Decorative header image for this page: illustration: building blocks and hands reaching in to grab or use them

Welcome to the UCISA communications toolkit

“Getting your IT communications right can lead to improved customer trust, reputation and engagement. As IT Services teams we need to communicate effectively with a vast range of different stakeholders.

The aim of this Toolkit is to provide the UCISA community with a resource that anyone involved in IT communications can use. Whether you have an embedded communications team, a central university team or it’s everyone’s responsibility, there’s always room for improvement, and we hope that even someone who has worked in comms for several years can learn from this resource.”

Sarah Peace | Head of Desktop and Printing Services, IT Services, University of York

Why communicate?

illustration: a man and woman conversing with speech bubbles; one bubble shows a jigsaw missing a piece; the other bubble holds the missing piece.

In this section we look at why IT departments in universities and colleges see value in creating good communications, what the drivers are for formalising this activity and what a communications strategy needs to contain.

How to communicate

illustration: people communicating in different ways (phone, radio, bullhorn, cans joined with string, carrier pigeon)

From finding the right tone for your message to evaluating whether your comms have been effective, this section is packed full of tips and examples from across the sector.

What to communicate

illustration: hands holding a tablet showing a graph labelled 'update', with pink clouds hovering above

What do we need to tell people and what do we want to tell people. Whether it’s planned downtime or success within the department — keep it simple, make it meaningful and remember the human stories.

Who to communicate to

illustration: a diverse range of about a dozen people standing in a crowd. Some are silhouettes suggesting that they are important.

Some stakeholders require daily contact, while others may only want to be communicated with or asked for feedback every few months. Put yourself in their place: what would you like to know and how might you like to share your responses with the IT department?