Session 8
Communication Strategy
Maria Jacobson, UNDP Water Governance Facility, SIWI
Marie Laberge, UNDP Oslo Governance Centre
Outline
Why should a communication strategy be planned
systematically?
What are four basic steps of the communication planning
cycle?
What are the relationships between:
1) a policy agenda (what needs to change)
2) the communication agenda (how to influence change)
and
3) the action plan (activities to support the
communication agenda)
Why should a communication strategy be planned
systematically?
• Need to go beyond awareness-raising
– Using communication to influence policy and practice of
institutions
• For communication to be effective:
– Identify what needs to change (evidence-based)
– Fully understand the processes by which change can take place
(evidence-based)
• Need to reflect the specific location and context
• A ‘misguided’ communication strategy can backfire...
What are four basic steps of the communication
planning cycle?
1. Decision-making: Commitment-making and organising a
management plan to implement a communications strategy
2. Policy-agenda setting: Identifying targeted changes – aims and
objectives
3. Communication-agenda setting: Determining how best to
influence change – influencing strategy, concerned audiences
and tactics
4. Action planning: Identifying activities to engage different
decision-makers, influentials and concerned audiences
Stage 1 – Decision-making
• Reach an agreement on how decisions will be made:
– By the research Group ? The Advisory Group?
– Or establish a separate Communication Task Force,
constituted by communication stakeholders?
– Nominate a ‘spokesperson’?
• Ensure broad-based ownership & participation in the
implementation of the communication strategy
Stage 2 – Policy Agenda-Setting:
Identifying what should change
• What is the critical element we want to change to improve
water integrity?
– Are we after a change in the law (if so, which law)?
– Do we want increased transparency in procurement processes (if
so, how can this be done)?
– Or do we merely want a change in the actions of officials running
the processes?
• Have we properly understood the reasons why corruption
has become rampant? Have we identified where
responsibility has failed?
• Do we have a common voice when it comes to suggesting
alternative ways of doing things?
Stage 2 – Policy Agenda-Setting:
Identifying what should change
• The focus should be limited to 1 or 2 of the
most important recommendations (to ensure
highest impact of communications resources)
• Communication objectives should be SMART:
– Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and
Time bound.
• Objectives should specify the outcome being
sought, not the activity propose.
Stage 2 – Policy Agenda-Setting:
Identifying what should change
Not SMART
communication objective
SMART communication
objective
Why is it SMART
To eliminate corruption in
procurement
processes in the water
sector.
To convince the Ministry
of Water and
Ministry of Finance to
adopt Integrity
Pacts in the bidding
processes for all
major water infrastructure
projects
starting in 2010.
Specific: will be measured
by whether or not
Integrity Pacts are
adopted. But would be
more specific if the
persons to be convinced
in the 2 ministries had
been identified, and if
what is meant by a
‘major’ (infrastructure)
project had been defined.
There is a time frame –
2010.
Stage 2 – Policy Agenda-Setting:
Identifying what should change – Example 2
Not SMART
communication objective
To change the corrupt
behaviour of water
officials.
SMART communication
objective
Why is it SMART
To collect 5 human
interest stories about
corruption victims and
publish them through
mainstream media
channels within the next 6
months to make known
the negative effects of
corruption on the poor
and appeal to
people’s ethical
behaviours.
Specific – it has a concrete
number of stories to be
collected. Measurable –
the goal is to have at least
x newspapers and
TV broadcasts report your
stories. Achievable –
collecting interviews,
writing stories and media
dissemination is possible
within a reasonable
budget. Relevant – it will
raise attention to a wide
public audience. Timebound – it should happen
within the next 6 months.
Stage 3 – Communication Agenda-Setting:
Determining how to best influence change
•
•
Identify what ‘channels of influence’ to use – which concerned
audiences or ‘influentials’ to communicate with in order to put
pressure on the policy-makers to take action.
