Who I worked with
Mind, a national mental health charity with a federated structure covering a network of local Mind charities.
The challenge
The charity wanted to develop a more strategic approach to communication between the national organisation and the c.121 local Minds in the federation in order to ensure the best support for service-users. With varied perspectives across the network and limited comms strategy experience in the national team, they wanted an external specialist to develop the strategy.
What happened?
I started by reviewing current communications activity, such as regular emails and an online portal, to analyse purpose, content and impact. I also interviewed stakeholders across the national organisation to understand what they wanted to achieve. I followed this up by interviewing individuals at a range of local Minds to understand the communication requirements from their perspective.
Finally I took all this input and turned it into an effective communications strategy for the network. To help the in-house team with implementation I also drew up a list of recommended actions, presented in priority order.
The outcomes
The network communications strategy that I wrote was going through the process of sign-off at senior level when the coronavirus pandemic struck. The approach that clarified the purpose and audience for communications formed a useful basis for network communication during this unprecedented time.
It has been really useful to get Sarah’s overview, expertise and perspective on our approach to the network communication strategy. This has been a substantial piece of work, which may not have been possible without external support.