Organizational consulting for Communications functions

Communications departments are facing a growing range of responsibilities.

Corporate communications, reputation, content, internal communications, influence, digital, social media, employer brand, commercial communications, CSR, events…

As scopes evolve, organizations can become increasingly complex.

Responsibilities overlap. Teams work in silos. Decision-making slows down. Some capabilities are missing while others are underused.

Mushroom supports Communications Directors who want to evolve their organization and align it with strategic priorities.

When should a Communications function rethink its organization?

An organizational review is particularly useful when:

• the function’s scope has changed significantly;
• roles and responsibilities have become unclear;
• several teams are working on the same topics;
• new capabilities need to be integrated;
• the organization relies too heavily on a small number of people;
• approval processes slow projects down;
• the Communications function needs to increase its strategic impact;
• a new Communications Director is taking up the role;
• a broader company transformation is changing priorities;
• a team merger or consolidation is being considered.

The objective is not to produce a theoretical organization chart.

It is to build an organization that can actually work.

Our approach: start from the reality of the work

An organization cannot be understood from an org chart alone.

We therefore analyze what happens in practice within the team.

1Scoping with leadership

We begin by clarifying:

• ambitions;
• business challenges;
• transformation priorities;
• identified difficulties;
• expected outcomes.

2Organizational diagnosis

Depending on the assignment, we interview heads of function, managers, and team members.

We analyze in particular:

• the work actually being performed;
• workload distribution;
• responsibilities;
• interfaces;
• capabilities;
• decision-making processes;
• pain points;
• areas of dependency;
• ways of working.

3Identify the gaps

We compare the current organization with future needs.

This helps highlight:

• insufficiently covered activities;
• duplication;
• poorly defined roles;
• capabilities that need strengthening;
• management layers;
• roles that need to evolve.

4Build organizational scenarios

We can propose several scenarios in order to assess their benefits, limitations, and conditions for success.

The work may address:

• teams / functional units;
• reporting lines;
• roles;
• responsibilities;
• governance;
• interfaces;
• headcount;
• roles to create or redesign.

5Define the target organization

The objective is to build a clear, realistic organization aligned with the company’s priorities.

Beyond the org chart: clarify accountability

Changing boxes on an org chart is not enough.

A successful organizational transformation also requires clarity on:

• Who decides?
• Who leads?
• Who contributes?
• Who arbitrates?
• Who needs to be consulted?

We therefore work as much on ways of working and accountability as on structure itself.

Identify the capabilities needed tomorrow

A reorganization also needs to answer one essential question:

What capabilities will the Communications function need two or three years from now?

Depending on the context, this may involve:

• influence;
• data;
• AI;
• content;
• editorial strategy;
• internal communications;
• change communications;
• digital;
• media relations;
• commercial communications;
• performance management.

We identify the capabilities already present, those that need to be developed, and those that may require recruitment.

Involve teams in the transformation

An organization designed only on paper often runs into difficulties during implementation.

Where the context allows, we favor an approach that involves teams in the thinking process.

Interviews and workshops make it possible to:

• understand how work is really done;
• identify pain points;
• surface solutions;
• compare perceptions;
• create the conditions for ownership of the future organization.

Expertise that combines organizational design and Communications

Mushroom’s distinctive strength lies in the combination of two areas of expertise:

understanding organizations

and

in-depth knowledge of communications roles.

We can therefore analyze not only the structure of a team, but also the relevance of the roles, responsibilities, and capabilities within it.

From organizational design to recruitment and coaching

A transformation may reveal several needs:

• recruit a missing capability;
• support a manager whose role is changing;
• secure a transition into a new position;
• strengthen how a team works together;
• work with an executive or leadership team.

Mushroom can support these different stages through its three areas of expertise: organizational consulting, recruitment, and coaching.