To develop an ‘influencing strategy’:
– A) Understand the policy-making process: draw a flowchart setting
out all the stages of the policy-making process and identifying the
people or institutions involved at every stage
– B) Pinpoint the ‘decision-maker’: what to do to reach them, how
to engage with them, what specialised materials need to be
prepared for them, what tone or approach to use in a face-to-face
meeting with them
– C) Understand the advocacy environment: list all the relevant
factors that may affect advocacy on water corruption
Stage 3 – Communication Agenda-Setting:
Determining how to best influence change
To develop an ‘influencing strategy’ (continued):
•
•
•
•
•
D) Assess your advocacy capacity: Perform an honest assessment of the
resources available for undertaking a communication strategy (funding sources,
staff & their skills, reputation of an organisation)
E) Understand the various stakeholders (the people or groups affected by the
issue or who can influence the outcome): will they be for or against the
objectives, or neutral?
F) Make choices: Choose what approach to take and which stakeholders will be
the channels of influence. With a focus on a few targets, there is a greater
chance of making a breakthrough.
G) Determine messages and tactics: Brief & concise
H) Tailor your communications for the receivers of the message: Are they the
decision-makers? Are they ‘influentials’ or opinion-shapers? Are they concerned
audiences? Are they media organisations?
Stage 3 – Communication Agenda-Setting:
Determining how to best influence change
Targets
Tailor your communications
Policymakers and
opinion
shapers
Need detailed messages supported by rational arguments based on
good evidence. Communication with this group should
be personalised – letters, phone calls, meetings, etc.
Public
audiences
Use simple messages presented in an interesting and
emotive way. Be creative. Apart from using the media, use posters,
brochures, open meetings, street theatre and other events.
The media
The aim is to achieve more than a small article about a workshop
or seminar. In-depth coverage in newspapers and magazines can result from
encouraging journalists to write articles examining water corruption. Indepth coverage on radio and TV may come from persuading journalists to do
investigations, but you can also obtain good results from live debates,
interviews and phone-in shows.
Stage 4 – Action Planning
Objective 1
Activities (with
dates)
Targets &
influentials
Indicators of
progress
People
responsible
Review (with
dates)
Objective 2
Objective 3
Some media issues in water integrity advocacy
The media can be a ‘double-edged sword’ for anticorruption reform
The media can play an important role in building awareness
and shaping public opinion
But in many cases the media tend to sensationalise individual
cases rather than focus attention on the issues that breed
corruption & the changes that are really needed
A debate in the ‘court of public opinion’ may make the
government more defensive rather than open about changing
policy
A low-key visit to the policy-maker’s office to quietly present
analysis and put forward proposals can be a more time- and
resource efficient way of getting the change you want
Never go the media with unverified claims: You risk
destroying your own reputation
The media tends to prefer real ‘stories’ they think will interest
the public
The Yemen case
National Communication & Awareness Strategy for IWRM
Developed by the National Water Resources Authority of Yemen
1) Selecting relevant awareness messages
 Problem-based analysis: Listing the main water problems,
their causes, possible solutions and awareness messages
derived from this analysis
 Example: ‘Groundwater depletion’
2) Identifying communication ‘targets’, the means of
reaching the targets (‘communication tools’) and specific
activities
 Here, the messages conveyed in the problem-based
analysis are grouped in around key objectives for the
communication strategy
 Example: Objective 4 – ‘Control the extraction and use of
water resources’
The Macedonian case
Manual for administrative procedures in municipalities
Developed by the Association of Local Governments of Macedonia
 Decentralization resulted in unequal application of administrative
procedures in various municipalities
 Assessment methodology served to identify integrity risks at
municipal level in areas of urban planning, procurement, and
public financial management
 Based on assessment findings, a Manual written in user-friendly
language was published:
• To explain citizens in simple terms how to access public
services, in a step-by step format
• To promote a more uniform provision of services by civil
servants across the country, by providing a compendium
describing the procedures which should be applied
nationwide
Planning ahead:
Implications for the communication of the
Tajik assessment?