EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Corporate Communications Plan serves as a guide for the Town of Vegreville to shift its approach to both internal and external communications from tactical to strategic. The purpose of making this shift is to enable the Town to efficiently and effectively deliver on its business goals and activities while considering its current resourcing capacity and the strengths it has built to date.
The development of this plan leveraged research both internally with staff in one-on-one interviews and a workshop, and externally through a public survey. The research provided insights into the Town’s current strengths, including its decision to resource the communications function with the hiring of a Communications Coordinator role, as well as areas of opportunity and the key audiences’ preferences for communication. The knowledge gained through the research combined with the expertise of the project team creates a plan that is wellinformed and well-supported. This plan identifies four goals for the Town of Vegreville to focus on over the next three years with the associated initiatives to support advancement for each area.
Goals and Initiatives
GOALS:
Strategy & Alignment
Compelling Content
Feedback and Engagement
Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Town of Vegreville’s tactical choices by adopting a more strategic and aligned approach to both its internal and external communications activities.
Adopt the what, why, and how model of content development and storytelling.
In addition to a formal focus on information, ensure there are set mechanisms to invite feedback from the public as well as clear direction and support for public engagement.
• Develop and adopt a communications, social media and media relations policy • Develop and implement a communications plan template • Develop a communications guide for Council • Create and implement a process for internal communications • Update the three-year Corporate Communications Plan
• Align content with communications planning • Adopt the journalistic model of communicating (e.g., emphasis on ledes and storytelling) • Offer content development capacity building tools and activities
Effective Communications Technologies Leverage and make use of communications technologies to improve the capacity of the Town to both proactively and responsively communicate internally and externally.
INITIATIVES: • Identify and adopt formal feedback channels for the public • Identify when public engagement will add more value that information sharing • Develop and adopt a public engagement policy • Identify public engagement channels • Develop and implement a public engagement strategy
• Renew the website • Establish an intranet platform • Investigate the viability of implementing a Town app
An implementation plan is provided to support the Town in achieving these four goals over the course of three years. The implementation plan identifies timelines for each activity to ensure clarity of sequence as the Town advances its communications efforts. 1 TOW N O F V E G R E V I L L E
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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
1.0
Purpose............................ 3
2.0 Background....................4 3.0 Methodology.................. 5 4.0 Current Communications Approach........................ 7 5.0 Recommended Communications Approach........................9
5.1 Goals and Initiatives............... 10
6.0 Enabling the Plan........15 7.0 Evaluation..................... 16 8.0 2018 – 2020 Implementation Plan ............................17
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1.0 PURPOSE The purpose of this Corporate Communications Plan is to ensure that the Town of Vegreville has a clear idea of how its communications efforts can most efficiently and effectively support its business goals and activities. The plan supports both internal and external communications, as both are necessary in the Town of Vegreville’s role as a municipal corporation. It also considers the Town’s current strengths, including its 2016 decision to formally resource the role of a Communications Coordinator and use of a variety of communications channels to communicate with its key audiences, while identifying how to further build on and leverage them through a more strategic approach to communications. Implementing this recommended approach will enable the Town to position its communications to align with the key words the staff used when they described the ideal future of the Town’s communications.
The Town of Vegreville operates with a staff of 165 employees who provide administrative oversight and deliver services and programs to just over 5,700 residents. Communication plays a critical role in positioning the Town as a credible source for information, a transparent steward of tax dollars, and an organization that is committed to working with its public to identify and achieve community priorities. Communication can include one-way communication, or sharing of information, but more and more it is focused on two-way communication, or finding ways for both the Town and its key audiences to share thoughts, ideas, perceptions, and beliefs to make a difference to one another. In addition to communication, there is also engagement, which is a deliberate effort to involve internal and external stakeholders as well as members of the public in the Town’s decisionmaking processes.
Staff’s descriptors of the Town’s communications future state:
The two words information and communication are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through.
• Helpful
• Public-informed
• Engaging
• Streamlined
• Relevant
• Efficient
• Current
• Dynamic
• Proactive
—Sydney Harris
The plan presents a core model that identifies the current and future functions of the Town of Vegreville’s Corporate Communications. It identifies four goals intended to advance each area of the core model over the next three years. It is supplemented by an implementation plan that considers the Town’s current capacity while identifying specific actions and timelines to advance the Town’s communications.
