Background/Overview

[What problem will this initiative address? What is changing, and how? What do colleagues (NOT audiences) need to know in order to understand what’s happening and why?

Don’t be tempted to use shorthand here; write this section as though you’re explaining it to a new colleague. The goal is to be able to explain this to someone not familiar with the project and/or to remind yourself of details a year from now, when it will likely be a distant memory.]

Key dates:

[Include dates for operational milestones, such as the go-live of a new system or training deadlines]

[Date]	[Milestone 1]

[Date]	[Milestone 2]

Goals

[List your desired outcomes in this section. For each one, include a measure of success. Think about who can help with this data – for example, trainers can provide the number of course sign-ups; HR may be able to provide data on the number of people who made a benefits change within the communication timeframe; safety staff could share adverse event reporting information. Within the communications function, you can measure things like the number of downloads of a particular resource or other analytics available through the communications platform you’re using.]

[Goal 1]
Measure:

[Goal 2]
Measure:

Key Messages

[What are the most important things that need to be communicated? How will you position this information (for example, in relation to mission, organizational goals, response to engagement survey, etc.)? What actions do you want people to take? This section doesn’t necessarily need to be polished; you’ll primarily use it to make sure you’re hitting these key points when you get down to the tactical level.]

[Key message 1]

[Key message 2]

[Key message 3]

Audiences

[This section will help you think through who needs to know what, how to get their buy-in, and when they need to be informed. Timing can be general, such as “2+ weeks before go-live,” which makes it easier to adapt should milestone dates change.]

Audience	Strategy	Timing

Schedule / Tactics

[This is similar to the Audiences section but nails down your communication tactics, who’s responsible, deadlines, and execution dates. You may find it helpful to include key dates as reference points. Also, I recommend separating deadlines from execution dates because you need to know both (1) when content must be finished and (2) when others will see it. The first line is an example.]

Audience	Tactic/Channel	Lead(s)	Submission Deadline	Execution Date
Providers	Monthly medical staff meeting (Talking points + handout)	Communications Manager; Medical Staff Director	Aug. 1	Aug. 15

Review & Approval Process

[If needed, specify who is responsible for giving input on draft messaging and who provides final approval. It may be helpful to note which reviewers/approvers need extra turnaround time or who will step in should the main reviewers/approver be out of the office at key times.]

Reviewers:

Final approver:

Messaging

[Add final messaging to this section for easy reference in the future. I suggest listing it chronologically using heads like the example below. If you fill in the headings ahead of time, this section can function as a list of project deliverables.]

August 15 - Monthly medical staff meeting talking points