PARIS21

HANDBOOK FOR
DEVELOPING A
COMMUNICATIONS
STRATEGY

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About PARIS21
The Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) promotes the better
use and production of statistics throughout the developing world. Since its establishment in 1999,
PARIS21 has successfully developed a worldwide network of statisticians, policy makers, analysts
and development practitioners committed to evidence-based decision making. With the main
objective of achieving national and international development goals and reducing poverty in low-
and middle-income countries, PARIS21 facilitates statistical capacity development, advocates for
the integration of reliable data in decision making and co-ordinates donor support to statistics.

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Handbook for Developing a Communications Strategy 3

 Handbook for Developing a Communications Strategy

FOREWORD
Statistics are essential in developing the right policies to enable progress on the Sustainable
Development Goals. They provide the evidence needed for decision making and to hold
governments accountable for their actions.
Communication of national statistics is essential. It helps the public to understand the neutrality and
independence of national statistical offices (NSOs), and the value of national statistics as the basic
building blocks of governance and policy making. This drives greater acceptance and use of national
statistics by the public, journalists, and policy makers, thereby bolstering civic engagement.
A communications strategy provides both a strategic vision and roadmap for communications
over the long term. This helps to align communications activities and messaging with national
statistical office processes and frameworks, such as the national strategy for the development
of statistics (NSDS). A communications strategy helps an organisation to map out a series of
activities and programmes that not only help it engage with key stakeholders (internal and external)
in an effective and streamlined way, but also help reach the organisation’s core objectives.
This handbook provides strategic guidance and outlines the practical steps and resources needed for
national statistics offices (NSOs) to develop an integrated communications strategy. It covers in detail
each step of a five-step strategy development process: scoping, research, analysis, drafting and launch.
The handbook is intended for use by communications professionals working in national statistics
offices. It is meant to be practical, with a mix of instructions, tips and resources. Some NSOs will
find that this is all they need to proceed with strategy development independently. Others may find it
necessary or valuable to engage external support for some or a large part of the analytical work.

This handbook is not only for use by communications specialists. In fact, we strongly advise that a
multidisciplinary team be involved in the strategy development. It goes to creating broader institutional
buy-in as well as ensuring that a diversity of opinions is reflected in the choice of priorities.
Whether external support is employed or not, every organisation using the resource kit will need
to adapt its contents and approach to their own particular circumstances. The templates and
guidance are adaptable in order to allow application to a wide a range of situations. The resources
in particular are meant to be enhanced and refined based on the organisational needs, context
and culture. These include factors such as overall objectives, timeline, resource availability and
the situation in which the strategy is being developed. Nonetheless, this handbook should be
seen as a foundation upon which any strategy development process can be carried out.
This handbook is intended to complement the Guidelines for Integrating Communications into
National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS). PARIS21 strongly recommends
that communications be integrated into long-term statistical planning and the guidelines provide
NSOs with a rationale for integrating statistics as a means to achieve strategic NSO objectives
as well as an indication of how to create the conditions under which effective communications
can take place. This handbook builds on that guidance and provides NSOs with the knowledge
and tools necessary to develop a robust statistical communications capacity.
Note: You’ll find links to any resources (templates, workplans and
guidance documents) at the start of each Step).

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CONTENTS
STEP 1................................................................................................................... 10
Define the team.......................................................................................................................................... 11
Resource: Communications Strategy Framework
Conduct an internal scoping........................................................................................................................ 12
Resource: Focus Group Questionnaire
Develop the roadmap.................................................................................................................................. 13
Resource: Communication Strategy Roadmap

STEP 2................................................................................................................... 14
Market analysis........................................................................................................................................... 15
Resource: Competitor/Peer Matrix
Resource: Audience Insights Matrix
Audits........................................................................................................................................................ 16
Resource: Media Audit Worksheet
Resource: Social Media Audit Worksheet
Resource: Human Capacity & Skills Worksheet

STEP 3 .................................................................................................................. 19
Review existing material.............................................................................................................................. 20
SWOT analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 20
Resource: SWOT Analysis Worksheet
Brainstorm Strategy Objectives.................................................................................................................... 22
Risk Assessment And Response................................................................................................................... 22
Resource: Risk Assessment Worksheet
Identify channels and messages.................................................................................................................. 24
Resource: Message Development Worksheet
Consolidate situation analysis...................................................................................................................... 23

STEP 4................................................................................................................... 25
Work and implementation plan..................................................................................................................... 26
Resource: Communication Strategy Workplan
Resource: Editorial Calendar
Drafting...................................................................................................................................................... 26
Resource: Communication Strategy Framework

STEP 5................................................................................................................... 29
Present to senior management for approval.................................................................................................. 30
Launch....................................................................................................................................................... 30

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ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