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2.0 BACKGROUND In 2016, the Town hired a Communications Coordinator to centralize some of its corporate communications functions. Given the amount of effort that goes into communicating internally and with the public, the role of the Communications Coordinator was designed to contribute some consistency, expertise, and timeliness to:
The communications functions of the Town of Vegreville were, up until 2016, managed as a collective effort by the Town staff. Corporate Services was responsible for ensuring the Town had access and the ability to use a variety of internal and external communications media (e.g., a website, email, telephone). The Town’s leadership and various departments took a decentralized approach to both internal and external communications, with a strong emphasis on being responsive to public inquiries.
- Sharing corporate information (i.e., decisions by Council and new, changing, or outdated policies, programs, services, and initiatives/events) - Manage corporate communications channels (e.g., website, social media, advertising, Municipal Scoop) - Support media relations (e.g., local radio, local newspaper)
Current Communications Functions:
- Ensure consistent implementation of the Town’s visual identity
• Sharing information internally with staff
- Support key Town representatives to share effective messaging whether related to a key opportunity or emerging issue.
• Communicating Council decisions, including the decision, impacts, and next steps, internally and externally
As part of its 2016 strategic planning, Town Council directed the Town’s Administration to develop a Corporate Communications Plan. Based on the concentrated efforts through 2016 to protect the Town’s reputation and interests, especially in terms of the Government of Canada’s decision to close the Vegreville Immigration Office, Council recognized the importance and strategic opportunity behind a well-informed, adequately resourced, and forward-thinking approach to advancing the Town’s approach to communicating to conduct its business, manage its reputation, and advance its external priorities.
• Sharing information about Town bylaws and policies, programs, services, and initiatives/events • Responding to public requests for information or inquiries • Managing issues • Media relations • Managing the Town of Vegreville’s official communications channels (e.g., website, social media channels)
In addition to the direction of Council to develop a Corporate Communications Plan, the fact that the Town recently reached the one-year milestone of employing a dedicated Communications Coordinator provides an exceptional opportunity to reflect on how it can best leverage its internal resources, including the Communications Coordinator and larger staff complement, to get the most from its communications efforts.
• Advertising • Branding and visual identity
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3.0 METHODOLOGY The development of this Corporate Communications Plan leveraged internal and external input, along with expertise in best practices for communication. This combined approach lends itself to a plan that is:
The literature review provided a foundational understanding of the Town of Vegreville’s business and priorities, communications channels, communications content, communications-related roles and responsibilities, feedback loops with key audiences, and approach to branding and visual identity.
• Well-informed – includes understanding the municipal context, local priorities, internal and external sentiment, and trends and best practices in municipal communications.
It also helped the project team to identify questions about the Town’s communications-related governance, policies, planning, processes, and practices. The questions that were identified during the literature review were used to inform interviews with the three staff members with formal responsibilities related to communications:
• Well-supported – includes ensuring that the goals and initiatives outlined in the plan address the input of the Town’s key audiences and provide a strong rationale for the specific choices.
• Cliff Craig, Town Manager Accountable for the Town’s overall communications and the official spokesperson for Administration
The project team began this process with a thorough review of the Town of Vegreville’s internal and external communications, resources, and literature, including the Communications Coordinator’s job description.
• Paul Casey, Corporate Services Director Accountable for the Town’s information and communications technology • Rachel Farr, Communications Coordinator Accountable for coordinating and implementing the Town’s corporate communications functions
Current Communications Channels: - Internal meetings (Council, management, staff, tailgate, safety) - Internal memos - Website (www. vegreville.com) - Facebook - Twitter
These interviews helped to clarify the Town’s history with and approach to communications, including identifying how it is has shifted from a fully decentralized approach to communications toward a hybrid model that centralizes some key corporate communications functions with the Communications Coordinator. The interviews identified the Town’s current strengths and challenges with regards to communications through the lens of the people with the most decision-making authority related to Administration’s communications. They also identified opportunities to maximize the value of the Communications Coordinator’s contributions, including where to spend time, energy, and expertise.
