Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why should I use My Communication (MyComm)? What value does it add above my writing a strategic communication plan on my own?
A. It will help you systematically plan your communication effort in a six-step process that results in a viable, written communication strategy. Without a strategic framework, it is difficult to keep track of all of the considerations that underlie a good strategy. MyComm keeps you focused on the key elements of a strategy that you might otherwise easily overlook. It is almost like having your own personal strategy consultant. MyComm also easily enables you to share your plan and collaborate with other users.
Q. What is the MyComm deliverable?
A. It is a comprehensive strategic document that identifies and summarizes all of the essential audiences; messages; timing and preferred communication channels for any business issue or topic for any audience. It is an invaluable strategic guide for ensuring successful communications.
Q. Does MyComm automatically create the tactics that will underpin the strategy?
A. No. MyComm is intended to help you plan your communication strategy . Tactics will vary from organization to organization. Once you have defined the strategy via MyComm, the next step is for you to flesh out the key messages, select the exact delivery channels you will use and determine who will be responsible for each tactic that you have identified in your overall strategy. People tend to be more experienced at tactics than they are at strategy so MyComm is designed to guide the user through the more difficult strategic questions. Producing the actual events and activities that comprise a tactical plan is a follow-on task once the strategy is clear.
Q. Who will find MyComm valuable in their work?
A. MyComm is designed for anyone who needs to create a communication strategy—particularly senior leaders, managers and team leaders, professional communicators and consultants.
Q. Can an operational manager or team leader use this tool to develop a strategy for his or her area of responsibility?
A. When Karen Horn, of Cisco Systems, Inc., originally created MyComm, this was one of the audiences clearly targeted. It is structured in such a way that the user cannot jump from a communication problem to an instant tactical solution. Again experience shows that that is the major problem for anyone not familiar with developing communication strategies. Moreover, it permits the manager to determine the tactics that are specifically appropriate for his or her needs.
Q. Does MyComm require extensive training before people can use it comfortably?
A . No. Most people with any degree of computer skill can easily navigate its various links. The links provide comprehensive information and are valuable in making MyComm a robust and intuitive tool. Obviously, the more practice one has with it, the easier it is to use it.
Q. My primary role is consulting. Does MyComm have value as a consulting tool?
A. Absolutely. Any professional who has ever been ordered by ‘a client' to create a video or a green brochure on demand now has in MyComm a diagnostic platform to use with that client. MyComm will help you work with your client to consider all of the factors that will determine what his or her real objectives are, and if a particular communication solution will work as expected.
Q. Does MyComm work better in some organizations than others?
A. The only real organizational requirement is computer literacy and access.
