Measuring Executive Communications Output

(Note: The original article is published at https://www.gocommunicators.com/measuring-executive-communications-output).

Communicators often prepare executives to represent the organisation across key moments, channels, and audiences. A strong communication agenda may set the foundation, but the more difficult task is measuring whether these efforts are working.

In other words, are executive communications delivering what they’re supposed to? Are they helping the organisation meet its goals — and if not, what needs to be adjusted?

To answer this, communicators must be willing to go beyond activity reports and take a closer look at outcomes. They must evaluate whether executive presence and messaging are producing the right actions and behaviours from audiences, and whether their efforts are contributing meaningfully to the organisation’s strategic direction.

Ineffectiveness Does Not Equal Irrelevance

Executive communication is often highly visible. When it falls flat, the impact can be immediate — but not always obvious. A lack of engagement, lukewarm audience response, or recommendations not acted upon may signal an issue, but the source of that issue is not always the executive or the message.

In many cases, the underlying assumption may need to be re-examined.

• Was this the right spokesperson for this topic?
• Was it delivered at the right time, in the right setting, for the right audience?
• Did it align with other touchpoints or feel out of step?

This does not mean the communication strategy was flawed in its entirety. But it does suggest that the current plan may not be calibrated to current conditions. Communicators should revisit these questions regularly:

• Is the executive’s involvement matched to the topic’s relevance and timing?
• Is the audience segment appropriate for the message being delivered?
• Have we considered recent shifts in context, sentiment, or internal dynamics?

Effective measurement begins with understanding what conditions were expected — and what changed.

What Ineffectiveness Looks Like in Practice

Executive communication can be considered ineffective when there is no observable follow-through from the intended audience.

This may show up in different ways depending on the communication objective. For example:

• After a leadership town hall, employees do not take up the new behaviour being encouraged.
• Following an investor briefing, there is no shift in market sentiment or shareholder queries.
• After a product announcement, key stakeholders still seek clarifications that should have been addressed.

These signs suggest that the communication moment did not land.

When the desired action — whether a decision, shift in perception, or show of support — does not follow, it may be time to re-assess the approach. This includes evaluating whether the executive’s presence added credibility or introduced doubt, and whether their role was used appropriately.

Not every failure is a crisis. But every missed opportunity compounds if it is not recognised and addressed.

Understanding Tangible and Intangible Outputs

To evaluate executive communication outcomes, communicators must be able to distinguish between two types of outputs: tangible and intangible.

Tangible outputs are actions or behaviours that can be directly observed and measured. These may include:

• Number of employee sign-ups after a call to action
• Volume of inbound investor queries or meeting requests
• Uptake of a new process, policy, or behaviour change

Intangible outputs are more difficult to measure directly but still meaningful. These might include:

• Increases in trust, affinity, or favourability among key stakeholders
• Better access to key decision-makers
• Expressions of advocacy or continued loyalty

Both types of outputs are valuable, and they are often interdependent. For instance, increased trust (intangible) can lead to future partnership discussions (tangible).

Communicators should track both, understanding that not all progress will appear immediately in a metric dashboard. But over time, trends in both areas can give strong signals about whether executive communication is making an impact.

Why Communications Affects Behaviour

At its core, communication is about influence. The communicator’s job is to influence the audience’s direction — from a neutral or uncertain stance to one of confidence, support, or action.

Continue reading the article through this link to learn about tangible and intangible output, a psychology model to understand when doing executive communications, and a simple framework to use in evaluating output.

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