- Press releases - Notices - Posters - Digital signage - Town entrance sign - Sandwich boards
- YouTube
- Community presentations
- Instagram - Radio - Email distributions (public and all staff) - Open houses
- Municipal Scoop newsletter
- Community bulletin boards - Schools
At the conclusion of the three interviews, the project team developed an insights document that captured the three respondents’ key thoughts and their potential implications for the Town’s communications. In developing the insights document and reflecting on the literature review, the project team created a set of questions for Town of Vegreville staff
- Mail drop - Fax - Promo items
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and the public to delve deeper into the current state of Vegreville’s communications efforts and what is desired, possible, and should be considered a priority for the future of the Town’s communications efforts. The questions were all written with the purpose of understanding the best of the current practices to carry into the future and identifying where some possible shifts will help the Town improve the value of its communications efforts.
In addition to the workshop with Town staff, a hard copy and online survey was issued to the public. The survey invited any and all members of the public with an interest in the Town of Vegreville’s communications efforts to share input on its communications practices and identify their levels of satisfaction and, moving into the future, personal preferences. Between November 27 and December 15, 2017, a total of 165 survey responses, including 17 hard copy responses, were received by the Town.
A total of 12 Town of Vegreville staff attended a half-day workshop to provide insights into:
The literature review, internal interviews, staff workshop, and public survey provided the four combined inputs into this plan. The inputs were analyzed in detail and in the context of current trends and best practices in municipal communication, with an emphasis on identifying key themes through all four inputs, identifying quick wins (i.e., actions that can be implemented within the first 12 months) with the potential to make a real difference to specific audiences, while staying aware of the Town of Vegreville’s level of resourcing, operational requirements, and timelines.
1. The purpose of communications, both internally and externally 2. The best of the past and current state to carry forward 3. The opportunities to advance and improve communications over the next three years 4. A description of success when the plan is fully implemented at the end of three years
INPUT
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTERNAL INTERVIEWS STAFF WORKSHOP
“...”
PUBLIC SURVEY
OUTPUT: Town of Vegreville Corporate Communications Plan 2018-2020
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4.0 CURRENT APPROACH TO COMMUNICATIONS The Town of Vegreville’s current approach to its communications is highly tactical. Within the organization, there is good understanding of what the Town needs to do to communicate with the public. However, there is a lot less clarity about why it is making certain choices or how it can be as effective and/or efficient as possible in getting the results that it wants and needs to achieve.
KEY DEFINITIONS: Communications channels the different media that the Town of Vegreville uses to reach its audiences. Communications content the words and visuals that the Town of Vegreville chooses to communicate through its channels.
In looking at communications through a tactical lens, it tends to put a high emphasis on communications channels and content as well as, although to a lesser degree, communications processes, practices, and structure.
Communications processes the sequential steps that the Town of Vegreville follows to communicate. Good processes support consistency, quality, and efficiency.
Tactical Communications
Communications structure the roles and responsibilities related to planning, implementing, and evaluating communications efforts. STRUCTURE
CONTENT
CHANNELS
The primary advantage of tactical communications is that the PROCESS & Town has a lot of communicationsPRACTICES outputs. It has a strong CHA presence through a wide variety of communications channels. The role of communications processes and practices tends to focus on all the effort required for identifying content to EVALUATION share through the channels and determining who is going to take the lead on developing the content.
STRUCTURE
PROCESS & PRACTICES
Communications practices the methods or tactics employed to communicate.
POLICY
Both the project team’s internal interviews and staff workshop pointed to the fact that the Town is actively using a broad spectrum of communications channels that are either CONTENT fully centralized (i.e., fully managed by the Communications Coordinator) or somewhat centralized (i.e., content is developed by other staff members and reviewed and/ or distributed by the Communications Coordinator). The processes are primarily relational interactions where the Communications Coordinator seeks content or ideas from other staff members, and the staff members rely on the Communications Coordinator for input and support on an ad hoc basis. 7
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PLA
While tactical communications are effective in producing high quantity outputs, it is difficult to determine whether the outputs are supporting the Town’s business goals, making the best use of the expertise of the Communications Coordinator, and adding value for key audiences, both internally and externally. In particular, the following challenges were identified as a result of the Town’s current approach to communications:
- The Communications Coordinator’s time is primarily spent on content and channels, leaving little capacity for developing and managing structure, processes, and practices. - Staff members are not clear on when they need to involve the Communications Coordinator in their communications work. - Staff members are not confident in their communications approaches and are seeking additional guidance and support. - Staff members are not using performance measures or evaluation practices to determine if their efforts are making a positive difference.
