That our holidays are more than deserved (and necessary), no one doubts it. The body and mind need an intensive break to reset and rebalance energetically. The course, in recent days, has become more intense than at other times because it seems that the automatic system no longer responds with such enthusiasm. If we were a robot, our batteries would be in reserve. We feel it.
And while our body and mind ask for a break, communication does not rest. If everything communicates, there is no room for time. It is always.
On many occasions, potential clients who approach comma at this time and ask us for strategic consultancy proposals try to skip the months of July and August because they consider them wasted months (and also, incidentally, save them) and ask us to start working in September. And in September they expect to be at 100%. Can you imagine running a marathon without training? If there is no time in communication, there is no room for wasted time.
Don’t throw away two months of work
Considerations that should be taken into account before deciding to ‘throw away’ two essential months of work:
- A communication strategy that starts does not go from 0 to 100 in an instant. Communication is a very sophisticated training. It is a gradual, delicate and precise process that requires time, dedication and many fine adjustments for the machinery to work properly. Not being in a hurry at the beginning is essential to ensure that the foundations are well built and consolidated.
- Sometimes we forget that communication starts inwards. It is essential to know an organisation before you start divulging any information about it. Otherwise, what we convey will not be real, or worse, we will convey disorganisation and lack of control. Moreover, it is the right time, when the teams are a little more relaxed, to be able to interact in an optimal way and not leave it for times like the start of the season when the teams will be at their best.
- It is highly advisable to organise well the internal functioning flows of the communication team with the organisation so that the machinery works properly from that moment onwards. Often, clashes between internal and external teams are the result of a false start. The team needs to be well organised, with responsibilities well defined, tasks well distributed and functioning mechanisms in place.
- Spokespersons are not a circumstance; they are a pillar. Identifying, analysing, defining and training the main spokespersons of an organisation requires time, but above all, a lot of left-handedness. There is a ghost called ego that swarms unchecked through this territory.
- Key contents. Before writing an organisation’s story, you have to have lived it, known it and understood it. The communication team must make it their own, and this can only be achieved with time. Once soaked, the task of content creation resembles the work of a craftsman; ours is a craft.
So, if you have among your objectives to start working with an external communication team, don’t throw away two months of work that, if well focused, can make the difference between fast and efficient.
Making the most of summer
On the other hand, if you are already working with a communications team, July and August are the months to, in addition to carrying on with the day-to-day (a rather exhausting day-to-day for those who stay at work and can’t find anyone on the other end of the phone), take advantage of the situation:
- Review the first half of the year. At comma we work with six-month strategies. Now is the time to analyse what has been done and the results obtained, so that the necessary adjustments can be made to face the second part of the year with the necessary improvements and with the reinforcement of what has proven to be very efficient.
- Planning for the second semester. From the previous step to planning. Evaluation of KPIs and setting of new targets. Determination of events, dates, activities and milestones to take place. Now is the time to work on the broad lines of the action plan for the next 6 months.
- Content update. The year is progressing and with it the delivery of results. It is time to update press kits, quotes, key messages, boilerplates, half-yearly figures, etc. In September, you will be late.
- Operating settings. If during the year there are parts that have been chafing, it is time to make the adjustments and changes that you deem appropriate to keep the machinery running smoothly.
- Creativity. Day-to-day life is often too consuming and there is little room for digression. From time to time it is good to stop, take a breath and let your imagination break through the rigid anchors of reality. It is at this time that different, creative and, why not, a little daring ideas can emerge, ideas that take you out of common places and bring freshness, innovation and differentiation to your approaches, strategies or campaigns.
In short, the summer months are also months to work, in a different way and with a different focus, possibly, but fruitful. Let us not waste them. Even if you think that the year is very long, we will always lack time for everything that is not day to day, and July and August are designed to provide you with this space that otherwise we would not have.