NSDS National strategy for the development of statistics

NSO National statistical office

PARIS21 Partnership for Statistics in the 21st Century

SWOT Strengths weaknesses opportunities threats

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STEPS AND TIMEFRAME

PREPARATION AND SCOPING 1 week
1 • Define the team
• Conduct an internal scoping
• Develop the road map

ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH 2 weeks

2 • Market analysis
• Brand audit
• Social media audit
• Human capacity and skills audit
• Media audit

SYNTHESIS 2 weeks

3 • Review existing material

• SWOT analysis
• Rick assessment and response
• Identify channels and messages
• Brainstorm strategy • Consolidate situation analysis
objectives

DRAFT THE STRATEGY 2 weeks

4 • Work and implementation plan

• Drafting

APPROVAL AND LAUNCH 1 week

5 • Present to senior management for approval

• Launch

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ACTIONS AND DELIVERABLES

Step Action Deliverable

Define the team X List of nominated team members

X One workshop of up to four hours to

Step 1 Conduct an internal scoping exercise agree on the purpose of the exercise
X Workshop report

Define the roadmap X Roadmap (Excel)

X Brand audit
Conduct a detailed audit and research X Social media audit
X Human capacity and skills audit
Step 2

Conduct external stakeholder X Resource/competitor matrix

consultations X Audience insights matrix

X One-day synthesis workshop to brainstorm

the objectives of the strategy
Step 3 Review of existing material X SWOT analysis worksheet
X Risk assessment and response worksheet
X Message development worksheet

X Editorial calendar
X Work and implementation plan
Step 4 Draft the strategy
X Communications plan
X Communications strategy framework

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STEP 1
Before the strategy development can begin, the parameters of the
exercise must be clearly defined. This includes determining both the
scope of the exercise and the process that will be followed in order
to create a smart communications strategy. Getting this step right is
essential because the information gathered will form the basis for the
subsequent steps of the communications strategy development.

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PREPARATION AND SCOPING

Materials

Define the team Internal scoping Develop roadmap

Communications Focus group Communications

strategy network questionnaire strategy roadmap

DEFINE THE TEAM moves more quickly, but there are also fewer
Resource: Communications people to share the burden of the work)
Strategy Framework X Who should be the primary focal
point driving the process?
The team will be responsible for seeing the X How will the team members be nominated?
project to completion. The team will first assess
X How much time should they expect to
the current state of communications within the
organisation, before drafting a preliminary plan for dedicate to the process weekly/monthly?
the execution of the strategy. This “roadmap” will X Are the team members empowered by their
be a living document that will be continually added managers to dedicate a portion of their work
to and adjusted over the course of the work. time to the strategy development, including
Identify who within the organisation will be the main participating in off-site workshops?
focal point for the strategy development process
and who will participate on the development/drafting
team. It is highly advisable that the communications CONDUCT AN INTERNAL SCOPING
chief or unit drive the process, as they will principally Resource: Focus group questionnaire
be implicated in implementing the resulting
communications programme. However, a cross Once you have the team in place, you may find it
section of staff – in terms of area of expertise, easiest to convene them for a workshop (no longer
seniority, and programmatic work – should also be than four hours) to undertake the scoping exercise
included in the team. When inviting team members, and develop the framework. The first brainstorm
share with them the communications strategy framework of the strategy development is to get everyone
so that they understand the scope of the exercise. on the same page – in a very basic sense – as to
the purpose of the exercise. Discussions should
also cover why the strategy is being developed
and why now, as well as what are the major
Useful questions issues that the strategy is expected to address.
The following questions should be asked when
creating the strategy development team:

X How large should the drafting team be

given the size of the organisation and the
timeline? (Remember: a nimbler team

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Useful questions Wherever possible, the development of the

communications strategy should be aligned
The following questions should be asked with the national strategy for the development
during the scoping workshop: of statistics (NSDS). This can be achieved
in a number of ways. For example, including
X What is the objective of the
the communications head of unit in the NSDS
communication strategy? development team, including specific outputs in the
X What problems does it aim to address? NSDS that have to do with communications, and
X Why a communication strategy now? incorporating communications evaluations into the
X Who is the strategy for? monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework can
X What opportunities already all help to ensure alignment early in the strategy
development with the larger goals of the national
exist to capitalise on?
statistical office. Those implications should be
X What are some of the major problem separated out and the team should brainstorm
areas of communications (internal and communications objectives that might address
external) that need addressing? Be those specific issues. The Guidelines for Integrating
specific citing mechanics and tactics. Communications into National Strategies for the
X What was done in previous Development of Statistics (NSDS) provides further details.
communications strategies? Finally, and depending on the organisation,
this would also be the time to review any
Other issues for discussion include a communications strategy that may exist, and
preliminary look at and agreement upon how any other internal charters or mechanisms
the final strategy should look, based on the that define how the institution communicates.
sample strategy framework provided. These should be a point of reference during
X Is the strategy going to be a public document? the analysis step and during drafting.
X Who is the main audience of the strategy? When undertaking your internal scoping, ensure
X Based on the previous two questions, what that you solicit the views of a wide range of
would drafting team members like to see added colleagues, to ensure that you have a full
understanding of current communications (external
or taken away from the strategy framework?
and internal) challenges and opportunities.
X Will the team develop one integrated
work plan, or several thematic work The results of these discussions should
plans (internal communications, external be captured and included in the market
analysis that you will undertake in Step 2.
communications, advocacy, etc.)?

