You Can’t out-Harvard Harvard 28 May 2008
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Someone from a communications department at a major university once told me their president won’t let them do anything unless Harvard has done it first.
I suppose there are 2 approaches to positioning your school:
Trash Your Communication Plan 24 May 2008
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Like a Dog to a Bone
Recently, I had the pleasure of leading one university’s admissions communications team through a process improvement exercise. The team creates almost 100 new publications each year, not to mention hundreds of e-mails, letters, and web sites. Needless to say, they had some very talented individuals.
What they lacked was a clear project workflow that would allow multiple levels of input and approval without sacrificing quick turnaround times. In the past, their nebulous process led to finger-pointing, improper credit-taking, unnecessary delays, and a general sense of disaffection.
At one point, I debriefed the communication team’s clients (the admissions counselors) to identify possible improvements from that perspective. Their questions and concerns were very insightful.
One question in particular stuck with me long after the new process was finalized: