Reviews – corporate communications team structure, operating model and more

Functional review? Service review? Review of your corporate communications team structure? Operating model? Whatever you call it, we all need to stop and examine how our teams operate every now and then.

Sometimes, when you are stuck in day-to-day delivery, it is hard to step away and look for new opportunities to ensure your team, services, and channels are working as efficiently as possible.

We can help you to get a fresh perspective on how you are implementing communications in your organisation.

We want every team to operate at their full potential and demonstrate our profession’s value to their organisation.

We know that a communications function does not operate in isolation. It is influenced by external factors and how an organisation operates. Reviewing a communications function involves more than just looking at the team—you need to take a holistic view of the team’s operations and the environment in which it works. 

We have undertaken reviews for large and small communications teams, working with them from review to implementation.

Elm Communications will support your staff to be exceptional professionals working together to achieve great outcomes.

“I can highly recommend Melanie. She worked with our organisation for a few months and was amazing. Her drive and vision helped us create our new community engagement team and ensured we had a clear plan and the the right people to deliver.”

– Lucinda Barry, Chief Executive Officer Organ and Tissue Authority.

Our review framework

When reviewing a communications team, we use our bespoke framework, which considers the team’s functions and operations, as well as its internal and external operating environment. 

This framework has been developed based on our experience in managing communication teams and reviewing government and private sector organisations. It is continuously updated to consider the latest best practices. 

This approach ensures that we consider not just what the team delivers but also what influences how it operates. Often, when undertaking a review, structure is the first thing that comes to mind as the solution. This is often not the case. A range of factors, including customer service, operating model, and capability, impact how a team operates.  

We have a range of established tools and techniques to gather the information we need to make our assessment. As part of our review, we can:

• Review your existing corporate communications structure, operating model and individual roles.
• Engage with internal clients and Executives to get their perspective on your services and their expectations.
• Assess staff capability and capacity based on the IABC Career Roadmap and work level standards.
• Run workshops with your team to determine what is working and what isn’t—we always want to ensure that they are part of the journey.
• Provide a comparison to other similar organisations – so you know how others are doing it.

Using this information we will provide actionable, relevant recommendations that will enable your team to be operating as effectively and efficiently as possible.  

Our framework is provided through a scalable approach to suit your needs and budget. 

We are also able to develop communications frameworks, service charters, policies and processes to support the implementation of your new approach.

“Thank you so much for this excellent piece of work. I have to say it was a fascinating read, and I can see you have drawn some important and honest insights from the various people you have spoken with. I can also see how much thought you have put into your recommendations – I really appreciate your diligence.”

– Government client, 2022

Service review brochure