A useful parallel for thinking about the value of strategic planning for communications is to consider the world of construction.

If an organization wants to commission a building project, it would be irresponsible for the tradespeople to just start digging holes or stacking bricks randomly or putting in pipes here and there. Yet the cold hard truth is that this is basically what communicators do regularly. Our tendency to focus on tactics that are identified and executed in an ad hoc way is our version of stacking bricks haphazardly across a job site.

Just as tradespeople need a blueprint to do their jobs effectively, so too do responsible, professional communicators. We need a thoughtful, carefully prepared plan that is designed and approved before we start digging a foundation. That’s precisely the function of the Results Map® process of developing a strategic communications plan.