Communication Plan

CMNS 3240-02

Techniques in Professional Communication (3,0,0) 3 credits

FALL 2020: Mondays and Wednesdays, 11:30 am – 12:45 pm (Virtual Delivery)

Instructor:        J. Bermiller           Phone/Voice Mail:  250-377-6081

Office:                   OM 1831               E-Mail:  jbermiller@tru.ca, PREFERRED: Moodle message

Office Hours:    Posted on Moodle or by virtual appointment

Submission date/time: Friday, December 4, 2020, 5pm Pacific.

A communication plan outlines a comprehensive method for a business or company to get a specific message out to a target audience. The message can be a marketing or sales campaign, or it can be a message that is required should there be an anticipated problem that arises either during a project or an incident that affects the business. The incident can be a disaster or accident, or the incident can be connected to a supply issue, for instance.

For this assignment, start by picking a business that interests you. Choose between a marketing message or a “problem message”. Be specific about the product or service you are promoting, or about the “problem” that has occurred or is anticipated to occur.

Identify the audience or stakeholders who would be interested in the message.

The communication plan will be no less than 6 pages and no more than 15 pages in length. Remember to include all the parts of a communication plan.

As a reference, you can take a look at the following helpful resource:

1. What is strategic communication?

What is strategic communication?

2. Five tenets of strategic communication

Five tenets of strategic communication

3. Skills needed in the strategic communication profession

Skills needed in the strategic communication profession

Please include the following parts:

Title Page: The title page includes the name of the communication plan in bold, your name and student number (Submitted by), date of submission, and the recipient of the white paper (Submitted to).

Executive Summary: The Executive Summary is the communication plan in a nutshell. It briefly explains the situation that is being addressed, without detail, and then briefly outlines the parts of the plan. The Summary should be no longer than one page.

Stakeholders/Audience: This part explains in detail the audience with whom you will be communicating. Be as detailed as possible when, especially for a marketing strategy.

Message or Topic: The message or topic is the content of your messages and what they state. These can be scripts, ads, images, etc. This section does not include how the message will be shared or how frequently. This section is simply the “what” of the communication plan.

Communicator: This section states who is delivering the message. In the case of ads or a marketing campaign, state who sends the message out. If there are more than one individual involved in sending the message, name them. Be sure to state the titles of each person.  This section is simply the “who” of the communication plan.

Schedule or Frequency: This section gives a clear itinerary of the plan. Be precise and specific about the time signals here. This section is simply the “when” of the communication plan.

Delivery Method: State the medium that will be used to deliver the message(s). If there are more than one medium, outline them all.

Status: This section states what level of importance the message has within the business. In other words, if another incident arises, what happens to this plan? Is it postponed? Does it carry on?

Comments: This section serves as a sort of Appendix. If there are some provisos, or some qualifications that need to be made, the state them here. Also, if there are terms that need defining, a glossary can be placed here. Finally, if you received special help in creating the communication plan, then make those acknowledgements here.

Visuals: If you have visual messages as part of the communication plan, then place them as close to where you describe the message being sent (in the “Message or Topic” section). Remember to create your own visuals and have them numbered and labeled appropriately.

Save your communication plan as a Word document. Name your document as follows: Last name, 3240, CP. So, if your last name is Palmer, then name the file “Palmer, 3240, CP” and save it as a Word document (either with the suffix .doc or .docx). Upload your document on Moodle in the assignment module titled “Communication Plan”.

Your assignment will be assessed using the following rubric:

Grammar, including wordiness, punctuation, spelling, mechanics: /20
Appropriate tone (conversational word choice): /20
Evidence of using writing strategies: /25
Logic established with headings and data order, formatting: /20
Visual(s) are original and depict quantitative data: /15

Total: /100

Submission date/time: Friday, December 4, 2020, 5pm Pacific.