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DEVELOP THE ROADMAP to denote progress, showing which activities are

scheduled, ongoing, overdue and completed. It
Resource: Communication
should also denote clearly the governance process:
strategy roadmap when senior management must approve the work
Next, as a final step in the scoping workshop, so that the team can proceed to the next stage.
using the Excel template provided, define In order to establish when the strategy development
a preliminary communications strategy roadmap work should begin, it is helpful to take the final
or timeline for the strategy. It should clearly delivery date and work backwards, estimating
outline each of the strategy development how long it will take to complete each activity.
stages and the major activities or milestones
under each of these, mapped to a calendar. Add the roadmap to the workshop report.
This becomes both the strategic and tactical
In addition, the timeline should show: (1) which roadmap for the strategy development.
department or partner implements each activity,
(2) the method (workshop, desk research, mission,
public event, etc.). Colour-coding can be used

Key takeaways
X The outcomes of the initial brainstorm on the scope of the
strategy (why this strategy, why now, for whom, challenges,
opportunities, to address what, etc.) should inform later
discussions on the strategy objectives as well as the
situation analysis (this includes discussion of the NSDS and
communications).
X The issues captured in the internal focus groups should be
captured, paired with the findings of the external stakeholder
audits and fed into the choice of activities during the
planning step.
X When preparing your roadmap, start with the expected
launch date and work backwards.

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STEP 2
Step 2 is to conduct a series of audits, research and external
stakeholder consultations. These processes will dig deeper into
the impressions that came out of the initial brainstorms, producing
concrete evidence to support, modify or refute them. They will help
the team to make strategic and tactical choices in Step 3 in terms
of what stakeholder groups to target, where to prioritise efforts,
what order to roll out the various activities and messaging.
This will help make the case for what goes in the strategy and what does
not. It will help whittle down a long list of possibilities to leave you with
only those that feed directly into the objectives you will define. When in
doubt as to what approach the strategy should take on a specific issue,
your team should come back repeatedly to the results of these exercises.

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ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH

Materials

Market analysis Audits

Competitor/peer Media Audit worksheet
matrix
Social media audit
Audience insights worksheet
matrix
Human capacity and
skill worksheet

MARKET ANALYSIS X What problems do they address?

X How do they communicate with their audiences?
Underpinning any good strategy is a solid X How is the NSO different to them?
understanding of the target audience. The
resources, channels and messages that the NSO
uses have to be appropriate to the needs and
interests of that audience. This ensures both that Target audience research and segmentation
any communications produced resonate with that Resource: Audience Insights Matrix
audience, and that reach is maximised. In parallel,
research should be undertaken to understand the Having explored the other organisations that are
environment in which national statistics are being communicating statistics in your country, you should
communicated. For example, is there a particular now turn your attention to learning everything that
civil society organisation in the country that is you can about your target audience. It is vital that
producing competing statistics or, conversely, that you do not treat your audience as one homogenous
is particularly effective at communicating official group (e.g. citizens of your country). Otherwise,
statistics? Is the social media landscape in the at best you will be wasting time and resources
country amplifying incorrect or misleading statistics? creating communications that are too broad to
be impactful and, at worst, you will be missing a
Two areas of focus are important for a thorough
valuable opportunity to convey the value of your
market analysis: a competitor/peer analysis and
NSO and national statistics using a language
target audience research and segmentation.
and medium that resonates with your users.
To begin, make a list of population groups that you
want to reach. For example, one group could be,
Competitor/peer analysis “university academics working in the field of social
Resource: Competitor/Peer Matrix sciences” or “farmers from tribe x”. Following this,
write down what you think are the main motivations
While there is only one national statistical office
of each group to engage with national statistics and
in the country, there may be other entities
one message that you think could be convincing for
(private sector, civil society, other government
them. Then, rank your audience to see who the most
departments) that are producing and communicating
important target groups are. If possible, disaggregate
statistics. It is important to know and understand
the groups even more by demographics and interest.
why, how and what they do in order to be able
Finally, if possible, take the opportunity to conduct
to articulate the unique value of the NSO and
detailed interviews with individuals from your top
official statistics. Map all possible competitor
target groups in order to gain further insights.
or peer organisations and, researching their
websites, social media and other channels, make
a matrix that answers the following questions:

X Who are their audiences and why

do they engage with them?

