Laying the Groundwork for Strategy Implementation Through Stakeholder Focused Communication

Abstract

The last but not the least important step of the strategy design process is communicating the developed strategy and the associated detailed business model to stakeholders, selling it to the crowd, so to speak. Communication strategy is about informing. Only if you know where to go, can you find the way to get there. Communicating strategy is about setting the stage for change. This means, ensuring that the stakeholders understand the new or revised strategy, so that they can identify and plan required changes within their area of influence. Communicating strategy is about convincing the stakeholders that the strategy choices made are optimal for the firm and support it to be profitable in a sustainable way. And finally, communicating strategy is only successful if the recipients of the messages feel be taken seriously. This chapter describes how the audience and related communication channels are identified. Targeted messages are prepared, tested, and delivered according to a well defined schedule. A key focus is on storytelling the strategy message. Through a feedback loop, consistent with the design thinking approach, it is ensured that the communicated strategy message is understood as expected.

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place—George Bernard Shaw