Pausing to Take Stock: A Six-Month Reset

In a typical year, July is reserved for fall planning and evaluation as a natural midyear signpost. Six months in, 2020 has proven to be anything but typical as we’ve navigated months of uncertainty, a global pandemic, disruptions to our daily lives in every area, and long overdue righteous civil unrest.

We know your organization – and its communications strategy – has been disrupted. And with no end in sight to the unpredictability, assessment and planning can feel like herculean (or even futile) tasks. That’s where a few communications best practices can go a long way in helping you gain clarity, feel more grounded, and get excited about what’s next.

Where Do We Stand Now

Good evaluation always starts with honest reflection. Use this time to create space for personal sharing and team discussions. These are an important complement to the reports and analytics you’re already gathering and a perfect opportunity to ask the deeper questions that can get lost amidst the daily grind.

Here are a few prompts you can use as a conversation guide:

Are there unexpected insights about your organization or the community you’re serving that have emerged from this time?
What have you learned about your team’s strengths? What have you learned about your own?
What lessons have you learned from these forced pivots?
Are there new systems, processes, or strategies you want to have in place so you’re prepared to more seamlessly pivot the next time something unexpected comes up?
What new practices will you keep, no matter how 2021 looks? What will you take with you into the “new normal” you’re building for your organization?
What opportunities do you have to try something new or accelerate shifts in your organization?

Here are some additional tips and free resources to help you assess and plan:

Measure Your Impact. Even if your communications road map involved a few unexpected turns these past few months, there are opportunities to understand what worked and what didn’t. Our Digital Lesson: Tracking Your Impact offers guidance on making sense of the road we’ve traveled. Also, our Measuring Communications Results worksheet provides guidance on collecting and interpreting the data. Use these metrics to help shape decisions about the next six months and beyond.
Complete a Peer Analysis. In addition to assessing your own organization’s efforts, understanding the community you work in and alongside can be equally revealing and inspiring. What are your peers and competitors doing to stay nimble and effective? Where are there opportunities to forge new collaborations during times of scarce resources? How can you continue to differentiate yourself from the crowded landscape and highlight the unique value your organization adds to the community? Our Digital Lesson: Where Do You Stand guides you through best practices for self-reflection and competitive analysis.
Prioritize Racial Justice and Education. Recent police brutality and racial injustice has spurred important conversations about our field and helped open up space for more authentic efforts to improve our own work cultures. Use this time as an opportunity to focus on transformative – and not just performative – diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in our organizations. To start, Racial Equity Tools’ library of resources is a great entry point for learning and taking action to strengthen racial equity around us.
Put Strategy First. Even without a Magic 8 Ball to tell us what the world will look like next year, your organization’s strategic plan can be a steadying force and guide for decision-making. Continue to build your communications goals around that broader vision. Then, when unexpected challenges and new opportunities arise, you’ll remain clear-eyed about what you’re trying to accomplish, and it’ll be easier to adjust the tactics that will help you get there. Download Chapter 2 of the Communications Toolkit if your communications plan could use some freshening up or you want to learn more about the difference between strategy and tactics.
Tell Your Story. What happens when we start to think of the past six months as a case study for remarkable flexibility, unexpected innovation, and unflinching commitment to your mission? How will you choose to tell the story of this chapter in your organization’s history? As communicators, you have the opportunity to show your audiences how you’ve adapted and risen to the occasion during this difficult time. Our Bite-Size Course “How to Tell Your Story” offers more tips for talking about where you’ve been and how to take your supporters on that journey with you.

All around us, we see examples of organizations rising to advocate for justice and equity, demonstrating creativity and flexibility, and approaching new problems with new solutions. Listening helps us see that growth, ingenuity, and planning will hold us accountable to continue to do better in the days and months ahead.