Unit 3: The Communications Package

3.1: Preparing for Knowledge Mobilization

In this section, we will explore some theory and best practices for the development of a strategic plan for the dissemination of your research. Then, later in the unit, you will find more practical lessons supporting the development of different communication documents called for in the plan. To help to put all this context, begin by becoming familiar with the Communications Package assignment.

(c) Shannon Smyrl and TRU Open Learning CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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Circle: Communication Plant for sharing the content of the Policy Brief. Need to consider Goal, Auiden, Message and Channel.

Box 1: Infographic. Visual Fact Sheet good for sharing information

Box 2: Professional Blog. Networking tool good for spreading awareness and creating community.

Box 3: Presentation. Good for persuasive motivation to act.

Sharing Your Research

LESSON

Knowledge mobilization is, for the most part, another term for strategic communicaiton. At times, we can distinguish between strategic communicaiton that is more focused on the interests of a particular organization than in general knoweldge distribution. However, for the purposes of our course project, these concepts align. The main idea here is a strategic sharing of information (from those who create it to those who could use it) for a specific purpose, which might range from increased knowledge to generating action.

(c) Shannon Smyrl and TRU Open Learning CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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You’ve written a Policy Brief…

Now what?

What do you have say? – What are your core messages?

Who do you need to talk to? – What groups should hear you? And why?

How will you reach out? – How can you share these messages?

Whereas the policy brief was a project in knowledge synthesis, drawing together many voices within a conversation, the communications package is a project in knowledge dissemination, getting the information out to those who need it. Developing a plan for knowledge dissemination ensures that your efforts are strategic and therefore effective.

LESSON

The OER Knowledge Management and Communication (Bruce et al., n.d., Chapter 12) cites Lavis et al.’s (2003) five fundamental questions needed to develop a plan for knowledge dissemination:

Thinking strategically about each one of these fundamental questions is key to effective dissemination of knowledge. However, taking them in isolation is not enough. The interdependence of these factors must be considered.

For simplicity’s sake, given the nature of our course project, let’s assume that the messenger stays constant—it’s you within the discourse community you connected with for the project.

We can then begin to think about the relationships of the other four factors:

(c) Shannon Smyrl and TRU Open Learning CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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Diagram illustrating relationships between four key elements: Audience, Impact, Message, and Mechanism, arranged in two rows with bidirectional arrows connecting Audience to Impact and Message to Mechanism, and a downward arrow linking Audience-Impact pair to Message-Mechanism pair. Text below: Can design multiple iterations of this for different acts of knowledge mobilization of the same project.

An initial choice of audience will constrain subsequent choices around message and mechanism, as well as impact.

Likewise, an initial focus on a specific message taken from the larger knowledge project (in our case, the policy brief) will drive decisions around audience, mechanism, and impact. The same logic is true of impact and mechanism.

Let’s consider a simple example. You have research that demonstrates the importance of exercise in preventing disease later in life. You have not only evidence of this preventable feature of exercise, but also information on what kinds of exercise are most beneficial.

Now, imagine your options from different directions:

Working through these different thought scenarios is a way to conceptualize the interconnectedness of these four categories; when developing communication plans, it’s important to be nimble in working through these intersections to make the most effective communication.

Intent, Audience, Message, and Channel in Detail

LESSON

Defining Intent or Goal

Overall, you may have several goals to achieve in your plan for knowledge dissemination, but each communication piece should have just one. In your final course assignment, for example, you will have three individual communication pieces, and each should have a clearly defined intent; they do not have to be the same.

Consider the range of intents that might be invoked through communication:

(c) Shannon Smyrl and TRU Open Learning CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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Diagram illustrating a four-step communication process information sharing, education or changing knowledge levels, generating affinity and goodwill, and generating action. Each step is connected by an arrow pointing to next step, highlighting progression from sharing information to prompting action.

Sometimes, our goal is simply to share information, but our goals can be progressively more persuasive, as we might be interested in our audience learning or adopting the information we share or even gaining an affinity or agreement with it, and finally, we may be interested in prompting action by our audience. The ability to achieve any one of these goals depends very much on the audience relationship to the message we have on offer; how we craft a message will depend very much on what our intent is and how the audience feels about it.

For example, we might want to share with students the date that registration opens, an intent that has no expectation of response. However, we may instead want to share this date with the intent of getting all students registered before they miss an opportunity. This intent of action requires a completely different message and possibly different mechanisms for communication.

