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Pinnacle Awards – Communications Management Divisions

Work Plan

Directions
  •  Complete the Official Pinnacle Awards ENTRY FORM  then print and attach it to your Work Plan PDF before uploading to Award Force.
  •  Provide the required information for all six sections
  •  Your work plan must be no more than four pages
  •  Tell the evaluators a great story
  •  Convert this file to a PDF, upload your entry to Award Force and submit.
  •  Be sure to also upload your work sample.
Scoring Process

Pinnacle Awards are scored using a seven-point global scale of excellence as a guide. All entries start with a base score of 4, which represents a fully competent approach to communication planning and execution. Work is scored up or down, depending on the content. Scores of 7 or 1 are very rare. To earn an award, entrants must achieve a score of 5.25 or higher. A minimum score of 5.25 will garner you an Award of Merit and a score of 5.75, an Award of Excellence.

Sample Communications Management Score Sheet

Scope of Work Plan

1. THE BUSINESS NEED OR OPPORTUNITY

Evaluators need context to assess whether the communication solution supports the business goals. Without the relevant background information, it’s difficult to determine whether the strategy addresses the right issues and audiences. A good description of the business need linked to the communication opportunity sets the stage for the rest of the work plan.

2. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS

Effective communication doesn’t occur until the audience receives and understands the message. The work plan must demonstrate an understanding of the audiences. If the entrant doesn’t explore the audience preferences, attitudes, demographics, psychographics or other characteristics, it’s difficult to determine whether objectives, messages, approach, media or channels are on target. DEFINE AND DESCRIBE YOUR AUDIENCE(S).

3. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The ability to set meaningful, measurable objectives that are relevant to the business need is critical to measure the success of the program. Effective work that delivers results helps to create value and build credibility for the value of communication as a primary business driver. The answer to this question is critical, because poor objectives will lower the score in other parts of the evaluation. Are your objectives: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-framed?

4. THE SOLUTION OVERVIEW

The solution overview offers insight into how you approached the project. Looking at the communication environment, business and audience needs, and relevant research, the evaluator should be able to easily determine the effectiveness of your communication approach.

5. IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES

Communication professionals often navigate through a variety of challenges such as tight deadlines, changes in direction, small budgets, stubborn decision makers and staff turnover. Challenges add complexity to project management. Efforts to successfully manage these issues are taken into account when scoring the entry. How well challenges are met speaks to the project management skill. How well did the entrant manage issues related to budget, and other resources, timing, direction, selling the solution to decision makers or other challenging issues?

6. MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION

This is where the rubber meets the road! We want your work to demonstrate that strategic communication planning and execution is a vital business process. That’s why it’s critical to set measurable objectives that are aligned with business needs, and then measure progress against them. When communicators can show management the value of their work in measurable terms, senior executives sit up and take notice, and the reputation of communication as an important business process increases. How well were your communications objectives met?