Issue Date: CWE July 2007 Measure the right things “If I’ve got correct goals, and if I keep pursuing them the best way I know how, everything else falls into line. If I do the right thing right, I’m going to succeed.” — Dan Dierdorf Deciding what to measure is the most critical decision you will make in dem- onstrating the value of communication to your business. And the key distinction to make is this: Do you measure outputs or outcomes? Outputs are short-term, tactical results. They are the accumulations of our communication activities. To measure outputs is to measure the obvious—exposure, attention, attendance, circulation, etc. Certainly, measurement of outputs has its place—even in a strategic communication plan. The primary tool for measuring outputs is a survey. You ask the audience to share their media preferences, their reactions to presentation methods, their responses to various writing styles, and even how they use and navigate the media you employ. With so many new options available to communicators—including podcasts, blogs and other new social media—the need to measure outputs is even greater, especially since their effectiveness is largely unproven. Output measurement is fine if you want to know how well your communication tools are working. Your internal customer,however, is not primarily concerned with communication tactics. Organizational communication exists to help achieve business objectives and solve business problems. The only way to measure the bottom-line impact of communication is to measure outcomes. Even if your internal customer were a micromanager or a wannabe editor, deep down he or she would rather know how the town hall meeting influenced employees’ attitudes about the new customer service policy than what percentage of attendees rated the meeting “good” to “excellent.” Outcomes are long-term, strategic results. They are the effects of our communication activities. To measure outcomes is to measure the mysterious—knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. Know the difference between output- and outcome-oriented goals before you establish objectives for your communication plan or activity. The objectives themselves speak volumes about your sophistication as a strategic business communicator. Internal customers love to see their business priorities reflected in communication objectives. Choose the right things to measure So, if outcome measurement is so much more rewarding and satisfying than output measurement, why don’t more communicators measure outcomes? The answer goes back to the integrated nature of organizational communication. Relating communication outcomes to business outcomes is the right thing to do, but as the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) points out: It needs to be recognized that this is not easy to do. It requires a careful delineation of what the PR program seeks to accomplish in concert with what the organization as a whole seeks to accomplish. … For example, the subject of tying PR to sales is frequently discussed. Some trade publications offer response cards after specific articles have appeared in print. These offer very valuable “lead generation” tools. With an effective “lead generation” system, those leads can frequently be tracked through to sales. However, it must be remembered that while PR may have generated the lead, the closure was, of course, heavily influenced by such items as the individual’s need for or interest in that product in the first place, the quality of the products and services that are offered, the distribution channel, the availability of the product or service, the price, etc. (Lindenmann, 1997). Align the communication plan with the business plan and choose communication objectives that support business objectives. There is a time and a place to measure the effectiveness of tactical activities—in fact, communication de- partments should measure tactics regularly to ensure their effectiveness—but only as they support the achievement of strategic goals. Since your internal customer might view the role of communication as mostly tactical, you might need to help establish an outcome-based objective.Business leaders usually know they want something to happen as a result of their investment in communication, but sometimes they’re not sure what that something might be! Delight your internal customer by focusing discussion about communication on strategic outcomes, not just tactical outputs. Earl the engineer knew communication should be part of the effort to achieve ISO 9002 certification, but at first neither of us was sure of the communication plan’s real purpose. Together, by asking the right questions of ourselves, we determined that the ultimate goal—the desired strategic outcome—was certification. Think about it: 1. What are the ways you measure the outputs of your communication function? 2. What are the ways you measure the outcomes of your communication function? 3. Are your communication objectives mostly output oriented or outcome oriented? 4. If your communication objectives are mostly output oriented, ask yourself: What is the purpose of the output objective? 5. If your organization uses new media—such as blogs, podcasts, instant messaging, etc.—is it possible to quantify their impact on business goals? If not, is it possible to collect anecdotal evidence of their costs and benefits to your organization? Take action: • Identify and eliminate any of the communication function’s output-oriented objectives that do not support outcome-oriented objectives. • Look at the business objectives you identified through interviews with the internal customer and/or other leaders of the business. Make sure communication objectives are aligned with, and support, the business objectives. • Gain agreement from your internal customer on communication objectives. • Using an outcome-oriented approach to strategic communication planning, determine if any of your company’s/ organization’s media do not deliver a business outcome. Consider refocusing or eliminating non-value-added media. • Identify ways your communication department might use output-and outcome-oriented measurement to improve the strategic effectiveness of communication in your company/organization. • Develop a cost/benefit analysis of the new media your organization uses. References Anderson, Forrest W., and Linda Hadley. Guidelines for Setting Measurable Public Relations Objectives. Gainesville, Fla.: The Institute for Public Relations Commission on PR Measurement and Evaluation, 1999. Mykrantz, Chris. “If You Can’t Measure It, Does It Exist?” Journal of Employee Communication Management (March/April 2006). Ideas that work To establish an outcome-based objective for a communication activity, ask questions like these: • What business problem will this communication help solve? • What is the desired business outcome? • Why is this issue a priority right now? • What factors are driving the achievement of this business objective? • Why do we want the primary audience to know about this business issue? • What do we want the primary audience to know about this business issue? • What do we want the primary audience to feel as a result of their increased knowledge of this issue? • What behaviors do we want the primary audience to demonstrate? • What actions do we want the audience to take or not take?