Say. Simplify. Do – A new way of working, the only way of working

The call to KISS in the workplace has never been louder. I’m not advocating getting close to your colleagues in any way… that’s inappropriate. I’m simply repeating the good-old-fashioned maxim: Keep it simple, seriously.

We’re living in a time when just about all human contact is deemed inappropriate. Think Covid-induced social distancing and remote working. The days of having long meetings around the boardroom table to discuss details and nuances are over. Now, bar infamous Teams meetings, communication is of necessity mostly written. And, in order to be understood, it needs to be simple. What’s more, once your documents have been cleared of jargon, techno-speak, legalese and words with too many syllables, the plans you’re outlining need to be simple to implement.

At ByDesign, this is something that’s always under-pinned the work we’ve done. Our aim is, and always has been, to create uncomplicated, implementable strategies for our clients. It’s something that’s worked for us as well, as we’ve built our business and grown our client base.

At the core of our offering is our commitment to an established methodology that guides organisations through the development of an integrated communications strategy. Our methodology is an ordered sequence of questions – the same questions for blue-chips to blue-skies; grassroots to greenfield – and the answers come together to build a concise statement of strategic intent. We facilitate this session with key stakeholders and, believe it or not, it fits onto one page. Seriously simple.

By considering five main areas, we help our clients build uncomplicated, implementable strategies;  

• Relationships: Who are we trying to build a relationship with? What is our current relationship with this audience? What do they need that they aren’t currently getting?
• Channels: How should the various communications channels support their business?
• Approach and content: what needs to be done (prioritise, prioritise, prioritise) and which conversations must we be in?
• Voice: What is the tone or manner that we’ll use with our audience?
• Messages: What do we want our audience to believe?

Our commitment to keeping strategy as simple as humanly possible, especially now that we’re operating in a digital world, is bolstered by our belief that successful strategy hits the ground running, and can be co-ordinated over multiple content channels.  

But more about that another time. For now, KISS, mask-up and elbow-bump.

Kevin Welman

Director of ByDesign Communications