As you develop your communication plan, think strategically about the specific intents for each communication piece.

Audience

The selection of target audience is often driven by the goal or intent of the communication, as noted in your reading. The nature of the recommendations in the policy brief and the goals for knowledge dissemination will often dictate a specific audience. However, it’s also possible that in the course of sharing research and information, opportunities come to connect with audiences that had not been anticipated. In such cases, thinking carefully about the intent and message suitable for an audience is key.

(Bruce et al., n.d., Chapter 28) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Once selected, the interests and orientation of an audience are defining elements. We need to ask the following kinds of questions:

Message

Use the questions and strategic process outlined in chapter 28 from Knowledge Management Communications (Bruce et al., n.d.) as a template for defining the message of your communication pieces; this resource reminds you to think carefully about the relationship to intent, audience, and channel when shaping your message.

A group of bowls full of food by engin akyurt on Unsplash

When working with a larger project, like a policy brief or other research project, it can be difficult to pull out threads of individual messages from the whole. Filtering information for different goals, to different people, means we need to approach our research paper flexibly without linear intent; we might think of our research as a buffet meal rather than a five-course presentation. When we write a research paper, we work carefully to tie all the pieces together in a logical and effective linear product, as you have just experienced writing the policy brief. But now, we can deconstruct this into a table of information nuggets to be selected and communicated at will. You might find, for example, a need to communicate simply the recommendations; or you might focus on a specific finding or point of research within the larger work that you want to share with a particular audience.

Mechanism or Channel

As outlined in your readings, selection of mechanism or channel is made carefully in the context of audience profile and message creation. For example, some information is better shared in some media over others, and we know this from our everyday life. Consider emergent social roles around when, what, and how to text people. Some information is more suitable for texting than other, and certain audiences respond differently to and are more adept at text messaging than others. When we get this wrong, communication can sometimes break down! Message adaptability and audience preference and competency must be considered.

The selection of mechanism or channel is also often influenced by a project’s budget and timelines. While sometimes a national ad campaign might be desirable, it’s not always feasible!

Developing the Communication Planning Document

Communication plans vary in complexity and components, as they are custom built for a wide variety of communication contexts and challenges. For example, consider this resource for information and tips on communication planning suitable for project management: “Communication Planning” (Watt, 2021).

Similarly, you can find plenty of information and templates related to the design of communication plans for campaigns or media events, such as this one from The Community Tool Box (Center for Community Health and Development, n.d.): “Developing a Plan for Communication.”

For the context of this course project, we use a simplified communication planning document, designed to have you think about the fundamental strategy needed in communication planning; you will think strategically about the relationships between impact, audience, message, and mechanism, as you plan ways to communicate content from the policy brief.

(c) Shannon Smyrl and TRU Open Learning CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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Diagram with four quadrants as follows:

Upper Left – Text box with Match an Audience/Impact with the communicative features of each mechanism. Design the message for the audience to achieve the impact, using the best features of the mechanism.

The rest of the quadrants have similar format and are labelled 1, 2 and 3. They illustrate using different Mechaisms depending on Audience, Image, Message

Upper Right: 1: Audience, Impact, Message, Mechanism: Infographic

Lower Left: 2: Audience, Impact, Message, Mechanism: Social Media Blog

Lower Right: 3: Audience, Impact, Message, Mechanism: Slide Deck Video

Before jumping in to produce the infographic, professional blog post, and slide deck video, you must create an overall communication planning document for this knowledge mobilization, using the ideas covered in this section of the unit.

In the project, the mechanisms or channels are fixed. This gives you a starting point in beginning to plan for audience, message, and intent. Each mechanism lends itself better to some kinds of intent or goal than others. For example, the professional blog may be particularly suited to the intent to generate good will or affinity for a set of ideas, while the slide deck video, with more direct audience contact and depth, might be more suited to persuasion and a call to action. Finally, infographics, in their design, might be well suited in communicating specific messages or lessons. Each of these mechanisms also engages the audience differently, demanding various amounts of time and energy.

With these mechanisms as a guide, you can begin to define an impact, audience, and message for each of the three elements in the communications package. The unit task below will help you begin this process, and then you can continue using the template provide in the assignment.

Unit Task 6: Determine Goal, Audience, and Messages (2% of course grade)