For large public-sector agencies, effective digital communication is essential to advancing mission outcomes, ensuring clarity, and building public trust. The Department of Health and Human Services operates across multiple offices, programs, and stakeholder groups, each with distinct communication needs, regulatory considerations, and audiences.

To support modernization efforts and improve consistency across teams, HHS sought structured guidance on digital communications best practices that could be applied across contexts while respecting federal standards and governance requirements. Planneris partnered with HHS to bring clarity, structure, and usability to this effort.

Challenge

HHS faced the challenge common to large federal agencies: valuable institutional knowledge existed across teams, but it was fragmented, inconsistently documented, and difficult to operationalize.

Specifically, the department needed to:

• Standardize digital communications practices across programs and offices
  
  
• Capture institutional knowledge and emerging best practices in a reusable format
  
  
• Support modernization efforts while remaining compliant with federal guidelines
  
  
• Enable teams to communicate more clearly and consistently with diverse public audiences
  
  

Without a centralized knowledge management approach, teams risked duplicating efforts, applying inconsistent standards, and slowing progress toward modernization goals.

Collaborative Approach

Planneris partnered with HHS to design a practical, accessible knowledge management solution grounded in real operational needs.

The engagement focused on building a centralized repository of digital communications best practices that could serve as both a reference and a working tool for teams across the agency. Planneris:

• Conducted reviews of existing digital communications materials, workflows, and guidance to identify patterns, gaps, and inconsistencies
  
  
• Synthesized best practices across content strategy, accessibility, governance, and digital engagement into clear, actionable guidance
  
  
• Structured the repository to support ease of use, scalability, and long-term maintenance within a federal environment
  
  
• Applied a strategic communications lens to ensure guidance aligned with public-sector standards, audience clarity, and mission impact
  
  

Throughout the engagement, Planneris emphasized practicality, ensuring the repository reflected how teams actually work rather than abstract ideals.

Results

The engagement resulted in a centralized, structured repository that strengthened HHS’s digital communications foundation.

• Provided a single source of truth for digital communications best practices across teams
  
  
• Improved consistency and clarity in how digital content is planned, developed, and reviewed
  
  
• Supported ongoing modernization efforts by making institutional knowledge more accessible and reusable
  
  
• Reduced friction for teams navigating digital communications standards within a complex regulatory environment
  
  

By investing in knowledge management and strategic communications infrastructure, HHS enhanced its ability to communicate effectively at scale while laying groundwork for continued digital modernization.