It’s been said that I am a dork — most often by me. (Don’t worry, my colleagues at Go East and I embrace my dorkiness.) My latest proof point to dorkdom is my passion for writing marketing communications plans. I love it. I love it because it’s a tactical manifestation of my organization skills, it’s strategic, it’s creative and frankly, I love the written word.

To be clear, a marketing communications plan is the alignment of specific tactics to marketing strategies. Very often, communications plans are incorporated into marketing plans — but they each serve a different function and likely are formulated and referenced by people in different roles.

At a bare minimum, a stand-alone marketing communications plan should include a calendar that outlines tactics that are in alignment with business objectives and audiences.

Obviously that is not as simple as it sounds. The tactics could and should include everything that a brand is involved in from a marketing standpoint: trade shows, speaking engagements, FSIs, print advertising, product launches, etc. It should also include the seemingly smaller touch points: website maintenance, coupons, sales meetings, etc. These are all events or activities that are going to require attention from a marketing standpoint. It should also include social media strategy.

A 12-month marketing communications plan is the most common. Yet planning a year in advance can seem completely overwhelming. Take a deep breath, though. It can be done! When I develop marketing communications plans for my clients at Go East, I find it very helpful to start by literally mapping out on a calendar big things such as industry trade events or a known website redesign initiative. After that, the little things tend to fall into place. For example, if there is a large industry trade event in November, I know that there will be a need for pre-event activities in September and October. And I know that product enhancements or new products are often introduced at trade events, so I include efforts in May or June related to key message development, etc.

When you take the time to document a strategy, you have a road map to success. Of course, I am no stranger to reality. I know that the unexpected pops up. But that’s when the marketing communication plan is most effective! We can easily ascertain if the “hot need for a new sales tool” is in alignment with the marketing objectives or not. Either it doesn’t — and you’ve quickly ascertained that you can save time and money — or it does. If it does and you didn’t plan for it, just roll with it and make a note to include it in next year’s plan.  In the end, you save time and potentially money. What’s better than that?

So I’ll say it again, if having a passion for effective communication makes me a dork, then that’s what I am. What are your experiences with marketing communications plans? Please share the good, the bad and the ugly and join me in my kingdom of dorkdom!

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Estimate approved? Check.

Freelance Art Director to arrive any minute? Check.

Conference call at 8:30 a.m.? Check.

Great! All the plans are set! It’s 8:13 and I’m ready to go …

“Paul – I just got a call from the client and the project’s been put on indefinite hold!”

(Anvil to the head) — CLUNK!

We all know the importance of planning. But what to do when the best laid plans of mice and project managers come crashing down? For me, the real-life example listed above meant taking a couple of deep breaths and getting ready to eat crow when the freelance Art Director arrived.

We don’t like to think our plans will be rendered null and void by some unforeseen obstacle. And yet, we should be prepared to expect the unexpected once in awhile. I like to think of these instances as life kicking us in the butt in order to keep us humble.

I’ve mentioned in previous blogs that I play drums. I recently took a gig with a 16-piece jazz big band. I’m a pretty good sight-reader, and we had a rehearsal, so I wasn’t too worried about playing well.

Turns out the “rehearsal” consisted of three new charts, none of which we ended up playing at the performance. How did it go, you ask? It actually went very well, because having played music most of my life, I’ve come to expect the unexpected. And besides, this is jazz! It’s all about improvisation.

As a fill-in drummer, I use my eyes and ears to guide me through unchartered territory. Sitting in for the first time can never replace the hours logged by the “regular” drummer, so I keep three things in mind:

1.) Play the right groove.

2.) Keep steady time.

3.) Nail the ending.

If I do just those three things, it’ll sound good and anything else is gravy.

With a little bit of improvising, these same principles apply to project management:

1.) Find the right person for the job.

2.) Don’t work so fast that mistakes occur.

3.) Deliver a stellar final product.

Well, that concludes my spiel on percussive project management. May all your plans find you “on a roll.”

P.S. I almost forgot — there is a fourth principle:

When in doubt, play the 17-minute drum solo from “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidda”.  (I’ve only used it once.)

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I’ve replaced planning with a new approach to getting things done. It’s called, “Take the moment, the input and instant messaging and make what you want WORK!” How do I achieve this responsive approach? I capitalize on instant messaging and micro-meetings.

The tools:
Our office uses one-on-one instant messaging called iChat (Mac). It is perfect for quick questions and instantly sharing files, photos and links. To make it work properly, you must respond to questions quickly and make decisions even quicker.

For full-office instant messaging, we use Yammer. This is invaluable when you need quick input from the entire office or an immediate answer to a question such as, “Does anyone know how to remove a floating punctuation mark in InDesign?”

Micro-meetings and proximity means you have the opportunity to get out of your seat. Micro-meetings do not need a room and they do not need donuts, but they do need an agenda and a quantifiable action or answer. Frankly, I have no idea how anything can get done strictly by e-mail (or any faceless technology). It breeds convoluted conclusions and what seems completely clear to the writer can be interpreted into at least three totally different outcomes by a designer.

Am I addicted to all this “instantity”? Yes.
Last week, I answered a question on Yammer by sending a file on iChat. Then I called the recipient of the file with additional information while she chatted me the results. Yes, I could have e-mailed it, but that’s like snail mail.

This instantity is not for the faint of heart or the perpetually planned, but in this rush-rush world of ours it’s how I’ve learned to adapt.

Now the harsh reality: How did I write this blog? I attended an hour meeting, put it on my calendar, scheduled time for it and submitted it on time.

Wimp.

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I like to get things done. I like to get things done using simple tools. My life is complicated enough without cluttered interfaces, too many buttons or too much artificial intelligence. Here are some of my favorite tools that enhance my ability to get things done.

Teux Deux

Teux Deux is a simple, design-y to-do app. Since I love lists, red and black and intuitive UX, this is a win for me. Ivy Lee could have used this app. Back in the early 1900s he helped Charles Schwab increase productivity at Bethlehem Steel by teaching him to create a daily to-do list. This app is perfect for that.

OmniFocus

I am a big GTD fan. For the non-initiated, GTD is short for “Getting Things Done,” a productivity method that has made a world of difference to me. GTD helps me organize all my stuff and create to-do lists that make sense based on “context.” I make phone calls while I am in the office, take care of errands while I am out and deal with household tasks at home — and I organize my to-do list that way. I use OmniFocus to do all this on my computer and iPhone. Between the two, there is no reason I can’t maximize every second of the day.

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Yikes! It’s June! Half the year is over. I had a nice to-do list for the year that looked attainable. Now that it’s June, the list is starting to look a little daunting. I think I better revisit my goals.

Following Merlyn Sanchez’s SMART goal-setting objectives helps me make my goals a reality.

Now that I only have six months to achieve this year’s goals, I am highly motivated. I think Sanchez’s most important tip is to complete at least one action per day toward making a goal a reality. Smaller tasks are easier to deal with, and as I whittle away at them I get closer to realizing my larger goal. I stay focused on the small things, so I’m not overwhelmed with the larger picture.

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I like simple. I like effective. When I was a boy, my father told me about the six Ps of planning. He said “Pre-planning prevents piss-poor performance.”

You can’t get simpler or more effective than that.

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