Corporate Communications

Whatever the name the department bears in your organization, this is the official source of all written and graphic content. Sometimes these departments insist on performing creative functions; sometimes they are quite content setting the rules for what can be communicated and how, then approving communications for release.

The Playbook identifies Corporate Communications as being generally responsible for the development of plans, creative content, and eventually the release of communications for the change. This may not happen even if the department would like to do so because they are understaffed. If your project has obvious and important communication needs—if you aren’t aware of this beforehand, Corporate Communications will inform you—they ought to be able to source a contracted resource to assist with planning, creation, and execution to some extent.

Once again: fortunately, like most departments in most organizations, they tend to be under-resourced. So unless your project has the attention of the very most senior executives or will be highly public, you are likely to not have much interaction beyond basic contact. It is likely you will be the one initiating and persisting in the securing of a resource. Once you have those resources though, you will have to ensure Corporate Communications tacitly approves their work.