Without wishing to delve too deeply into the kerfuffle within the UK government over the past fortnight, there is an obvious lesson from the presentation of the so-called ‘mini-Budget’.
If you are
going to communicate a strategy, fiscal or otherwise, at least give some indication
of how you are going to achieve it.
Much of the
debate following the Chancellor’s statement has focused on the lack of explanation
of how the tax cuts it contained will be funded. Two weeks on, we’re none the
wiser. We’re all awaiting a further statement later in the month – brought forward
from November as a result of the furore.
This
demonstrates how uneasy people feel when any kind of lofty ambition is unveiled
without information on how that ambition will be achieved. On their own, headlines
achieve nothing: we all need to understand what they mean and any role we have
to play in delivering the plan in practice.
This is
highly relevant to strategy communications, with which some organisations still
struggle. They either provide too little information, so that the strategy feels
nebulous and somewhat empty, or they drown people in detail. Either approach undermines
the need to connect and communicate with the people on whom the organisation relies
to lift plans ‘off the paper’.
Understanding
audience needs – and planning your communications accordingly – is vital to striking
the right balance. It appears the UK government failed to appreciate what audiences
such as the financial markets might require to engage with and feel confident
in the plans it announced. Let’s hope they find a way to resolve this in the
coming weeks.
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