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5.0 RECOMMENDED APPROACH TO COMMUNICATIONS
This being said, both the Town’s internal and external audiences provided a substantial amount of evidence that the Town would benefit from policies and practices to ensure timely, relevant, and meaningful communication to both internal and external audiences. The plan outlined herein leverages the Town’s identified strengths and initiates a shift towards a more strategic and aligned approach to communications. It provides a look at four goals that will help the Town move from tactical communications (i.e., primarily focused on content and channels, with some emphasis on structure and processes and practices) to strategic communications. Taking a strategic approach to communications means adopting policy, planning, and evaluation and managing these in an integrated fashion with its choices related to structure, content, channels, and processes and practices. It then provides a sequenced approach to the actions that will see the Town make this shift, but also enable other aspects of its business that support communications (e.g., technology) or depend on and closely tied to two-way communications (e.g., public engagement).
In reviewing the Town of Vegreville’s success with its tactical communications, four primary strengths became evident: 1. The Town recognizes communications as a critical function and made the commitment to provide a dedicated resource for some key corporate communications functions (i.e., the Communications Coordinator). 2. The Town understands that it has a responsibility to communicate with a broad audience that includes multiple demographics and it is using a wide variety of channels to reach them.
POLICY
Strategic Communications Functions The Town of Vegreville’s three-year plan focuses on integrating Policy, Planning, and Evaluation into the tactical model that includes structure, content, channels, and process and practices. The goal is to integrate and balance all seven strategic communication functions.
CONTENT
CHANNELS
EVALUATION 9
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4. The Town recognizes the wide variety of communications channels available to support more self-serve and user-subscribed interests (i.e., accessing content that is of interest to the user).
PROCESS & PRACTICES
PLANNING
3. The Town strives to provide timely communications, especially in social media environments.
KEY DEFINITIONS: Communications policy the context and rules for how the Town of Vegreville enables communication about its bylaws/policies, programs, services and initiatives/events
5.1 Goals and Initiatives
Communications planning – a foundation to base and align your communications choices and ensure your tactics achieve your business goals
Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Town of Vegreville’s tactical choices by adopting a more strategic and aligned approach to both its internal and external communications activities.
GOAL #1: STRATEGY AND ALIGNMENT
Communications evaluation – a systemic approach to measure and determine the value of your communications tactics relative to your desired outcomes and business goals
Rationale: The Town currently has a highly tactical approach to its communications, utilizing a very broad spectrum of communications channels. The focus on this broad spectrum means that the Communications Coordinator spends the majority of her time developing content and managing content. According to Town staff, there is a need to be clear about how and when to use the different channels to get the most value from them. According to the public survey results, there are a handful of channels that provide a highreturn for the Town’s resource investment and others that are not valued or, in some cases, supported by the public.
To achieve this, the recommended approach to communications focuses on four goals over the next three years:
To provide some specific details, there are two channels (i.e., Town Facebook Page at 73 per cent and the Vegreville News Advertiser at 65 per cent) that members of the public value the most - indicated by more than 50 per cent of respondents to be their most preferred way of getting information from the Town.
1. Strategy & Alignment – Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Town of Vegreville’s tactical choices by adopting a more strategic and aligned approach to both its internal and external communications activities 2. Compelling Content – Adopt the what, why, and how model of content development and storytelling
Another important detail that relates directly to taking a more strategic and aligned approach to communications is ensuring that the Town has processes to inform the Communications Coordinator and staff before releasing information to the public. It was noted that 54 per cent of the survey respondents prefer to get their information through word-of-mouth. In order to support effective word of mouth, consistency is necessary. This is very hard to control; however, one way to support consistency is to ensure that Town of Vegreville staff have consistent, timely, and relevant messages about decisions or information that affect them and members of the public. Providing Town staff this type of support requires that the Town has effective and timely channels to share information internally and use the most appropriate resources (e.g., direct communication from the Town Manager, use of the Communications Coordinator, key messages from Directors to staff) to ensure that accurate details with relevant context reach staff in a timely manner.
3. Feedback & Engagement – In addition to a formal focus on information, ensure there are set mechanisms to invite feedback from the public as well as clear direction and support for public engagement 4. Effective Communications Technologies – Leverage and make use of communications technologies to improve the capacity of the Town to both proactively and responsively communicate internally and externally
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Based on the above, there is an opportunity for the Town to adopt communications planning to be more aware of when and how to maximize the value of its channels, reduce the use of so many channels and focus on the most valued, and place further emphasis on internal communications processes and channels to help build a team of internal ambassadors who can support accurate, consistent word-ofmouth communication in the community.
