Communication tools are used to correspond with organizational stakeholders, prospective implementers and community agents who may be working with or on behalf the new practice or innovation. Communication tools informs people about the purpose and intent of the initiative, potential outcomes of the initiative, their roles and responsibilities and allows people to ask questions and receive feedback. There are a number of useful communication tools in this toolkit:
- Leaders are very important players when it comes to implementation because their involvement could likely determine success or failure of an innovation, depth and breadth of implementation, level of commitment from staff and ultimately, whether the projected outcomes are, in fact, effective.
Leadership roles and responsibilities - Explains the importance of the leader in this initiative and outlines the roles and responsibilities of the leader. - Overview of the Birth to Six Initiative PowerPoint - This basic presentation can be used by anyone who is tasked with giving an overview of this initiative. It provides basic information and the content and/or it can be tailored for specific audiences.
- Fact Sheets are important because they provide the information that speaks to the urgency for the need of a new intervention. For example, this Fact Sheet provides information regarding the Birth to Six Initiative population - that is, vulnerable children.
- Talking Points - Talking points are meant to give leaders or managers a quick and easy way of staying on track when discussing the Birth to Six initiative. They're not meant to be read word for word necessarily, and may not be read at all. One can use them as seed material for other things: letters, speeches or a press release. Talking points are an internal product. You can pair up the Talking Points with the Birth to Six Fact Sheet.
- Invitation Letters - These are sample letters that could be used by leaders or managers to invite stakeholders to become a part of the initiative, to be a part of planning meetings or to participate in some other way with the initiative.