Auditing communications effectiveness

Many organizations spend a lot of money on technology and staff in an effort to improve their bottom line. Communications with staff, clients and stakeholders can make or break your business. Don't under-estimate the importance of timely, effective communication, both internally and externally.

Conducting a communications audit to assess the effectiveness of your communications materials, policies and processes might be a good place to start to determine whether your communications efforts are meeting or missing the mark.

Key steps in an audit include:

• reviewing and analyzing existing material for consistency in messages and branding
• speaking with staff about their role, concerns, thoughts
• interviewing external stakeholders about their views, recommendations
• analyzing findings
• drafting a report with recommendations

An audit is an important step to making meaningful change in an organization.