GOAL #2: COMPELLING CONTENT Adopt the what, why, and how model of content development and storytelling.
Rationale: While the Town focuses a significant portion of its time currently on developing content in a tactical sense, only 45 per cent of survey respondents agree they are satisfied with the amount of information that they receive from the Town. This indicates an opportunity for the Town to better align the content it creates with the needs of its key audience.
In order to support the above recommendations, it is necessary for the Town to adopt a communications policy. The policy will help to ensure that everyone in the Town understands the purpose of communications, the Town’s guiding principles to support effective communication, the various roles and responsibilities related to communications, and how internal and external communications work together to get the best information moving within the Town. It will also be helpful to provide additional clarity to Town of Vegreville staff about how to manage higher-risk communications channels, including media relations and social media. This can be achieved by adopting a media relations policy and social media policy. These will help all staff understand how the Town expects everyone to support a consistent and highly effective approach to making the most of these channels.
In order to align the content with the audiences’ needs, the Town must recognize that these needs will change depending on the type of information being shared. For example, the public expects and values information from the Town about services, programs, and events. In these cases, the facts can be enough. However, when the Town makes decisions or makes changes to its bylaws/policies, programs, services, and initiatives/events, the public often wants to know why the decision was made, how the decision was made, how the decision will affect different audiences, and what to expect next. In order to support this, it is important that the Town’s content align with its communications planning. It’s also important that the Town’s content is engaging, meaningful, and easy to absorb for the public. Distributing engaging, meaningful, and easy to absorb content helps to maximize interaction and use the channels employed. For example, some respondents in the public survey indicated that, while they are happy to see the Town’s presence on social media, they feel the content needs to come first. The journalistic model of communications can really help to support this, where ledes or visuals help to communicate key information in very concise ways and storytelling helps to connect people to the emotions, spirit, heart, and, ultimately, faces of the community. By humanizing the information that goes out to the public (e.g., facts can be conveyed by staff members using photos or quotes to build their visibility and credibility), it helps to build a face for the Town and also helps the public recognize how many civil servants are working hard to support their quality of life. Staff indicated during the internal workshop that there are many good news stories to
When a balanced approach to strategic and aligned communications is achieved, the Communications Coordinator’s time and expertise are maximized, staff are empowered to deliver information, programs, and services effectively to the public, and the Town is better positioned to achieve its business goals.
Initiatives: - Develop and adopt a communications, social media, and media relations policy - Develop and implement a communications plan template - Develop a communications guide for Council - Create and implement a process for internal communications - Update the three-year Corporate Communications Plan 11 TOW N O F V E G R E V I L L E
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share with the public that are not getting shared in formal ways. By incorporating storytelling into its communications, the Town will enhance its reputation and build stronger connections with staff and the public simply through the content it creates and inspires.
Currently, the Town is doing a better job at sharing information than inviting feedback or involving members of the public in its decision-making. As part of the public survey, 47 per cent of respondents agree that the Town wants to hear ideas and concerns from the public and 41 per cent agree that they have opportunities to communicate their ideas and concerns to the Town. This indicates an opportunity for the Town to enable more two-way dialogue and leverage feedback from the public and staff as an input for community growth and advancement. Clarifying when communication needs to flow one-way or two-way will enable the Town to build on the first goal identified in this plan, where clear policy will help to articulate when other staff members can take on the information-sharing role and where the Communications Coordinator needs to take the lead to plan and oversee official corporate channels.
Initiatives: - Align content with communications planning - Adopt the journalistic model of communicating (e.g., emphasis on ledes and storytelling) - Offer content development capacity building tools and activities
While the public survey didn’t specifically ask about public involvement in decision-making, the open comments in the survey did garner some input on this. There were a handful of survey respondents who want more opportunities to provide meaningful input on the Town’s decisions. When it came to participating in open houses, only four per cent identified this as a channel that they currently use to get information from the Town. However, there were a handful of comments that noted that they would prefer more effective open houses to invite input into the Town’s decisions. Survey respondents also expressed interest in sharing their ideas, interacting more with elected officials, and asking questions to better understand decisions.
GOAL #3: F EEDBACK AND ENGAGEMENT In addition to a formal focus on information, ensure there are set mechanisms to invite feedback from the public as well as clear direction and support for public engagement.
