Thanks to all the wonderful clients, collaborators, partners, and communicators for a wonderful year in 2018. Meaning Business will be taking a little break from 20 December until 2 January. See you next year.
Year: 2017
No such thing as BAU: how can internal communication professionals manage in changing times?
Earlier this year I was working with a Head of Communications in a government agency that has undergone significant structural transformation and operational change over the past two years.
She was working on deepening the engagement between leaders and employees in different areas and had asked for some advice on how to ensure communication was flowing two ways. I asked, “What business as usual channels do you rely on today?”
“We don’t use the term BAU any longer. Transformation is going to continue. Change is business as usual and we now adopt a continuous improvement approach” she said.
It was a moment of absolute clarity for me. How many of us think of ‘BAU’ communication as distinct from the projects and initiatives that come through the door, or into the inbox.
BAU is dead. What now?
As part of the IC Kollectif IC In 2017 Project, I had some thoughts at the start of the year about how communicators can work with other areas to learn, innovate and adapt. But this realisation, half way through the year, made me consider what communicators can do in times of perpetual change, not just to service their organisations, but to ready themselves for ‘no more BAU’.
Read my full response on the IC Kollectif IC In 2017 Project.
- Strength in shared practices. Continue to talk about what works, not just with other communicators, but across disciplines. Ask the questions like “why did this work in this environment?” But don’t just ask communicators. Ask marketers, change managers, leaders and innovators.
- Invest in development. Don’t wait for your company to value you. Skill up, both communication skills and non-traditional skills: design thinking, user experience and business acumen.
- Change what you can. Look for the opportunities to add the value that our profession can deliver. Be brave.
- “It’s not me, it’s you.” Know when to stop pushing the rock uphill. There are amazing organisations that foster and grow innovation. If yours is not one of them, find one that is.
- Keep the faith. As a communicator, a great day at the office or in the field is a humbling thing. Bank those experiences as a reminder of why great internal communication matters.
What does a great day in the office or the field look like?
When did your communication activity lead to an outcome that furthered the organisation, the employees and the leaders? Creating connection, improving performance, perhaps just a moment of insight quoted back to you. Share what your ‘great day in the office’ looks like below.
A global perspective on the state of internal communication
IC Kollectif has launched a unique addition to the internal communication canon. The ebook, Disrupting the Function of IC, A Global Perspective featuring contributions from 30 global internal communication leaders.
What is impressive is the degree to which editor Lise Michaud has facilitated diversity in the conversation about practice. This is truly a global communication guide. With voluntary contributors from every region, the guide has captured the differences in the current state of how practitioners need to respond to their organisations.
Diversity brings difference, and a particularly exciting aspect of the project is the range of different opinions. There are few places (outside Twitter) where there is such representation of views and practices that span all the IC practitioner tribes; IABC, Global Alliance, CIPR amongst others.
There are divergent views on how to approach the ongoing symbiosis between IC and technology, on engagement, on the most important skills and the biggest challenges. Communication and communications.
Some of the common themes include:
- Change is constant, so skills and experiences in responding to changing environments continues to be essential for the communicators.
- Technology has been and will continue to be a factor for communication practice.
- The need for the profession to hold the line in terms of ethical practice, dialogue and creating accountability.
- Liam Fitzpatrick’s key takeaway stands out for me as the common sense that is far from common – stop looking for ‘the next big thing’ and focus on the outcomes.
I feel privileged to be in the same company as the other contributors and applaud all the authors for bringing current and new thinking to one place.
Let the conversations begin!
The 222 page ebook can be downloaded from IC Kollectif (free subscription required for download).
http://www.ickollectif.com/single-post/2017/06/11/Disrupting-the-Function-of-IC—A-Global-Perspective
Story spotting: listening for stories in your organisation
Everyone is a storyteller. