Programme overview
Introduction:
Strategic communication management, covering corporate narrative, stakeholders and the annual plan, is a 5-day course for those leading the corporate communication function, ending with a 12-month Strategic Communication Plan for a case organisation. Organisations often run media, digital, internal and stakeholder communication as separate streams loosely tied to corporate strategy, so messages conflict, reputational issues surface late and leadership cannot see what communication spend achieves. Nominees already lead communication teams or portfolios, and the course is taught through case study work on audit evidence, stakeholder maps and draft plans. CoreConcept Training Center delivers this strategic communication management course.
Course Objectives:
- Diagnose the current communication function through a structured audit and a corporate identity gap analysis
- Translate corporate strategy into communication objectives set at outcome and impact level
- Prioritise stakeholders and audiences using the power-interest grid and the Mitchell salience model
- Build a corporate narrative and message framework and orchestrate it across internal, media, digital and stakeholder channels
- Govern reputation drivers, emerging issues, leadership visibility and spokesperson support across the year
- Evaluate communication results with the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework and justify budget and team structure
Target Audience:
- Heads of corporate communication functions accountable for strategy, budget and team performance
- Managers who own communication portfolios spanning media, digital, internal and stakeholder channels
- Senior specialists who draft communication strategies, narratives and annual plans for leadership approval
- Managers advising executives on reputation, emerging issues and leadership visibility
- Corporate affairs and stakeholder relations managers who coordinate engagement with investors, partners and communities
Course Outline:
Day 1: Strategic Communication Role, Mandate and Function Diagnosis
- Strategic Communication Definitions and the Function's Corporate Mandate
- Management, Marketing and Organisational Communication Clusters Compared
- Corporate Identity Gap Analysis Across Perceived, Projected and Desired Identity
- Communication Audit Design Using Interviews, Content Review and Surveys
- SWOT Situation Analysis of the Current Communication Function
Day 2: Strategy Alignment, Stakeholder Mapping and Planning Models
- Mintzberg Five Ps Applied to Communication Strategy Choices
- Corporate Strategy to Communication Objectives Alignment Matrix
- Power-Interest Grid for Prioritising External and Internal Stakeholders
- Mitchell Salience Model Classifying Dormant, Dependent and Definitive Stakeholders
- SMART Communication Objectives Set at Outcome and Impact Level
Day 3: Corporate Narrative, Key Messages and Channel Orchestration
- Corporate Story Architecture Linking Purpose, Strategy and Proof Points
- Message Framework With Audience-Specific Key Messages and Evidence
- Channel Orchestration Map Across Internal, Media, Digital and Stakeholder Routes
- Leadership Visibility Plan and Executive Communication Calendar
- Spokesperson Roster, Briefing Notes and Message Discipline Protocol
Day 4: Reputation, Issues, Evaluation and Function Resourcing
- Reputation Driver Analysis and Stakeholder Perception Tracking
- Issues Lifecycle Monitoring, Escalation Thresholds and Ownership Register
- AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework From Inputs to Organisational Impact
- Barcelona Principles Applied to Board-Level Communication Reporting
- Communication Budget Allocation and Team Operating Model Design
Day 5: Case Study Building the 12-Month Strategic Communication Plan
- Case Organisation Audit Findings and Stakeholder Priority Map
- Case Corporate Narrative and Message Framework Drafting
- Twelve-Month Channel and Leadership Activity Calendar Build
- Case Evaluation Plan With Baselines, Targets and Budget Lines
- Strategic Communication Plan Completion and Executive Panel Defence
Skills You Will Gain:
- Communication Function Auditing
- Strategy-to-Message Alignment
- Stakeholder Salience Analysis
- Corporate Narrative Design
- Channel Orchestration
- Issues Escalation Governance
- Communication Impact Evaluation
- Communication Budget Planning
Why Attend This Course:
- Deliver a 12-month Strategic Communication Plan to the chief executive and the leadership team for approval
- Decide which stakeholders, messages and channels receive priority, budget and leadership time in the coming year
- Avoid conflicting messages, late issue escalation and communication spend that cannot be linked to corporate results
- Share the audit toolkit, stakeholder maps and evaluation model with communication team members and business partners
Conclusion:
Back at work, the participant presents the 12-month Strategic Communication Plan to the chief executive and the leadership team, who use it to approve communication priorities, budget lines, spokesperson roles and the reporting cycle for the year. Business unit heads and channel owners then work from one narrative, one stakeholder priority map and one calendar. After the first quarter under the plan, the function should review evaluation results against the baselines, the issues register and stakeholder perception data, then adjust messages, channel weighting and resourcing where outcomes lag.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
What should participants know before the strategic communication management course?
Participants should already lead a communication team, portfolio or channel and know their organisation's corporate strategy. Bringing an anonymised communication plan, audit result or stakeholder list helps them apply the case work to their own function.
How does strategic communication management differ from a public relations or internal communication course?
It works at function level: auditing the whole communication effort, aligning it with corporate strategy and planning a year across every channel. Public relations and internal communication courses concentrate on press materials, media relations or employee campaigns, which appear here only briefly.
Why does strategic communication management rely on stakeholder salience rather than audience size?
Stakeholder salience weighs power, legitimacy and urgency, so the plan gives attention to groups that can affect the organisation's strategy, even when they are small. Audience size alone tends to favour broad channels and overlook regulators, partners, investors or community groups.
What do participants take back from the strategic communication management course?
Participants take back a 12-month Strategic Communication Plan for a case organisation, with an audit summary, stakeholder priority map, corporate narrative, message framework, channel calendar, evaluation plan and budget lines they can adapt to their own function.