How higher ed units can work effectively with external communicators

By Sharon Aschaiek | Sept. 13, 2023

There are many reasons your higher education communications unit might want to work with an external communicator. These include:

• Managing an overflow of work.
• Needing backup for a large project.
• Being down a staff member.
• Accessing expertise missing from your team.
• Wanting an objective communicator’s perspective.

What isn’t always so clear, however, is the most effective way to work with a communications consultant or content creator.

As someone who helps universities and colleges tell their important stories, connect with their stakeholders and achieve business goals, I’m still figuring out the best ways to ensure a smooth and productive working relationship with higher ed institutions, even after 19 years in business. Such collabs are always a work in progress.

What can make or break a business relationship – that’s something Austin L. Church knows a thing or two about. As a brand consultant and freelancer coach, he’s had his share of experiences providing his services to diverse clients.

Church says higher ed comms folks working with independent communicators should keep some key considerations in mind in order to achieve a successful working relationship and outcome.

At the outset of the project, after the contract has been signed and before work gets under way, he says, it’s important to have what he calls an “alignment meeting.” This is an opportunity for both sides to discuss and agree on the best way to work together.

“This is the time to define what that workflow is going to look like, because everybody here wants this project to be a home run,” Church says.

The first question to be discussed, he says, should be about the client’s previous experiences working with independent communicators.

“The communicator should be asking the client, “Have you worked with someone like me before, and what was that experience like? Share the positives and the negatives,”” he says. This inquiry can unearth potentially unforeseen expectations for the project and how to work together—knowledge that can help keep the work relationship cooperative and on track.

It’s critical for the leader of the higher ed comms unit to choose one person on their team to be the consultant’s main contact for production and administration purposes. Having one person take this lead allows for clarity about everyone’s roles, which will help ensure an efficient process.

Get it in writing

When it comes to fostering a collaborative and productive work relationship, Church says, documentation is everyone’s friend. When working with an established independent communicator, he says, a comms team should expect to see key information about the work process in writing, including the project discovery process, onboarding process, workback or production schedule and revision process. Such documentation holds everyone accountable to the same rules, and provides guidance for times when things stray from the plan.

At the same time, the comms unit point person should be providing the communicator with all of the resources they’ll need to work effectively. These could include a creative brief—which could be co-created with the consultant—brand guidelines, editorial/communications style guide, previous examples of similar projects, and inspirational materials, such as similar projects completed by different organizations.

Keep revisions organized

During the review and revision process, the project point person should collect all internal feedback, review it for inconsistencies or conflicting input, and consolidate it for the service provider. They should also make clear who on the team gets final approval of content. This prevents confusion and allows the content creator to edit in an organized way.

“If you have three or four or five different people on your team, all of whom want to chime in and make edits—this writing by committee thing never turns out well, in my experience,” Church says.

There should also be clarity among all reviewers about the platform being used to review content and making revisions, he says, e.g. via Google Docs or Microsoft Word.

Create team rapport

It’s important to connect the consultant with all of your contributing team members, he says, including communication officers, writers, researchers, graphic designers, photographers and the unit’s dean or director. This helps everyone feel comfortable working together and ensures clarity about everyone’s roles and responsibilities. Church makes a point of emailing each team member individually at the project’s outset to introduce himself.

“Circumstances happen, personality conflicts happen, stuff happens that you could never have prevented against or planned for,” Church says, so “you want everybody committed to a rigorous and well-defined process at the beginning of the project.”