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AUDITS Useful questions

The following desk audits need to be carried out by The following questions should be
staff internal to the organisation. These audits are asked during the brand audit:
essential to understand how well the organisation
currently communicates and what resources it X Do the materials adhere to one
has at its disposal. This will in turn determine consistent look and feel?
how best to leverage what is working well and X Is the correct logo used and in the right
where additional emphasis needs to be placed. way (i.e. is it stretched or blurry)? Are the
organisation’s contact details up to date (URL,
social media addresses, etc.)? Is the same
Brand audits colour scheme and set of fonts always used?
X Are individual staff members acting on their
Your ‘brand’ is the set of words, designs, symbols or
other features that distinguish your NSO. Having a own in terms of branding (creating their own
brand means that everything that you communicate templates, changing fonts and colours, etc.)?
should be instantly identifiable as belonging to X What “element” makes each communications
your NSO. So, the colours, language, messaging, output cohesive to the brand?
style, and even the fonts that you use should X Are your brand materials (logos in different
always be consistent and conform to your brand.
formats, templates) and, if they exist,
Review any of your existing communications guidelines (fonts, colours, specifications)
materials, such as letters, newspaper adverts, available for staff to easily access?
recruitment adverts, press releases, programmes,
X Is there uniformity in how contact information
agendas, brochures, PowerPoint presentations,
banners, promotional materials, and reports. is treated (i.e. information appears in the
Do they all follow the same style, use the same same order, same size, same place)?
fonts, have the same kinds of language, and use
Create a brief summary report of the audit that
your logo in a consistent way? Would an outsider,
concludes with recommendations for managing cited
looking at the material for the first time, identify
inconsistencies. These should be fed into the final
it as being from your NSO within five seconds?
strategy work plan on activities that touch on brand
If the answer to these things is no, you may
development, strategic positioning and marketing.
wish to include as part of your communications
strategy a brand guideline that clearly sets out
the rules around how your communications look
and feel, and the language that you use (you
may wish to solicit the help of brand experts).

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Media audit your website, engagement, search visibility,

user experience. It includes information like
Resource: Media Audit Worksheet
the number of visitors to a website and the
A media audit is the process of reviewing how your number of page views, how long visitors stay
NSO (and more generally, national statistics) are on a page; how they come to the website, how
being portrayed in newspapers, television news, and often people download specific content, etc.
on blogs and other mass communications channels.
A complete and detailed audit will give you a
In carrying out the audit, you need to see where
deeper understanding of how and how often
and how your NSO is being portrayed and whether
your website is being consulted and how to
there are opportunities to get more media coverage.
improve both. You can of course use Google
Analytics to see how your website is doing.
Some information can be gleaned from a critical
Useful questions review of the website’s pages; this information will
The following questions should be asked also emerge in your external stakeholder interviews
when auditing past media coverage: where they are asked to discuss where they go to
retrieve information disseminate by the NSO (see
X How often is your NSO in the news or external stakeholder interviews and focus groups).
covered by the media? Is this enough?
Following the audit of the website, an audit of your
X Is your NSO represented fairly in the
social media channels should also be carried out
media? What do they get wrong? as part of the digital audit. A social media audit is
What do they get right? necessary to review which of your social media
X What aspects of the organisation platforms is working well, which is failing and
resonated most with journalists, what can be done to improve your use of each.
producers, bloggers and editors? The social media audit template will help with this
X What news pieces have been most audit process. First, you need to list all the social
shared and why do you think that is? media channels used by the organisation. Then, you
X What about the quality of the coverage (how should include the following information for each:
frequent, type, placement, accuracy, visibility of Profile information: name and URL of the channel
media outlet/article, include photo/video etc.)
X How well did past coverage communicate X Posting frequency: list date of latest
the organisation’s intended key messages? activity and frequency of posts.
X Engagements: the number of times a user
Armed with this information, it’s possible to identify interacts with your message through comments,
the parts of your communications strategy that
replies, sharing your message, etc.
should be adjusted to maximise the quantity and
quality of your media coverage. Summarise those X Referral traffic: clicks per post
recommended actions and incorporate them in the X Channel specific metrics: for example,
strategy work plan for activities related to media Facebook reach or Twitter follower count.
relations, brand visibility, events and dissemination.
In your summary of the digital media audit, you
Social media audit should make recommendations for which social
Resource: Social Media Audit Worksheet channels should be kept and which should be
abandoned, based on the return on time invested
With so many digital marketing channels at our
in maintaining the platform and an identification
disposal it is easy to lose track of what’s working
of where to best reach the target audience. It
and where there is room for improvement. That is
should also address how to improve website
where a careful audit of your organisation’s presence
traffic and experience (how easy to is to navigate,
online can be of service. You can do an audit of
organisation of information, the interface, how
your digital marketing to gather and analyse data
quickly it loads on slow connections etc.). These
coming from different sources, and then use that
findings should inform which communications
information to guide strategy and decision making.
channels are prioritised under the strategy.
You should begin with an audit of your website.
A website audit is a full analysis of traffic to

