For example, one strategy … Enrol today >. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 12(2). Ten must haves for your IC strategy Tactics and Why it Matters, Employee Surveys are Opportunity for Good or Bad. As Saskia Jones points out on the All Things IC blog, […], Your email address will not be published. Thank you Saskia, did you find that helpful? Imagine that your latest employee survey has shown that employee engagement has decreased. Communication strategy is a plan to achieve communication objectives. Quite often, people confuse strategy and tactics and think the two terms are interchangeable in strategic planning, but they’re not. This is an excellent review of how the planning cascade should work. PR strategy and communication strategy are two terms often bandied about by PR and communications practitioners as buzz words to make them sound like they understand the language of the board room or C-suite. So if you are also looking for the difference between tactics and strategy, this article will help you in understanding the terms. Do you know the difference between tactics and strategy? Tactically, there are a number of ways to potentially achieve this, including: These are all initiatives, but what is important is that they are all initiatives with a clearly perceived purpose: What’s wrong with just focusing on tactics? You may therefore decide that one of your strategies for raising employee engagement will be to improve line managers’ skills at internal communication. ‘We need to get all staff on Yammer’; ‘We need a newsletter’; ‘We need a leadership video’. ‘We need to get all staff on Yammer’; ‘We need a newsletter’; ‘We need a leadership video’. A business strategy is different from a tactic in that different tactics may be deployed as part of a single strategy. Today I have a guest post by Saskia Jones for you to dispel some myths and provide clarity. She will be missed by me and so many others in the world of Comms. I often describe strategy as “the thinking” whereas tactics are “the doing” – in other words, what we’re going to do, then how we’re going to do it/get there. Would you like to work together? You can also book a free 15-minute call this way. Strategy defines your long-term goals and how you’re planni… Next time you get asked to ‘produce a podcast’ or ‘organise a talk’, take it to the next level by directing some questions to your leader or internal client. Form should follow function. Using a strategic narrative – what it is and how to do it The form your tactic takes should follow the strategic function. There are many definitions, but here’s the definition that has always helped me throughout my internal communications career. Will they really be helping achieve organisational objectives? Strategies are overarching methods or broad approaches used to achieve a plan’s objective and goals, and tactics are the particular actions used to implement the strategies. By focusing on tactics alone, you might find yourself very busy delivering some great products –but will they be the right ones? Confusion between strategies and tactics is a commonly made communication plan mistake. The important part of your comment is “integrating.” From my perspective, online communications should be integrated throughout – from your context and environmental scan capturing online activities, to considering online audiences, to including social media outreach in your tactics (I really could have worded that far better, to include other online tactics). 08383648Permission needed to reproduce content. Free internal comms plan guidelines. What we find is that organizations do not use these terms correctly, causing some disconnects internally when it comes time to deploy the plan. She  won ‘Internal Communicator of the Year’ at the Institute of Internal Communication Icon Awards 2014. The scope of the strategy is bigger than tactics, in a sense that there can be some tactics in a single strategy. In this particular example, the *goal* is to “increase employee engagement.” Since the survey showed the issue is with the line managers, the objective might be: “Improve employee opinions of line manager communication skills by 10% on the next employee survey.” It’s specific, measurable, and you can show whether or not the strategy you’ve selected is working. Through our work in communications over the years, we have slowly but surely figured out the differences between a strategy and a plan. Strategy vs. Building a Communications Strategy Tactics, Tools and Techniques for Reaching your Audiences. First published on the All Things IC blog 15 November 2018. Or visit my shop to see everything I offer. It’s a good idea in such situations to ask probing questions to determine why that tactic is favored. You could implement a training programme in effective internal communication for all line managers, You could make it compulsory for all line managers to have an objective on internal communication with their teams. Specifically, the survey has shown that line manager communication is poor. We collect, use and protect your data in line with our privacy policy. As Sun Tzu, a Chinese military leader and philosopher observed more than two millennia ago, “Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat”. A tactic is a course of action – one of possibly several – that you will embark on to bring your strategy to fruition. The first step to being more strategic is to understand the difference a strategy and a tactic. Let’s say our tactic is to deploy an internal social media channel. Not surprisingly, most of my internal communication clients talk frequently about the desire to be more strategic in their work. Communication Goals Communication goals are the desired end-results of a program of communication. But how often do the people talking about strategy and tactics really understand what they are talking about? What is it about the tactic makes is so desirable. Strategies are overarching methods or broad approaches used to achieve a plan’s objective and goals, and tactics are the particular actions used to implement the strategies. Action steps might include sourcing and procuring the software, deploying the software, developing an online program to teach employees how to use the software, developing an internal marketing program to promote the use of the channel, and so on. Module 8: Building a Communications Strategy Introduction Communicating to voters and potential supporters through the media is a challenge for every campaign, especially in areas where the media might be controlled by other (And they have been for many centuries!) Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Tactics and strategy are not at odds with one another—they’re on the same team. You may feel like you have no time to look at the bigger picture under the pressure of so many demands on your time. Saskia is a Communications Consultant and Coach, specialising in internal communications. She was such a guiding light in the world of IC and I enjoyed collaborating with her on posts like these to help other internal communicators learn. According to strategy guru Michael Porter, “Competitive strategy is about being different. But what are these initiatives designed to achieve, and how are they bringing results for the organisation? One tactic might be to deploy an enterprise social media network and another might be to deploy collaboration software that allows employees to post updates about their project-related activities. 2020 update: I’m devastated to say unfortunately Saskia passed away in January 2020. Tactic in Business. Will definitely resonate with senior leaders and colleagues who don’t seem to (want to) get where IC can add value. © 2020 All Things IC LtdCompany registered in England No. Ed, I think you’re spot-on. Communication goals are designed to be measurable but aren't time bound as the schedule for achieving goals is found in the communication plan.Goals need not indicate how they will be achieved but you … It is an activity to which you can assign a clear timeline, resources and metrics.

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