Rationale: The Town has a responsibility to share information with the public, which can be achieved in a one-way flow of communication for simple information-sharing purposes. However, it also benefits from using two-way communication (e.g., feedback loops and inviting input) to build relationships, learn from its public, and collaborate on the best solutions for the Town. Outside of its communications role, the Town also uses engagement as part of its decision-making. It has some legal obligations related to public engagement (e.g. requirement for a public engagement policy and to engage on specific decisions described within the Municipal Government Act) and other opportunities where it knows that public engagement can lead to better informed and better supported outcomes.
The staff workshop placed a much larger emphasis on feedback loops and engagement to support decision-making both internally and externally. The staff acknowledged that the Town tries to invite feedback to improve its methods of doing business and outcomes; however, it has very few formal processes or projects to do this. The staff specifically noted that they benefit from involving one another in cross-team conversations to improve their work, especially as it relates to policy. They also noted that they see a benefit to creating more opportunities to involve the public in decision-making work, both from the administrative and Council perspectives. It was specifically noted that public engagement is a good tool to mitigate certain risks by knowing there are concerns in the community and that the Town will be better equipped
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GOAL #4: E FFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES
to reduce and manage issues if they engage the public to better understand them. Based on the requirement for the Town of Vegreville to adopt a pubic engagement policy under the updated Municipal Government Act and the feedback from both the public and staff to look at the role of engagement in decision-making, it is recommended that public engagement be part of the three-year plan for corporate communications. This goes beyond information-sharing and two-way communications, which are typically the two main elements of corporate communications; however, it also ties in strongly with public and staff’s comments about opportunities to affect decisionmaking by the Town.
Leverage and make use of communications technologies to improve the capacity of the Town to both proactively and responsively communicate internally and externally.
Rationale: Communications technologies are such strong enablers of communication in current times that, while managing communication is outside of the realm of corporate communications, it is a need and requirement. In order to effectively advance the Town of Vegreville’s corporate communications, it is critical to mention and pay attention to specific aspects of technology.
Enabling two-way communications and public engagement will help to instill a sense of collective ownership in the Town’s future.
To be clear, technology as it relates to corporate communications corresponds with the channels that are employed to reach and serve key audiences. In order for communications technology to be effective and meet the needs of its intended users, it must reflect the needs and wants of these users. For this reason, it is imperative that the Town of Vegreville’s Corporate Services team collaborate with staff members with strong insights into corporate communications, including the Communications Coordinator, to ensure that the Town’s hardware and software choices help to meet the Town’s communications initiatives and enable effective and efficient communication.
Initiatives: - Identify and adopt formal feedback channels for the public - Identify when public engagement will add more value than information sharing - Develop and adopt a public engagement policy - Identify public engagement channels - Develop and implement a public engagement strategy
When it comes to key audience’s needs, both internal and external audiences are very clear that they want to be able to access the information that is relevant to them in the way that they choose. In terms of technology, this can mean using the platforms (e.g., Facebook page) that the Town’s audiences prefer the most. In terms of content, it can mean ensuring that the Town has means to allow its audiences to receive content through both distribution and content approaches that work best for them. With distribution, both the public and staff are looking for a ‘pull’ approach to communication, where rather than pushing information out to audiences, the information is available for viewers to pull from when they choose.
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The public indicated a preference for technology that would maximize accessibility and timeliness, such as a serviceoriented website to meet their own service needs (e.g., online registrations and applications, identify and track service issues) and community apps, while the staff indicated a need for an internal platform to support synchronous communication and enable collaboration, such as instant messaging and an intranet. When it comes to content, it can mean ensuring that the Town has the best options to deliver content (e.g., videos, graphics, written) in the format that works best for the audiences.
Making strategic choices about the innovative approaches and technological hardware and software that will enable the Town’s communications will ensure that it is using its resources to get maximize exposure and engagement. According to the survey results, this is especially true of younger members of the public who are more likely to engage with new technology and, if targeted well, will share their online experiences with others.
Initiatives: - Renew the website - Establish an intranet platform - Investigate the viability of implementing a Town app
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6.0 ENABLING THE PLAN 3. Council Engagement – Although this plan is aimed at Administration, there are important opportunities to build support from and to lend support to Town Council. It will be important to share this plan with Council as well as ensure they support and endorse the recommended policies. It will also be important to engage Council in communications capacity-building opportunities, such as workshops, reviews, and conversations around processes, content, and channels that could be better leveraged. They will also benefit from the work that goes into communications planning (e.g., sharing plans and key messages) and content (e.g., social media posts, briefing notes) to help ensure that they align with the Town when it comes to sharing fact-related communication (e.g., road closures, new programs).
