Communications Audit

Auditing an organization's communications program is no job for a novice.

FutureU CEO Gail Terry Grimes produced her first publication (the Rabbit Journal) when she was eight years old. Since then she has never stopped writing, editing, laying out pages, taking pictures, providing art direction, and supervising designers for periodicals and collaterals.

After a long career in print and audio visuals, in 1997 she joined Claude Whitmyer in founding FutureU, with an emphasis on new as well as traditional media. Together they have produced e-books, Web-based instructional materials, Web sites and Web-based surveys for the company's own purposes and for client organizations in academia, healthcare, government, small business and other sectors. Today, FutureU's portfolio of print, audio/visual and Web-based publications stands more than 20 feet high, and its experience with communications strategy and implementation stretches back some 50 years.

You can't beat this breadth of experience when the time comes to review, analyze and rethink your organization's message and style.

Often a Communications Audit requires analysis of stakeholder perceptions.

When two of California's oldest medical centers merged, their communications and development functions merged as well. Differences of culture, vision and practice, not to mention the anxiety caused by the merger, led the new institution's leaders to wonder how their existing internal communications were being received and whether changes should be made.

On their behalf we interviewed key board members and managers; surveyed 5,000 employees, physicians and volunteers; and reviewed all existing publications. Our analysis and recommendations became the starting point for a new approach to internal communications that acknowledged the traditions of the past while moving toward a fully united future.

How long has it been since your organization took a good look at its internal communications? contact FutureU for information about our approach to communications audits. See how we can help.