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The first part of the audit can be done as a

brainstorm among the drafting team members. It
Tip: Most social media will highlight perceived gaps in capacity as well as
channels provide free what resources are lacking to exploit the capacity
in-built analytics that allow that does exist (software, platforms, etc.).
you to measure these variables
and the effectiveness of your Resource: Human Capacity
messages. For example, for & Skills Worksheet
Twitter you can use Twitter
analytics: https://analytics. As skills audits are often a regular part of the
twitter.com and for Facebook human resources function of an organisation,
you can get Facebook Insights this information may already be available for all
by clicking Insights at the top skills. In that case, all that would be needed is to
of your Facebook page. extract the relevant findings for communications.
The strategy’s success is contingent upon the
hiring of the necessary staff, acquiring certain skills
and possibly having certain resources/platforms/
Human capacity and skills audit software made available. As such, note any risks in
This audit takes a careful look at the human the SWOT analysis that you will undertake in Step 3.
resources and skills already available within
the organisation to help implement the strategy.
The purpose is to recognise strengths and
identify any gaps so that decisions can be
made either to hire full or part-time staff, or to
outsource functions to local service providers.

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STEP 3
In Step 3, you’ll make a series of analyses and choices that will determine
the focus of the strategy. After this, it should be clear to the team what
activities should be carried out, for whom, why and how those activities
will help meet long-term objectives. If done well, it will lead smoothly into
the drafting step where all of these findings will be captured and worked
into one coherent narrative.

Using the results of the scoping exercise, research, audits, interviews

and focus groups, the group will synthesise the meanings of those
findings and begin to make the first strategic decisions, including defining
more specifically the strategy’s objectives and situation analysis, the two
grounding factors of the final document. Each activity will yield a data
point (or points) that should be reflected directly in the strategy,
as noted below.

It is strongly advised that this step take place through a full-day workshop.

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SYNTHESIS
Materials

Review existing SWOT analysis Brainstorm

material strategy objectives

SWOT analysis
worksheet

Risk assessment Identify channels Consolidate

and messages situation analysis

Risk assessment Message development

worksheet worksheet

REVIEW EXISTING MATERIAL SWOT ANALYSIS

To kick-off the first workshop, the drafting team A SWOT analysis is a useful resource for understanding
needs to review the key outcomes of everything the strategic needs of the organisation. It offers
carried out to date: the scoping exercises, research a concise look at the underlying strengths and
and audits, the strategy roadmap and the basic weaknesses of the organisation, while also revealing
strategy outline drafted during the previous step. external factors that could become opportunities
or threats. The SWOT analysis will feed into the
The team can be divided into four groups to situation analysis of the communications strategy.
extract the main takeaways of each of the results If one of the weaknesses of the organisation
of the previous steps. One team can summarise is not having enough staff to carry out the
the main takeaways of the scoping exercise, communication activity from start to finish, this
another the different audits, another the strategy should be reflected in the number of activities
roadmap and another the outline. Each group and actions to be included in the strategy.
can then summarise the main takeaways of
each exercise for the entire drafting team.

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Resource: SWOT Analysis Worksheet 3. Opportunities: This session should start by

reviewing the strengths and weaknesses
identified during the two previous sessions
of the workshop. Analyse if the strengths
Tip: Strengths and identified could create new opportunities
weaknesses are often and, conversely, if opportunities could
internal to your organisation, arise through the elimination of some
while opportunities and threats of the identified weaknesses.
generally relate to external
factors. Useful questions to ask:
X What opportunities are open to you?
X What trends could you take advantage of?
During this activity, the allocated time X How can you turn your strengths into
should be divided evenly to cover each of opportunities?
the four elements of the SWOT analysis, plus
a final session in which to analyse how to
maximise strengths and opportunities and 4. Threats: For this penultimate session, the
how to minimise weaknesses and threats. team will need to brainstorm existing
It is recommended to follow the order stated below and potential factors that might have
because the strengths and weaknesses, which repercussions on the work of the NSO.
are mostly internal factors, will help to define
more clearly the opportunities and threats.
Useful questions to ask:
1. Strengths: When analysing strengths, list X What threats could harm you?
the characteristics of the NSO that might X What is your competition or other
be considered as its strong benefit. Analyse regional NSO doing?
strengths from an internal perspective using X What threats do your weaknesses
the audits carried out during Step 2. expose you to?
Useful questions to ask:
5. SWOT analysis in action: This final session
X What do you do well?
builds on the answers of the previous SWOT
X What unique resources can you draw on? analysis to develop a strategic vision. Use the
X What do others see as your strengths? table and tips below to find ways of matching the
internal dynamics (both positive and negative)
with external possibilities for the organisation.
2. Weaknesses: Analyse internal weaknesses using
the results of the external stakeholder interviews X Strengths–opportunities. Use your internal
and focus groups, and the brand, media, digital strengths to take advantage of opportunities.
and human capacity audits. Weaknesses can
X Strengths-threats. Use your
also be identified by comparing your service
to other statistical offices in the region using strengths to minimise threats.
the results of the benchmarking research X Weaknesses-opportunities.
carried out in Step 2 to inform this discussion. Improve weaknesses by taking
advantage of opportunities.
Useful questions to ask: X Weaknesses-threats. Work to eliminate
X What could you improve? weaknesses to avoid threats.
X Where do you have fewer The outcome of this activity will help inform
resources than others? the situation analysis as well as the risk and
X What are others likely to see as weaknesses? assumptions section of the final strategy.

