Is it not true: Projects are funded. Trust is expected. Building a plant is planned. Building trust is often assumed.

A company was discussing a major expansion of its metals business.
The Boardroom was filled with optimism.

On the whiteboard were budgets for every critical function.
Land acquisition
Plant & Machinery
Technology
EPC
Environment
Legal
Contingencies

Every budget was debated.
Some were increased by 5%.
Others were reduced by 10%.

After nearly two hours, the Chairman looked around and asked,
“Have we covered everything?”

Just then, a hand went up.
“Sir, have we made any allocation for communicating our expansion plans?”

The room fell silent.
Some looked puzzled.
One executive quietly remarked,

“𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭?” That single question stayed with me.

If communication is expected to:
Build stakeholder confidence,
Engage local communities,
Support regulatory outreach,
Prepare leadership messaging,
Address misinformation,
Protect the organisation’s reputation,
…shouldn’t it be planned and budgeted from the very beginning?

We meticulously budget for building the plant.
Why don’t we budget for building trust?

A question for Promoters, CEOs, Board Members and Communication Leaders:

𝐈𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐎 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐌&𝐀 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥, 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭?

I’d genuinely like to hear your experience.