In order for the Town of Vegreville to fully realize the benefits and positive outcomes of this plan, there are some considerations that may impact the Town’s ability to deliver all of the recommendations:
1. Accountability – Leadership, responsibilities, and accountabilities need to be clear for each activity outlined in this plan. While the Communications Coordinator will take the lead on the plan, with the exception of technology-related initiatives, there is a need to ensure that the plan resonates with and is supported by staff across departments. Communications may be led out of one area; however, it is a Town function that everyone plays a role in. The Town will be most successful when it strives for collaborative approaches that help achieve consistent, timely, and meaningful communications tactics.
4. Annual Reassessment – During the implementation of this plan, the landscape in which the Town operates will continue to evolve and change, affecting the priorities that Administration will need to address. This plan, therefore, is a living document to be reassessed on an annual basis and aligned with the Town’s most current priorities. Conducting annual assessments of the plan enable the Town to remain proactive and ensure continual, meaningful improvement.
2. Technology – Communications efforts are often tightly connected to technology that enables delivery of and access to the message for internal and external audiences. The technology portions of this plan will fall under the responsibility of the Corporate Services team, with input from the Communications Coordinator to ensure efforts are aligned and technology solutions address communications needs. An example of how technology affects the success of communication is the Town’s internet connection and phone system. Staff indicated that both of those technologies currently limit their ability to effectively serve the public. The Town may need to look into upgrading both, particularly to support advancements in technology and additional communication channels.
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7.0 EVALUATION To determine how well the Town is advancing its communications efforts, it is recommended that annual surveys of both the staff and the public are implemented to measure progress on the goals outlined in this plan. The first year of the survey will set a baseline to which the next two years will be compared. The following outlines the information that each survey will gather:
ANNUAL STAFF ENGAGEMENT SURVEY • Knowledge of the Town’s vision • Alignment/connection to the Town’s priorities • Level of confidence in creating content and communicating it to key audiences • Satisfaction with:
- Receiving relevant information
- Receiving timely information
- Receiving the right amount of information
- Leadership’s desire to hear ideas and concerns
- Opportunities to communicate ideas and concerns
- Ability to access information when needed
- Opportunities to express pride in their community
- Opportunities to collaborate with peers
- Celebrate collective successes
• Opportunities for improving communication and engagement
ANNUAL
COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT SURVEY • Preferred channels for communication • Preferred information to receive • Information to share with the Town • Satisfaction with:
- Receiving relevant information
- Receiving timely information
- Receiving the right amount of information
- The Town’s desire to hear ideas and concerns
- Opportunities to communicate ideas and concerns
- Ability to access information when needed
- Opportunities to get involved in the community
- Opportunities to express pride in their community
• Opportunities for improving communication and engagement
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8.0 2018-2020 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN GOAL #1: STRATEGY AND ALIGNMENT Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Town of Vegreville’s tactical choices by adopting a more strategic and aligned approach to both its internal and external communications activities Initiatives Develop and adopt a communications, social media and media relations policy.
Develop and implement a communications plan template
Actions •
Timeline
Develop and adopt a communications policy that: - states the purpose of the Town’s communications; - identifies guiding principles; - clarifies organizational structure; and - identifies roles and responsibilities for internal and external communications.
