Your Dream Communication Team

Following my last post on what makes communication, you need a great communication team to realise excellent communication. But this team will be guided by your clear and strategic organisational strategy once they know what the organisation intends to achieve. This team will use their storytelling and perception building skills to help you reach those goals.

My ideal communication team has the following skill sets:

1. Writing – this is a fusion of various forms of writing skills like journalism, fiction writing and copywriting. Journalism provides the skill to determine what can be considered newsworthy and attract media to cover your work. Fiction is all about transporting people into an unknown world and creating compelling experiences enough for people to be drawn into your reality. Copywriting is a craft of writing for persuasion employed chiefly in advertising.
2. Editor – You always need to ensure the tone, writing style, and format align with the organisational brand and narrative. Writers do get carried away sometimes; it is always essential to have a second set of eyes to edit content according to an explicit editorial policy objectively.
3. Photographer – you have heard the age-old adage; that a picture is worth a thousand words. You need someone who can provide compelling visual stories through photography.
4. Videographer – You need moving images to tell compelling short and long narratives to draw people in. We live in a world where information is consumed more in video format. You need someone who can tell succinct stories shot well and visually compelling.
5. Graphic Designer – All the documentation you share with the world needs to align with your organisational visual identity. You need someone who knows how to express emotion and intent through clean graphic designs and layouts.
6. Animator – Sometimes, the easiest way to break down highly complex things you do, is through a simple tutorial. An animator is a gifted storyteller who uses motion graphics to tell these stories.
7. Social Media Manager – Social media is a new juggernaut of communication. Therefore, it is essential to have someone who understands the various algorithms of these platforms and the content that audiences connect with.

For small organisations, hiring all these people may be overwhelming. If you have a tiny budget of, say, only 150,000 Kenya shillings to hire. You can start with two key people with dual skills. You can hire a talented writer with editorial skills and a graphic designer with social media management skills. With these two, you can get a lot of traction in your communication.

Hire someone with atleast three years of active work experience in the field. That way, you are not starting from scratch. The hugest challenge you will face taking in an intern straight out of university or college is they will be looking to you for guidance on what to do. If you have no idea what you are doing, you are better off working with someone who will guide you and advise you on the process with atleast three to five years of experience.

As your income grows, expand the team. As you can see, communication isn’t a simple checklist of duties; it is a well-oiled machine with efficient moving parts.

Why is communication expensive? I am always asked. Look at the skillsets and the kind of work required from these specialists. Remember, excellent communication propels many local and global brands; if you want to work towards being a recognised organisation, you need a talented communication team.