Strategic Planning < Strategic Communication

Does the athletic training profession need a paradigm shift from strategic planning to strategic communication? What can AT organizations learn from Nigeria in their implementation of strategic communication?

Strategic Communication: All communications that is substantial for the survival and sustained success of an entity. Specifically, it is the purposeful use of communication by an organization or other entities to engage in conversations of strategic significance to its goals.

Athletic training organizations can write and publish all the strategic plans that they want, but without regularly or verbally communicating with stakeholders, it defeats the purpose of trying to fulfill the organizations mission.

By getting involved in navigating conversations and establishing humanization of an organization it can re-establish trust in members. A plan focused on creating awareness, enhancing engagement, providing access, and establishing transparency ultimately restores credibility.

Strategic communication becomes imperative when there is a tendency of confusion caused by disagreement and the disorganized nature of information release, which tents to give some advantage to "terrorist propaganda against an organization" which happened to the Nigerian government.

Constant communication flow was centralized and unified messaging. The Nigerian government set up its website and constantly updated information for the public's use. The Nigerian Army released my than three thousand media messages between 2013-2015 including news, articles, rejoinders, and press conferences, cementing their cordial relationship with the media.

Although strategic communication has a long history spanning across different civilizations, its importance in contemporary times cannot be overemphasized. The Nigerian government's response to the Boko Haram insurgency serves as a case in point, where strategic communication played a critical role in countering the insurgency.

Could more transparent communication really be the key to a healthy relationship?