Strategic Function
2018
Structure, Policy, Planning
• Develop and adopt a social media and media relations policy that: - identifies the purpose, roles and responsibilities, and approach to these public communications channels
2018
Structure and Policy
• Host information sessions to inform staff of the new policies
2018
Processes and Practices
• Refine, as required, the Communications Coordinator’s job description to reflect the new policies
2019
Structure
• Develop an outcomes-focused communications plan template that includes evaluation and supports selection of the most appropriate tactics and channels to communicate changes to Town bylaws, policies, programs, services, events and/or initiatives and identify the need for one-way and/or public engagement to support decision-making
2018
Planning, Processes and Practices
2019
Planning, Processes and Practices
• Implement the communications plan template
Develop a communications guidebook for Council
• Develop a guide to support Council’s communications with the public
2020
Processes and Practices
• Provide a capacity-building workshop to support Council’s uptake of the guide and practices
2020
Processes and Practices
Create and implement a process for internal communications
• Map a process for sharing decisions and information that affect staff including roles and responsibilities and preferred communication channels
2019
Structure, Processes and Practices, Channels
2020
Structure, Processes and Practices, Channels
Update the three-year Corporate Communications Plan
• Conduct an annual review of the Town’s Corporate Communications Plan and make updates, as required to support effectiveness, efficiency, resource planning, continuous improvement
Annual (to
• Conduct an annual staff and community survey to identify the effectiveness and efficiency of the Town’s internal and external communications
Annual (to
• Implement the internal communications process
align with the Town’s fiscal and strategic planning) align with the Town’s fiscal and strategic planning)
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Evaluation
Evaluation
GOAL #2: COMPELLING CONTENT Adopt the what, why, and how model of content development and storytelling Initiatives Align content with communications planning
Actions •
Timeline
Create overview of types of information the public needs: - What’s going on in Town (e.g., recreation, events) - Status of services (e.g., snow removal, road closures) - Economic development (e.g., land development, new business) - Council decisions (e.g., bylaws, budget) - How to get involved (e.g., volunteer, meet officials)
2018
Content
2018
Content
2019
Planning and Content
2018
Processes and Practices
• Draft a library of key messaging to reflect the Town’s vision and priorities, as well as to guide content, both broadly for the Town and specifically to types of information the public needs • Use the communications plan template (see Goal #1) as the foundation for content planning
Strategic Function
Adopt the journalistic model of communicating (e.g., emphasis on ledes and storytelling)
• Establish a process that approaches content development through a journalistic lens: - Identify and confirm the facts (what) - Describe why they are the facts (why) - Explain how the facts affect the audience (how) - Identify next steps or a call to action, where necessary
Offer content development capacity building tools and activities
• Identify communications training opportunities for Council to support more effective and efficient interactions with the public (e.g., media interviews, public speaking)
2018
Processes and Practices
• Create a collection of content samples that staff can access and help develop content for various communications channels
2019
Processes and Practices, Content
• Host workshops on content development best practices to help key staff develop more effective content for various channels (e.g., website, videos)
2019
Planning, Processes and Practices
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GOAL #3: FEEDBACK AND ENGAGEMENT In addition to a formal focus on information, ensure there are set mechanisms to invite feedback from the public as well as clear direction and support for public engagement Initiatives
Actions
Timeline
Identify and adopt formal feedback channels for the public
• Identify, develop/refine, adopt, and communicate three preferred channels that directly invite ongoing feedback from staff (i.e., one online method, one scheduled face-toface method, and one hard copy method)
Identify when public engagement will add more value than information sharing
• Use the communications plan template (see Goal #1) to support identifying the need for public engagement
Develop and adopt a public engagement policy
•
Identify public engagement channels
• Identify the Town’s preferred channels to invite (as opposed to simply receive) public input as part of its decision-making processes
Develop and implement a public engagement strategy
• Develop and implement a strategy that identifies the Town’s approach to public engagement including: - how it will engage and communicate; and - opportunities to advance the Town’s preferred channels to invite (as opposed to simply receive) public input as part of its decision-making processes
Strategic Function
2018
Planning, Processes and Practices, Channels, and Evaluation
2018
Planning, Processes and Practices
2018
Structure, Policy, Planning
2019
Planning, Channels
2019/ 2020
Structure, Planning, Processes and Practices, Evaluation
Develop and adopt a policy that identifies: - roles and responsibilities; - principles of engagement; and - alignment of the Town’s decision-making with public engagement (e.g., why and when the Town will engage the public)
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GOAL #4: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY Leverage and make use of communications technologies to improve the capacity of the Town to both proactively and responsively communicate internally and externally Initiatives Renew the website
Actions
Timeline
• Implement a revised website platform with an emphasis on self-directed communications subscriptions and personal services (e.g., program registration, sign-up email notifications, service issue reporting and progress)
2018/ 2019
Processes and Practices, Channels, Content
2019
Planning, Processes and Practices, Channels, Content and Evaluation
2020
Processes and Practices
2020
Planning
• Develop a communications plan to launch the revised website and available services
Establish an intranet platform
• Source and implement a platform to support internal communications
Investigate the viability of implementing a Town app
• Research the challenges and opportunities of implementing a Town app to provide on demand information to the public
Strategic Function
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