What are you asking yourself to inform how you operate next year?
By Jennifer R. Farmer
I love to hear people say, ‘you’re not asking the right questions.’ There is an art in learning to ask the right questions, and asking the right questions will help you develop an appropriate course of action. We cannot always get what we need and want if we do not ask the right questions.
To that end, I am trying to develop a practice of getting curious and of asking the right questions. And the end of the year is a perfect time to reflect on the prior year and what I want for the next. Here are four questions I think all communicators should ask, particularly at the end of the year.
- What is working? The end of the year is a good time to assess what strategic communications tools worked that year and which ones did not. In many offices, things tend to slow down towards the end of the year, and this lull can be great for reflecting. There are things that I routinely do, that I realized this year, are not worth the time. I am committing to making changes in 2024 and beyond. Have you thought about what has worked and what you may want to change?
- What is working now but may not work in the future? In the ever-changing media landscape, I am clear that some of the things we do today to generate media may not work in the future. For instance, the emergence of AI will change how we pitch, how we contact reporters, and how we land stories. I imagine that some of the software that public relations professionals use to gather information will become more intuitive; we’re not just talking about helping you generate the right headline, but also helping you identify which reporters are most likely to cover your story. What are you doing to prepare for the changes that AI has wrought?
- What is my plan to grow my email and SMS list? Over time, brands will continue to develop their own content platforms. This continues to be an effective way of distributing a message, and getting your audience to take action. The end of the year and the beginning of a new year, when communications professionals are writing strategic communications plans, is a good time to assess the growth in your email and SMS lists. What steps are you taking to grow these lists?
- Was my budget sufficient to meet prior and anticipated needs? The end of the year is a good time to assess whether you budget was sufficient and whether it was effectively allocated. For instance, was there funding for sponsoring events and workshops? Was there funding for social media advertising? Was there funding for speakers should you decide to convene more in person events? Was there funding for professional development? Where there conferences that you wanted to invest in last year but were restrained due to your budget. Your budget determines your engagement so carefully think about where you want to engage and the cost for doing so. Thinking through this periodically throughout the year and certainly at the end of the year will set you up for success in the year to come.
- Who did I build relationships with and who do I still need to connect with? I remind myself all the time that there are people who would cover the work I care about if I and my clients have the relationships with them. Building relationships with reporters is not just a good idea, it is a necessary idea. At the end of the year, I tend to assess who I want to know and work with the following year. From there, I think through strategies to engage such people. I also ask my network who they know that I should know and vice versa.
If you use the end of the year to reflect on the prior year, what questions do you ask of yourself and/or your team? Also, in what other end of year planning are you engaged?