Focus on Process: Why Communications Needs More Than Just ‘Results’

Published on February 11, 2026 by Broadsight

Over the years, one refrain comes up again and again among communications leaders: “At the end of the day, all that matters is our results.” It reflects a common belief that the end results are what matter most—and that everything else is secondary.

On the surface, it makes sense. Outputs are important. The number of media hits, the total reach of a campaign, page views, email open rates or click-throughs are all key proof points that need to be considered and reported on. But they are only part of the picture—and arguably a less important part, if your goal is to shift operations of a big team and focus efforts on the communications areas most important to your campaigns or broader strategic objectives.

To understand why, it helps to look back to the very early days of sales CRMs. Before the advent of Salesforce and other robust CRM tools, sales leads often managed their teams based almost entirely on the end of the funnel: How many deals were closed? How much revenue was brought in? While those figures told you who had a good month, they offered zero insight into why—or whether that success was repeatable—or where opportunities more broadly across the team might be.

The revolution of the CRM allowed sales leaders to shift their focus upstream. They began measuring the inputs and the process: the number of discovery calls made, the volume of new leads generated, the velocity of the pipeline, and conversion rates between stages. This shift allowed adept managers to do more than just report on the past; it allowed them to predict the future and better organize efforts for maximum impact. It also created transparency for leadership into day-to-day operations, helping leaders spot trends, identify bottlenecks and automate reporting of all the efforts that led to end-of-funnel results.

Communications teams are currently at a similar crossroads, with many operating using rudimentary systems anchored in Excel, Google Sheets, or hacked-together project-management systems.

For instance, consider a month where your team achieved a record number of media mentions. On paper, it looks like a win. But what if 90 per cent of those hits were reactive—responding to random information requests—rather than proactive storytelling? There’s a difference between your organization’s name popping up on the radar vs. a powerful story that took days of work and highlighted a key strategic priority. Without distinguishing between “driven” vs. “responsive” work, it’s nearly impossible to accurately assess a team’s impact.

Furthermore, what about the volume of work dedicated to supporting internal partners or clients that never results in a public-facing success, but is nonetheless essential to the organization’s health? By tracking inputs—such as the alignment of content with key themes, types of work underway, and the allocation of comms resources to various stakeholders’ interests—you gain the ability to provide a unified vision for your team.

Broadsight allows communications leaders to apply this 21st-century, highly customized approach to communications. Unlike generic project management tools, Broadsight is designed for the specific nuances of communications and marketing. It helps teams move beyond the simple tabulation of results and start managing the inputs that create them. By mastering the process, you don’t just report on success—you build an engine that helps guarantee it.