Turning Strategy Into Action: Project Mapping for Communications Leaders & Teams

A good communications strategy tells you where you want to go. Project mapping helps you figure out how to get there.

Communications professionals constantly manage multiple priorities at once, from campaign launches to crisis communications and everything in between. As priorities shift and timelines approach, comms teams may find themselves losing focus and becoming reactionary rather than strategic in the work they do. A good communications strategy will inform where a project or initiative should go, but project mapping helps with figuring out how to accomplish the goals that are set by the strategy, gives the communications team a bird’s-eye view of how tasks intersect, and provides a roadmap to success. 

Project mapping is akin to creating an itinerary for an upcoming trip. It’s the process of listing out the moving parts required to execute a communications initiative, and identifying the obstacles that may be encountered along the way. It names the goal that the project is intended to achieve and the action items needed, such as the deliverables and who will produce them, the deadlines for production, and the metrics that will be used to measure the project's success. 

Project mapping is essential for helping teams to understand how their work flows interconnect and how their work fits into the bigger picture. It may inform the involvement needed from leadership, the IT department, and outside vendors to execute a website launch, or the coordination and partnership needed from advancement, marketing, finance, and executive leadership to develop a fundraising campaign. 

In order to develop an effective project mapping plan, a few considerations need to be put in place. You must first have a clear understanding of the objective and then know the deliverables that are needed to meet that objective. Perhaps the goal is to drive more enrollment or engage stakeholders, or maybe you want to raise awareness for a new program being launched or execute a fundraising initiative. Once you have landed on the objectives, the next steps will begin to unfold.  

Once there is a goal in mind, identify major touchpoints and deadlines. Using the launch date as the end date, work backwards to pinpoint when the various components of the campaign initiative must be completed. These components may include developing messaging, producing imagery, updating website content, drafting emails, and scheduling social media postings. A common pitfall that communications teams experience is realizing that they are missing a major component after they have created an extensive project map, so it is important to plan for uncertainty by allocating time into the project map for revisions, edits, or requests, in the event unexpected roadblocks occur. 

Each team member needs to be clear about their role, and for projects that require cross-departmental coordination and cross-leadership buy-in, they should establish what their deliverables are and what the approval process should be. Knowing who is responsible for content creation, who approves messaging, who oversees production, and who gets the final say when priorities shift. These are crucial details for ensuring that everyone knows what they need to do. Unclear roles are one of the leading causes of project derailment.

A well-planned project map allows for agility when roadblocks occur, and it isn’t a one-and-done plan, it’s a tool that the comms team continually references to check in on the team’s progress and shift priorities as needed. Perhaps a project requires multiple levels of approvals or tracking various external vendors, the plan helps to keep relevant parties informed throughout the life of the project, and helps the team spot bottlenecks.

Asana, Monday.com, Trello, Google Sheets, etc. are a few powerful tools for tracking team responsibilities, deadlines, and project status. Project mapping is also a leadership tool. It allows communication leaders to identify when teams may be stretched too thin, where support is needed, and which projects are most important. It isn’t about creating another spreadsheet or scheduling meetings, it’s about helping teams to get things done efficiently.

Comms trans are expected to manage multiple priorities, work quickly, and produce high-quality outputs, but working quickly can be detrimental if done without clear direction. Effective project mapping bridges the gap between strategy and execution, increases accountability, and ensures the team's work is intentional and impactful. 

Want to bring more structure to your communications strategy? Let's connect I can help comms teams with planning a new campaign, managing a publication, or coordinating a major initiative, organize objectives, and key deliverables, establish timelines, assign responsibilities, and measure results.