PROJECT

MERCURY

COMMUNICATION PLAN

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Project Mercury Communication Plan

CONTENTS
1PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES..............................................................................................................................2

2COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLES..........................................................................................................................3

3TARGET AUDIENCES AND DESIRED OUTCOMES......................................................................................................4

4OVERALL APPROACH.......................................................................................................................................5

5EVENT PLAN................................................................................................................................................6

6SUMMARY OF THE COMMUNICATION PLAN...........................................................................................................7

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Project Mercury Communication Plan

1 PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the Communications Strategy is to raise awareness and commitment to Project Mercury, in a manner
that will encourage greater user participation in the project, and greater adoption of the new platform, once live.
Specific objectives are:
• to communicate the scope and objectives of Project Mercury itself and the benefits it will bring for our people
(i.e. the “what”). The strapline for this message is “Joining up ABC Co”. An analogy that has been used in the past
(and will continue to be used) is that Mercury is about ‘laying the road’ (or platform) for future investment in
Intranet technologies, plus ‘a few small cars‘ to get things going. Future exploitation projects will build our
Intranet capabilities towards world class.

• to provide a context for ongoing communication and consultation with stakeholders, customers and employees (i.e.
the “why”). This has two elements:
• the investment by ABC Co in Intranet technologies is an “investment in our people” and a part of a wider
programme to create “a Great Place to Work” for all of us. Over time, we wish to become known for very
high levels of employee satisfaction, commitment and retention.
• we also expect to “unlock synergies” in our organisation through this investment. By giving our employees
access to simplified processes, real-time business intelligence, learning materials and collaboration resources,
we hope to relieve everyone of frustrating and unproductive admin, leaving more time for customer-focused
and added-value activities.

• to underline a key message about how serious we are; Many companies have an intranet. What differentiates our
effort is that we are “working with the best” to bring it to fruition. We have selected a world-leading portal
technology which brings unparalleled systems integration possibilities and the added bonus of a superb
collaboration and document management & search capability. Our Content Management investment frees business
users to author their own content and workflow it to release (removing dependence on skilled web designers).
Finally, we have selected a leading Systems Integrator to bring the solution together.

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Project Mercury Communication Plan

2 COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLES
• all messages must be consistent and set within the context of the ABC Co Business Strategy;

• implementation of the Intranet should be positioned (correctly) as critical to the success of the ABC Co Five
Year Transformation Plan;
• the emphasis should be on the benefits for both users and providers of enterprise wide information &
applications;
• face to face roadshows will be used whenever possible for introducing our Plans and each and every major ABC Co
location (>100 employees) will have at least one roadshow;
• use of other key events (i.e. non-intranet specific) to spread key messages;

• the Intranet project will “eat it’s own dogfood” by ensuring that all its comms are available over the Intranet and
that communications internal to the project are undertaken in a Collaboration Community;
• a regular monthly project communication will go out to all senior managers by email

• ad-hoc communications on particular applications will be used to support the business readiness and change
management processes (including user training);
• regular posters will be used to re-inforce 3 key themes: “Working Together”, “Working Poductively” and “Serving
our Customers”;
• competitions and promotions will be used to encourage a wide participation of users in shaping the future site and
then, once live, in visiting it as often as possible;
• communications will, where possible, be interactive and two-way (including use of Intranet Portlet Survey &
Suggestion Box functionalities);
• core messages can be supplemented with local context where appropriate

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Project Mercury Communication Plan
3 TARGET AUDIENCES AND DESIRED OUTCOMES
The communications strategy must target a variety of audience groups such that there is appropriate understanding, of
the Project’s objectives and buy-in & commitment to delivery.

Audience Desired Outcome

Executive Directors & Are reassured that Project Mercury:
Key Shareholders • supports the delivery of the Group Vision & preclusive Business Strategy
• understands and focuses on business priorities
• is on-target for delivery to time and to budget and will bring significant benefits

Employees & other Are reassured that:

Platform Users • Mercury represents an investment in their working environment and in them
• There is sufficient content and applications on the platform to retain their interest (‘what’s in it for me?’)
• The platform is built around their needs as users and designed to make their lives easier

Future Employees Become aware that:

• ABC Co is increasingly recognised as a “Great Place to Work”
• If they joined us, they would be working in a world class company, with first class systems and processes

Platform Providers Are committed to the delivery of the Project and:

• are actively involved in the design & implementation of new and improved processes
• are thinking and planning beyond Mercury, into the exploitation horizon, and have budget set aside to do so
• are playing an appropriate and active part in business readiness and change management processes

Project Team Are aware of:

• the Project objectives, set within their proper long-term, exploitation context
• the relationship between their work and the Plan

Trade Unions Are aware of the Project objectives and understand any implications or potential impacts
on its members
Key Suppliers Are aware of the Project objectives as appropriate.

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Project Mercury Communication Plan
4 OVERALL APPROACH

Ownership General Awareness Consultation & Assurance

Aims: • To secure ownership of the Project
Objectives
• To secure active involvement in
implementation
• To secure understanding of roles
and responsibilities
• To give context for future
communication
Key • Leadership will determine the
plan’s success
Messages: • Implementation is critical to the
future success of Mercury
• The benefits for both providers and
end users
• Role of Intranet Projects Board,
Change Board and Steering Group
Delivery: • Face to face roadshows will be
used whenever possible for the
Project Mercury comms
• Encourage discussions within
Leadership Teams and the
Management Forum
Measuring • feedback questionnaires
• direct feedback
Success:
• All target audiences are aware of the
Project Objectives, and
• All target audiences are aware of the
relevance to themselves
• To solicit comment and suggestions
for improvement
• The plans support ABC Co Vision
and Strategy
• The benefits to providers and, in
particular, to users.
• A shared internal vision for Intranet
• Implementation will involve broad
consultation
• Face to face communications and
roadshows will be used whenever
possible
• Wherever possible use will be made
of existing and planned events such
as Team Briefs and Roadshows.
• feedback questionnaires
• direct feedback
• To ensure all individuals and groups
affected by the plan are informed in
a timely and consistent manner.
• To test planning assumptions with
stakeholders to ensure each
assumption is viable and reasonable
• Implementation of the Plan will
involve broad consultation
• External PR, as appropriate, for
communities external to the
company (using low risk channels
where possible)
• Consultation will occur at both an
informal and formal level.
• External consultation & assurance
will be broad based and may reach
well into both provider and end-user
communities
• direct feedback

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Project Mercury Communication Plan
5 EVENT PLAN

Month Communication Event

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

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Project Mercury Communication Plan
6 SUMMARY OF THE COMMUNICATION PLAN

Executive Key Present Future Platform Project Key

Shareholders Employees & Employees & Providers Team Suppliers
Other Users Users
Key Message Assurance Assurance Assurance Awareness Ownership Consultation Awareness
Jan-Mar
Apr-Jun
Jul-Sep
Oct-Dec

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