Investing in Strategic Communications

In this brief, DMC offers methods that rethink the traditional role of communications as a systemic management function that should seamlessly support district strategy and operations.

DMC has focused significant effort working on communications and community engagement strategies and tactics in conjunction with members over the years, and we encourage members to invest time and effort in building capacity in this area. In a past DMC member survey, district executives indicated three trends: 1) that district communications offices are often under-resourced 2) that skill sets needed by communications staff were changing and 3) that momentum for rethinking the district communications function appeared to be increasing.

Rather than performing only the more common tactical obligations of media relations, district communications offices are increasingly being tasked with proactive internal and external communications strategy to help improve district operations, and ultimately, student achievement. With communications playing an essential part of any change management process, districts have looked to DMC for innovative approaches to rethink the traditional communications function as a systemic management function that should seamlessly support district strategy and operations. We encourage DMC members to explore our resource library on related topics.

The goal of great district strategic communications is to generate quantifiable and intangible benefits with broad benefits for district operations. Externally, the many benefits of successful strategic communications can materialize in such forms as increases in student enrollment, voter support in bond referenda and board elections, greater facility in attracting and retaining employees, and higher real estate values. Internally, strategic communications is paramount to successful acceptance of change and buy-in to new policies.

As the budget season wanes for another year and many new federal and state priorities are being addressed, the role of strategic communications in change management is perhaps more critical than ever. Acceptance to change needs to begin by building on a base of overall awareness of the issue. When awareness is sufficient, the district can make discrete communications plans to build understanding through dissemination of information and effective dialogue. When a good understanding of the issue has been built, then the communications objective can turn to generating real buy-in to the new initiative or priority. Too often organizations will overestimate the level of readiness for change by assuming the level of understanding of an issue is higher than it really is. Strategic communications implies measuring this readiness and responding appropriately.

Specific to the challenges of communicating budget decisions, districts should have plans to address the necessary change management process. Once decisions and new goals have been set, how will you communicate them both externally and internally? How will you raise awareness and understanding of both how and why these decisions were reached? How will you enlist advocates? How will you handle naysayers? For a recent case study on both budget planning and key stakeholder communications, see “Improving Budget Communications with the Community: Fairfax County Public Schools” in the DMC Resource Library.

DMC offers the six-component planning cycle in the figure below to help districts structure their efforts.

Each component, as well as its sequence, is important for districts to consider. Some top tips for implementation include the following:

• Stakeholder Input or Feedback: Quantitative and qualitative data insights are invaluable. Innovative districts use ongoing cycles of focus groups and surveying to find new insights on where to pursue improved performance.

  • For example, districts can test the sensitivity toward different budget priorities while at the same time educating stakeholders about relevant performance data.

• Create/Modify the Initiative: Effective gathering of new insights helps districts become more responsive to internal and external consumers of district services. The insights generated from the stakeholder input phase can serve as a basis for discrete budget tactics.

  • For example, teachers may be able to identify a range of approaches to simultaneously save money and improve operations.

• Internal Communications: Designing a communications plan so that as much awareness and understanding as possible is built internally before going to outside stakeholders is important. Organizational readiness needs to be built whenever possible.

  • For example, one DMC member underestimated how well a new proposed compensation policy was understood by misinterpreting low meeting turnout and limited questions as being synonymous with low disagreement and high understanding. Districts should design feedback loops to test whether messages are being heard and understood, as well as if they are being agreed to.

• External Communications: When as much internal alignment as possible has been accomplished, then the district can embark on deeper external relations.

  • For example, this type of planning should help districts should avoid the uncomfortable situation where a parent may know more about an initiative than their child’s teacher.

• Rollout of Initiative: A new initiative or policy change should be accompanied by sufficient communications to ensure a smooth rollout. Many district leaders say that it is impossible to communicate too much. Whenever possible, the communications should answer the question “why” through as much data support as possible.

  • For example, if student performance data can be attributed to a given program addressed in budget discussions, it should be a key component of each communication.

• Ongoing Management & Measurement: This cycle should be managed on an ongoing basis, using data. Measuring how information is received, and whether communications are in fact raising awareness and understanding of a given issue will enable districts to tailor communications more effectively and with better use of available resources.

Finally, communications should most commonly be a two-way process, whereby the district is learning the opinions and preferences of its stakeholder groups – both internal and external – at the same time as it disseminates new information. Strategic communications should be a dialogue driven by the specific goals at hand. Understanding and reflecting community priorities is of great importance for district leaders, and we look forward to assisting you in these challenges.