A Personal Communication Plan: What is it and Why You Need One
Your work doesn’t speak for its self. You have speak for it.
Workplace meritocracy is a fairy tale, and networking for career advancement can feel like a cliche.
Career sponsors are the game changers. Sponsors praising you and working for your advancement when you are not in the room is how careers advance. When it happens, such as a decision to give you a stretch project, you often aren’t in the room where it happens meaning communicating our brand is paramount for success.
Yeah, maybe you find a root canal more desirable than a water cooler chat dissecting office politics, but your dentist isn’t going to put you in line for a promotion (If your dentist helped you get promoted, please hit me up. I would love to hear the story).
In a widely circulated TicTok video, a woman shared the negative feedback she received as a result of her policy only to speak to her colleagues if they speak to her first. Her colleagues ascribed coldness to her approach. In the video she appeared frustrated by this feedback. She asserted her silence is cordial. Silence might be golden, but it was not received as cordial by her colleagues.
Unfortunately, for members of systemically excluded groups trusting the validity of workplace feedback at work is tricky. However, this video raised two red flags:
- She mentions this was not the first time she received this type of feedback
- She appears dismissive of the possible harm to her career due to her communication style.
Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of reaction to this video. Many on social media sympathized citing the unrealistic expectations of Black women at work. We are often expected to twist ourselves into knots to make others comfortable. Navigating the workplace is often the equivalent of traversing a minefield. This difficult reality highlights the need for securing mentors and advocates throughout our careers.
Advocates are not won in high-stakes formal presentations, they are cultivated through demonstrating good work, intentional relationship building, and concise messaging. A well-designed and executed personal communication plan will help achieve goals.
A personal communications plan will help anyone refine their communication style, cultivate invested stakeholders, and utilize the best channels to share your personal brand.
What’s a Communication Plan?
Communication plans are simple. Companies utilize communications plans as a road map for how they will communicate to both internal and external stakeholders. Companies are not the only entities who benefit from implementing a communications plan. Individuals can use communication plans in their personal and professional lives. This post focuses on personal communication plans for a professional setting.
The Building Blocks of A Communication Plan
Identify the Key Stakeholders
Stakeholders are the people who have an influence or interest in you, your career, and your professional growth. These are the people who you will build relationships with during your time in the organization. For clarity, when I say relationship, I don’t exclusively mean friendship. I simply mean a cordial and respectful relationship. When curating these stakeholders some will arise organically, such as your boss or direct report. For others you’ll need to strategically build relationships.
When identifying your stakeholder group, consider a few key questions:
- Who in the organization do you want to know your value add and expertise;
- Who can help you be more effective in your role;
- Who do you want to know you beyond your professional skills; and
- Who do you want advocating for you when you are not in the room?
It’s crucial to think strategically and think outside the box. Many organizations are complex hierarchies with entrenched silos. When considering your stakeholders, identify candidates throughout different levels of your organizational hierarchy and identify people across various silos.
Consider mentoring people below you in the hierarchy. You’ll grow your skills, widen your network and possibly improve your reputation in the organization with your efforts. In addition to being strategic in your relationship building, embrace organic relationships as they develop. Not every relationship at work needs to advance our career. Studies prove having friends at work makes our work life more rewarding.
In summary, when identifying stakeholders ask yourself, who do you want speaking your name when you aren’t in the room, what do you want them to say about your work and your personality beyond work, and which channels will you use to ensure they hear your message.
Craft a Message About You
Once you’ve identified your stakeholders it’s time to move to the second building block of the plan: curate the message of you. When identifying stakeholders you asked, “who do I want advocating for me when I’m in the room?” When crafting the message, the question becomes what do I want people saying when I’m not in the room.
It’s easy to become consumed by the daily grind of work. Endless meetings, an exploding email inbox, and navigating organizational politics drain our focus. A personal communication plan for work will help you focus even when things get busy. The message of you is what you want your stakeholders to know about you. Effective messaging is not only what you are good at, but who you are. Your message is not only about your work, but it is about you, your personality, and your personal values. Like it or not, success at work is about relationships. We are like magnets, we attract and repel others. Bringing your whole self to work attracts the right relationships to you.
Here are some questions to help you frame the message of you:
- What are your strengths?
- How do your strengths benefit the organization?
- What are your desired stretch projects?
- What thought-leadership do you contribute?
- Who are you beyond work?
Use Varied Channels:
Now that you developed your message, and you’ve identified the audience, the final building block of your plan is developing the channels to convey your message. Of course there are traditional channels, such as meetings and emails. While we may not think of it, small talk is one way we share our message with others. Elevator chats, coffee meetings, even happy hours are channels to share your message with your audience.
Non-evident Message Channels:
- Participation in meetings- we spend more time than we should in meetings. Don’t give in to the temptation of checking out in meetings. Stay engaged, offer your perspective in these meetings. You have insight into the organization and you should demonstrate it when reasonable.
- Asking Questions — The questions we ask don’t reveal our ignorance, they reflect our understanding, how we process information, and how we create solutions to challenges. In my role as a manager, I pay close attention to the questions of my team. I interpret smart questions as competence rather than ignorance. Questions are crucial tools in your career development and communicating your message at work.
- Strategic Silence- The colleagues who dominate meetings and interactions are obvious and they often don’t have the respect of their co-workers. When you choose to speak, make sure you offer value. What you say is more important than how much you speak.
A Communications Plan in Action
A brief scenario: unbeknownst to you, your manager is creating a new position on the team.
Your manager calls you into the office and informs you she’s going to recommend you the new positions which will be a promotion for you. Over the last few years, she’s not the only one who’s noticed your hard work, your commitment to your professional growth, and the thoughtful questions you ask in meetings. She reports there’s wide support for your promotion throughout the organization.
You weren’t in the room when the promotion was discussed, but thanks to a well-developed and well-executed comms plan the people in the room know you and successfully advocated for you. Your work doesn’t speak for itself, you have to speak for it.
Conclusion
Meritocracy in the workplace is the aspiration not the reality. Success in our careers rely on our skills to communicate the value of our work, demonstrating our capabilities, and curating relationships. We all have to make choices about how we represent ourselves with our colleagues. With the utilization of a personal communications plan, you’ll have clarity about your stakeholders, and the ability to quickly articulate your message in beneficial ways. Utilizing these plans are essential for maintaining your sanity and thriving in your career.
Here are two recommendations of great personal branding resources:
Career Rehab by Kanika Tolver
Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand by Amanda Miller Littlejohn
Are you looking for a coach to help refine your communication style? Let’s talk. I can help you become a more effective communicator honoring your personal style with the ability to adjust messages for your various audiences.
