?

Why are communication plans important?

Communication plans provide a clear roadmap for consistently communicating with employees, so they feel informed about goals for your business, or a specific initiative, so they can take action and help achieve those goals. They also define how and when the team will communicate.

Pro Tip

Make sure you continue using and revising your communication plan, based on your experience, especially as your business grows and expands. Afterall, a weekly meeting with one employee would be much different and easier to manage than a weekly meeting with 50 employees.

External Resources

Checkout some of our favorite content sharing and collaboration tools! These can help your team collaborate (work on the same document/file at the same time) or even distribute recurring communications, like creating a shared folder for weekly team meeting notes. Be sure to utilize each platforms’ benefits, like mobile apps!