Investing an hour to prepare a simple communications plan will help you to communicate with patients over the coming months. When you are ready to begin:
- Open a new word document on your computer and create a table of 5 horizontal X 5 vertical columns.
- Down the vertical left-hand side, list your internal and external communication channels, such as myDr screen, social media, website, poster, telephone/face-to-face. Add more rows if required.
- In the next horizontal column, write down the key messages you want your audience to be aware of (people often use the following as a guide when writing messages –what, why, when, how and where). Some of the messaging may be similar for the channels. Please keep in mind that social media messages need to be short and concise.
- In the adjourning horizontal column, list any additional resourcing needed for when the information is published (such as photos, graphics, and ensure you have any copyright permissions needed).
- In the next horizontal column, list the steps you must take to produce/publish the content (such as creating a telephone script, poster or social media post; contacting the website or social media administrator).
- Schedule in some time to complete the communication activities. Remember producing one item every few days is better than nothing at all. Don’t forget to regularly update your information.
