Communications Audits

Communications Audits
Updated 20 March 2011 X
Communications audits are used in determining whether an organization's public statements and publications are consistent with its goals and objectives. This is done through a review of organization communications, organization records and interviews with key officials. There are four key questions that must be asked during a communications audit:

What are the organization's stated goals and objectives as they relate to its target audiences?

How has the organization communicated those goals and objectives to its target audiences?

What is working well and is consistent with those goals and objectives?

What is not working well and how can it be improved?

One method of gauging the success of an organization's communications is through the use of a communications grid. Here is an example of one:
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Image courtesy Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach, Allyn & Bacon, Boston, 2011
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Communications tools are listed on one axis. Stakeholders are listed on the other. It graphically illustrates where efforts have been directed and which stakeholders may have been overlooked. In this case, it appears as if the Latino/Hispanic publics have been underserved. As useful as this visualization is, a communications grid does not address communications content. That has to be addressed through a close analysis of language and images.

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