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BRAINSTORM STRATEGY OBJECTIVES

The feedback emerging from the internal
focus groups, audits, and external stakeholder
Tip: The communication
strategy objectives should
interviews should be the basis for the
adhere to the same timeframe
brainstorming of a list of strategy objectives.
as the organisational plans
These objectives are the goals that you want and operational goals of
to achieve with your communications. Each of strategy. The output of this
them should be formulated as “To do….” and stage should be used for the
have a clearly stated outcome or outcomes. The objectives sections of the
communication objectives should tie in very closely communication strategy.
with the NSO organisational objectives. These
objectives need to be specific and measurable.
Once they are achieved, they can be replaced by
another goal to adapt to the larger goals of the NSO.
In case the NSDS is updated, these objectives RISK ASSESSMENT AND RESPONSE
should be reviewed and adapted accordingly.
For this activity, the team will need to brainstorm
Results-based logical framework, where each potential threats to the NSO and create a list of the
objective will be prioritised, matched to an expected five to ten most important ones. Once a threat has
set of outcomes, audiences and performance been identified, the team will need to define the
indicators. major consequences, who or what is at risk (i.e. for
example, if a civil society organisation misrepresents
official statistics in its communications, this
may undermine trust in official statistics), and
Tip: It is important to take anticipate the worst possible outcome.
some time to think about the
number of objectives that can
be realistically achieved. If you
set too few you are probably
Resource: Risk Assessment Worksheet
not stretching yourself and The team should also categorise the likelihood
if you set too many you will of occurrence (definite, likely, occasional, seldom
be unlikely to achieve them. or unlikely) and potential impact (insignificant,
As a rule of thumb – this can marginal, moderate, critical or catastrophic).
vary when tying strategic Finally, this activity should end with another
objectives into the larger brainstorming session to identify possible
organisational plans – you control measures for each identified risk.
should have a maximum
of five strategic objectives. The outcomes of this activity should
be used to inform the situation analysis
and but most importantly the risks and
assumptions section of the final strategy.
Writing strategy objectives:
1. Keep things simple, avoid jargon. Objectives
should be easy to remember and under
stood by everyone within the organisation.
2. Keep the objectives one sentence long. More
details can be added in the logframe activity.
3. You can use a simple structure like
“Action + Detail + Deadline”.
4. Start with a verb to force you to be specific
about what you are trying to achieve.

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IDENTIFY CHANNELS AND MESSAGES Examples of common channels for internal

communications: face to face interviews, emails,
meetings, calls, newsletters, appraisals, intranet,
internal messaging service, management
Channels meetings, all staff meetings, press digest, weekly
This activity helps to identify how to communicate news, memoranda to staff, presentations, …
effectively with stakeholders. The team should take Examples of common channels for external
into account the results of the previous activities: communications: press releases, website,
internal and external focus groups/interviews emails, social media, face to face interviews,
especially, but also audits and the SWOT analysis. emails, meetings, mass media, calls, newsletters,
Based on these outcomes, the team should advertising, mail, publications (print and
brainstorm a list of appropriate channels through electronic), events, spokesperson briefing
which to communicate the strategy objectives. to the press, videos, blogs, webinars, …
This list will identify the channels that can be used Use the channels identified here when
internally for communication within the organisation, thinking about activities through which to
as well as externally to reach stakeholders. It should implement the objectives of the strategy.
take into account their preferences, as expressed They can also be useful when thinking about
monitoring and evaluation of outcomes.
in the feedback surveys carried out during the
external stakeholder interviews and focus groups.
You can identify appropriate channels Messages
by doing the following:
Resource: Message
1. First isolate the channels currently used within Development Worksheet
the organisation for internal and external
Communications goes beyond sending
communication. press releases or publishing reports. For
the communications of the organisation to be
2. Discuss which of these has been the most effective, the organisation needs to adopt key
effective so far and which have not worked so messages around what it does, for whom and
well. Choose the five most effective and the for what purpose. These messages should be
tied to larger organisational positioning goals
five least effective channels, giving specific
(i.e. how you want to be seen) and highlight the
examples of successes and failures. unique value and role of your organisation in the
larger national statistical system landscape.
Following this discussion, identify new
The best strategic messages are clear and
potential channels that might be more effective concise. They should be memorable and
for the different communication needs. compelling and seek to educate, persuade,
create awareness and call to action.

