‍“If I only had an hour to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 45 minutes sharpening my axe.” 

I don’t know if Abraham Lincoln ever actually said that, but the principle is sound. Getting your preparation right is critical for a successful outcome.

A good audit is a critical tool to prepare for successful communications and engagement.

Understanding where you are and where you need to change or invest is a really important thing to know. We can start swinging our axe and hope for a clean cut, or we can take a step back, assess the communications environment, and then apply our swing with precision and intent.

That’s why an audit is a great first step.

And when we talk about audits, we mean more than the type of engagement survey that we can get through the every increasing experience platforms. We mean a deeper look at how your communications, content and channels are performing.

Think this sounds complicated and resource intensive? Well, sometimes it is, but it doesn’t have to be. We’ve delivered quick, light touch audits that have given companies valuable insights into how their internal communications and employee engagement are performing. These have typically comprised of:

  • Business and comms strategy review: What are you trying to achieve?
  • Desk analysis of performance data: What data sources do you have and what do they tell us?
  • Talking to colleagues: This can take the form of focus groups, or more often than not quickfire interviews with front-line staff to find out what is working, not working and what are they looking for.
  • Content and channel review: Are your channels on-brand, are workflows effective and what is working/not working?
  • Optional stakeholder interviews: Can be useful, but generally are a step that adds opinion over insight.

These steps can happen very quickly, and give you insights that help you understand where to focus attention, resources and action.

Before embarking on a new communications strategy, a quick sense check of where you are and where you and your colleagues want to be can save you an awful lot of time, trouble and false starts.

Can you afford not to do it?

Find out more about how we have helped clients understand their internal communications performance.