The best stories, narratives and documentation need 3 basic things.

1. access to people and spaces

2. strong relationships and connection with people

3. creative curiosity to curate and showcase

   
   

Your program team members are the closest to the action. They are closely working with partners, implementers, volunteers and members from the communities. They have the deepest relationships with your community members compared to anyone else from your org. This means, they already have 1] and 2] from the list. What they document can be rich in content, and more current.

You’ll be surprised with how many members from your program team may have a hidden creative talent / passion that they’ve been keen to pursue. Some may be closet writers / bloggers, and some might give you the best candid photographs from the field. Tapping into their talents can help you create relevant content that’s more personal and intimate for your stakeholders across online and offline platforms.

Where do I start?

The first step is to lower the psychological barrier of entry on who fits the bill for “comms”. Change your definition of what is “comms worthy” as a story or a creative. This allows members who may not see themselves as “creatives” feel comfortable and excited to share ideas. You can set up Friday open chats where everyone from the org is invited to brainstorm on how we can innovate with our communications. Starting here can help you identify the members who are keen to partake in more comms-focussed projects.

Training your Program Team Member

If you’ve found someone from the program team who has the curiosity and interest to dabble in comms, its fairly easy to upskill that person to capture, document and write for you. There are many online resources and tutorials that can upskill their creative writing skills. It is easier to upskill technique and much harder to train someone to build relationships and understand the work onground.