Are you a comms team of 1?
Written by KATIE TEST DAVIS
Do you ever feel like you’re the lone pioneer on communications island? As if you have too many people chiming in about your work, yet you still feel isolated? If you answered yes, I’m guessing you’re probably a communications team of one.
(I almost channeled my inner Katy Perry and wrote, do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind, wanting to start again? but luckily I spared you.)
Look, I get it. It’s absolutely not easy being a solo communications shop – you’re the one who writes the tweets AND dreams up the strategic communications plan. You’re over there photographing an event AND coordinating the reporter interviews.
If you’re the only communicator in your organization, you deserve a round of applause. You’re a firework. (Sorry, I can’t stop, Katy is stuck in my head now.)
At Forthright, we are often the right-hand women to a solo communicator, working alongside communicators as added capacity, as a coach and as a strategic thought partner. That means we’ve seen and been through it all.
Today, I’m sharing four tips for solo communicators based on what we’ve learned through our work across more than 30+ one-person comms shops.
determine your highest & best use — and protect your time
The first thing we see when we are working alongside a solo communicator is that they have to juggle way, way too much. Our first step is helping our client sort through what is essential, and what can get delayed or even deleted from their to-do list.
How? Well, it’s important to prioritize communications work that explicitly supports your organization’s goals and strategic plan.
When making your overall communications plan (typically either created or refreshed annually), directly align it to the organization’s overall goals. Think advocacy goals, fundraising, thought leadership and more.
Include:
the right target audiences to make your vision a reality,
clarity on your organization’s messaging (and if anything needs to be revisited or updated), and
a list of priority tactics and how you’ll measure success in your plan.
Then, when something new pops up, it should be directly in line with your plan and priorities. If the request isn’t aligned, directly name that it sits outside your current priorities and ask what you can de-prioritize to make room for the new request.
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Share your results
Communications work is notoriously hard to measure, but you should ALWAYS try. Create a dashboard and track metrics. If you’re working hard on expanding your reach on social media, set goals and then show your progress against them with your organization’s leadership on a regular cadence. Can’t find time to present in a meeting? Recap the metrics and share them over email. (Fun tip: a chart or graph will go a long way in making your point for you).
Find your allies
While you may be the only person with communications or marketing in your title, that doesn’t mean you’re the only person who actually does communications work at your organization. You’ll usually find allies who do similar work on your policy team, in your development department or even in HR.
These are great people to chat with about your communications plan, as well as learn from and collaborate with. You may even want to rally this team together formally – and align on the ways you are working. This could take the form of a monthly meeting, a lunch bunch or even an email group.
seek external mentorship
There have been times in my career when I’ve needed to look outside the organization I was working with for communications mentorship. Don’t be afraid to seek advice and guidance from peers at organizations similar to yours, or grab coffee with a former boss you admire.
For example, at Duke University, all the communicators across campus work cross-department and even have a Facebook group together. I personally serve as a mentor to a handful of communicators, and our team is often hired to be a listening ear (and partner!) for solo communicators. You are not alone in this work, friend. Find your people, and then lean on them to truly help your communications shine.
