Communication Is Key: Three Strategies to Activate Your District’s Strategic Plan

The time has come: your strategic planning has wrapped up, and thanks to your committee’s efforts, you’ve got a great plan. It tells the story of the hard work you and your district have done to engage all of your constituents, align around a shared vision, and determine what your district’s goals are for the next several years. 

Guiding your district through the creation of a strategic plan is an important milestone, and we hope you take a moment to reflect on what an incredible accomplishment this is. 

Guiding your district through the creation of a strategic plan is an important milestone, and we hope you take a moment to reflect on what an incredible accomplishment this is. 

Now, your work to implement the plan begins, and with it, there are both new and continued challenges—the most important being the effort to communicate about the plan and its progress as it’s being rolled out. Without a concerted effort to continue informing your district community about the plan and keep it top of mind, even the best strategic plans run the risk of becoming “shelfware.” Here are three strategies to help set a foundation of consistent, proactive, and effective communication: 

Solidify your messaging, frequency, and channels

Having a strategic communication plan to communicate your strategic plan is the best way to ensure everyone in your district community is both informed and on board. Your strategic plan acts as an organizational tool as well as a documented set of goals and strategic priorities, helping with decision-making, resource allocation, and how entities within the district need to collaborate—so communicating these pieces early and often is paramount. 

Having a strategic communications plan to communicate your strategic plan is the best way to ensure everyone in your district community is both informed and on board.

As you’re honing your communications strategy and rollout, it’s important to keep three pillars in mind: messaging, frequency, and channels.

• Messaging: Don’t be afraid to reiterate the key messages of your strategic plan. There’s a marketing principle—the “Rule of 7”—that states a potential customer must see a message at least seven times before they’ll be provoked to take an action. “Getting the message out” is much different than “creating shared meaning and understanding,” so keep in mind that repetition is your friend. Even if you feel like you’ve repeated the same message 20 times, there are many in your district who may have only heard it once or twice—and some not at all.
• Frequency: Even if your district doesn’t have a dedicated communications team or resources, commit to communicating at a regular cadence for each of your main constituent groups. This might look like updating staff and teachers on progress toward strategic goals weekly, while parents and families might get a monthly update.
• Channels: From your initial community group interviews and feedback, you most likely know which tools and platforms work best for your specific constituent groups. Consider a blend of both digital and analog channels: email, text, internal portal, social media, in-person events, letters and print communications—any combination that helps you reach as many people as possible. 

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Express excitement and momentum for the plan

Strategy development is arguably some of the most creative work a school district gets to do together. After all, you’re setting the future vision for your district. Within that vision and your goals, there’s an opportunity to innovate and do things differently, right? 

This is absolutely the case, and yet there are many instances where enthusiasm and commitment to carrying out the strategic plan rapidly decrease as your constituents go “back to reality.” This doesn’t have to be your reality, however. Here are a few ideas for creating and sustaining that excitement and engagement among your district community:

• Outline what will change. If there’s been a change to your district’s high-level strategy, or if there’s a goal or concept that is new to some of your community members, lead with that information. Acknowledge that there may be some resources that move around as a result of the plan, or additional investments made in new areas. 
• Help visualize what success looks like. It’s one thing to talk about your plan, it’s another thing to show its impact. For example, let’s say your district vision is for each student to graduate from your district academically, socially, and emotionally prepared for success. How can you convey what student success means? Perhaps it’s posting updates on graduates on your district’s social media pages, or committing to monthly interviews with alumni. No matter what the visuals look like, find a way to say, “Here’s what success looks like.”
• Instill belief in the district. As a district leader, you’re no stranger to challenges and hard work—and it’s important to signal confidence in your district’s ability to make this plan a reality. This might look like creating an infographic that you update regularly to show progress, or having your strategic plan committee members share monthly video updates.
• Bring people into the process. While the words “process” and “creating enthusiasm” may not seem like they belong together, your community will be much more interested in your strategic plan’s outcome if they understand how the work will be carried forward. At the same time you update on progress, follow it with next steps. Now that this particular piece is done, what’s next? How is the plan being monitored for accountability? 

Consider holding engagement sessions to amplify communication

As hard as you worked to bring as many of your constituents as possible into your initial strategic planning conversations, the reality is that plenty of your community members may not even know that months of planning have taken place—or that there’s a documented plan that serves as your district’s blueprint. 

Understanding the fundamentals of the strategic plan will help all community groups feel more empowered to participate in its implementation.

This is where engagement sessions can help you supplement your additional communication efforts. The training sessions can be facilitated by members of the strategic planning committee, potentially creating an opportunity for you to distribute leadership to an aspiring principal or teacher leader in your district. 

One important piece to remember: just as you included students, families, and community members in your strategic planning process, get them involved in this stage as well. For example, students might be interested in teaching their peers about the planning process, what they learned, and how all students play a part in making sure the district adheres to its vision. Parent advocates might want to do the same with their peers. 

Understanding the fundamentals of the strategic plan will help all community groups feel more empowered to participate in its implementation.

Intentional, clear communication: the key to a living, breathing strategic plan

As the adage says, “clear is kind.” We’d also add, “consistency is kind.” By communicating the elements of your strategic plan clearly and consistently, you’re already a step ahead when it comes to making your district’s newly authored vision a reality.

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