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1. GEE WHIZ: The wow factor, designed to the risk assessment worksheet to identify the
impress, arouse wonder and distinguish your potential risks and ways to avoid them. You don’t
organisation from others. This is about your need to go into great detail on risks, as those
will be covered in the risk section of the strategy
organisation and why it, or a specific product,
but you should show cognisance of factors
campaign, etc. is different and special. potentially affecting the success of the strategy.

2. SO WHAT: Once you have created a Once the workshops and activities have been
carried out, it is important to inform senior
sense of wonder you need to leverage
management of the key findings. This should be
this by answering ‘so what?’ What done with a presentation to all senior managers
does that wow factor mean in terms of who will eventually be asked to approve
added value for the target audience? the final strategy. This activity allows senior
management to raise questions or concerns
It is critical that there is an awareness about early enough to be considered in the drafting,
the key messages that extends beyond the and it gives the team the possibility to respond
communications team to the entire organisation. to their concerns and determine how best to
The message is more consistent and focused address them in the final strategy document.
when everyone in the organisation is “on
script” and internal confusion is eliminated. The presentations should include the following
A co-ordinated message also reinforces key takeaways from the activities conducted.
professionalism, which creates greater After the presentation, one person in the
confidence in the organisation’s capacities. team should be responsible for noting down
and synthesising the reactions of senior
management. This document should be
CONSOLIDATE SITUATION ANALYSIS circulated to managers for them to approve.
This activity builds on the research carried out Management feedback can then be added
in Step 2 and the strategic focus that has been to the strategy framework and taken into
developed so far in Step 3. It helps to bridge the consideration during Step 4 – Draft the strategy.
ideas identified in the workshop with the drafting
of the final plan. The first step in drafting the
situation analysis is to note the main issues to be
addressed by the new communications strategy. Tip: At the end of this
The content will feed directly into the situation activity, synthesise takeaways
analysis section of the communications strategy. and include them in the
relevant sections of the
The situation analysis should also point out communication strategy
the opportunities for the organisation that document, which will be drafted
emerged from the SWOT analysis. Write down during Step 4.
the resources available and the challenges and
obstacles that are present. Again, you can refer
to the SWOT analysis for this section. Refer to

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Key takeaways

X A SWOT analysis
X A stakeholder mapping and engagement plan
X A situation analysis
X A risk assessment plan
X Basic strategy messaging
X A commitment to specific channels
X A communication strategy workplan
X An activity implementation plan
X Senior management feedback on the first set of strategic
decisions taken by the drafting team
X A draft activity/implementation plan for the strategy

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STEP 4
The drafting step should commence when all research, inputs and
workshops have been concluded. It is also important, at this stage, to
develop an editorial calendar to track the progress of the strategy drafting.

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DRAFT THE STRATEGY

Materials

Work and
implementation plan Drafting
Communications
Communications strategy framework
strategy workplan
Editorial calendar

WORK AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN on investment, taking into consideration

the effort and resources involved.
Draw up a table that indicates the key
X Think about the target audience for
communications activities per objective. To fill in
the different categories, the team first needs to use each activity and the stakeholders to
the objectives defined during the Brainstorm Strategy be engaged. To determine this, use
Objectives activity. Each objective should be matched the results obtained in the stakeholder
to several activities. Be realistic about what you mapping and match them accordingly.
can do (see “how to choose activities” below). X The results of the communication and
You will also provide a brief description of the dissemination channel identification should
activity and identify the channels of communication, be used to match each activity with an
target audience, strategic value, cost and effort for appropriate channel of communication.
each activity. (If there are specific projects, events
X Assign an expected launch or
or publications that will take place, these should
be highlighted.) Use the results of the audits and finalisation date for each activity.
the SWOT analysis to fill in these columns. The
workplan should also include proposed timescales
Resource: Editorial Calendar
(from which quarter and year, to which quarter Working backwards from when you want to
and year [e.g. Q1 2018-Q3 2018]) and identify launch your strategy, create a simple timeline
particular milestones within the strategy. These of milestones and major tasks to be done. Hold
timeframes will be captured in the implementation regular meetings to measure progress against
plan and the milestones can be considered for various stages (draft, revision, approval, edit).
monitoring and evaluation. Both will allow you to
measure clear steps towards ultimate goals.

Resource: Communication DRAFTING

Strategy Workplan Resource: Communication
Strategy Framework
Using the Communications Strategy Workplan
template, carry out a brainstorming session to The key to writing a good strategy document
generate ideas about the most useful activities. is always to keep in mind the target
Always keep the objectives in mind. audience and the essential message. The
document should be concise and to the
X Choose activities that are feasible for the point and free of confusing jargon.
organisation. See the results of the various
audits. Think about available resources
and channels, time involved and return

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Although the workshops so far have been

team based, it is helpful when drafting to
have one person as lead writer to ensure a
consistent narrative voice and writing style.
Once the document has been drafted, an editor will
finesse the style and iron out any errors. Additionally,
a graphic designer should be tasked with creating
a nice visual presentation of the document.
To structure the strategy, go back to the strategy
framework template (which will have been updated
over time to reflect areas where your organisation
wants to place emphasis) and fill in the document
with the key takeaways from the previous
steps. See the Communication Strategy Framework for
instructions on what should be included in each
section. Below are a few additional pointers.

1. Current situation and background. This

section is grounded in the relevant information
gathered in the section “Consolidate Situation
Analysis.” Other analysis and insight can be
used to fill it out.

2. Strategy objectives. Make sure each

objective is clear and distinct from the other. If
two objectives are similar in substance, try to
combine them into one.

5. Communications work plan. The activities

3. Key strategy stakeholders. Fill in the
should be organised in a calendar, indicating
major groups outlined during the stakeholder
starting date and due date. It is recommended
mapping activity and divide them into primary
to list activities in sequence, so that more
and secondary stakeholders. To do this, first
complex activities build on the work previously
analyse the relationship with each stakeholder
done by simpler activities.
to determine which groups are primary
stakeholders and which are secondary.
The stakeholders should be as specifically
defined as possible. Tip: If there are plans
to develop any major
4. Activities. This section is in many ways campaigns or publications
it is recommended to create
the heart of the strategy as it will shape
separate work plans and
implementation. It should outline the activities calendars for each action.
defined during work and implementation This does not have to be done
plan development, which have already been as part of the strategy; but it
matched to an objective, with an indication should be done. This will help
of which audiences the activity engages and to keep track of the work and
ensure timely delivery.
its strategic value. Make sure you take into
consideration the capacity assessment audit
to define realistically what can be carried out.

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6. Monitoring and impact evaluation. This 8. Others. Some NSOs choose to include
section should provide a list of indicators to a background section before the situation
monitor and evaluate the activities for each analysis, which covers the institutional
objective. Select the indicators in line with mandate, values, objectives, etc. of the
the capacities listed in the Step 2 - Audits organisation. The background section
exercise, ensuring that expectations are might also list and review past and existing
reasonable and achievable according to communications strategies. It could also
the resources of the organisation. refer to the relevant NSDS sections, which
were used to inform the strategy. This places
the strategy into the much larger context of
the history of the organisation and the other
Tip: It is helpful also to institutional factors at play in the strategy’s
establish baseline indicators, development and implementation. If the final
against which progress can strategy document is to be made is public,
be measured.
it is advisable to include this background.

9. Annex. In this section you can include any

7. Risks and assumptions. This section will supporting documentation that might be
list factors that might have an impact on relevant for understanding the strategy.
the strategy’s implementation and success.
It covers what is needed to succeed
(assumptions) and what may be beyond the
purview of the organisation but nonetheless
have a negative impact on it. Use the key risks
identified during the activity “risk assessment
and strategy for mitigating risks”. Also
think about what assumptions underlie the
strategy and what is being done to test these
assumptions.

Key takeaways

A clear division of labour and editorial calendar for drafting.

A well-written, easy-to-read document that succinctly maps
the new strategic vision, well-articulated activities, a guide
to implementation and evidence of the logical foundation that
justifies all three. The strategy document reflects the values
and objectives of the organisation and ensures effective
communication at all levels

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STEP 5
Once the strategy has taken shape, there are only a couple of
remaining steps to take before implementation begins. First, the
strategy document needs to be endorsed by senior management.
Then, the strategy should be launched internally so that all staff
are aware of it and understand the implications for their work.

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STRATEGY APPROVAL
AND LAUNCH
Materials

Market analysis Audits

Competitor/peer Media Audit worksheet
matrix
Social media audit
Audience insights worksheet
matrix
Human capacity and
skull worksheet

PRESENT TO SENIOR MANAGEMENT

FOR APPROVAL Key takeaways

Once the strategy is drafted the final version needs

to be cleared by the same set of senior managers X The launch of a new strategy
who approved the findings at the end of Step 3. document approved by senior
management with the right
foundations to ensure successful
LAUNCH implementation.
After the final strategy has been approved,
X The presence of key stakeholders
plan its launch. When planning the launch
at the launch so to ensure early
it is important to consider the need for a
buy-in and engagement.
launch, define its main objectives and list
the key opportunities that this launch might
represent for the success of the strategy.
The specific form that your launch takes will take
different forms depending on your organisation. It
could be in the form of an all-staff lunch, an email
sent to all staff, or simply distributing it among
colleagues. However you launch it, ensure that you
include a simple one-page overview that conveys:

X Why the strategy was developed

X How it will help your NSO achieve its mission
X What the implications are for staff
X Who they can contact for further guidance

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33 Handbook for Developing a Communications Strategy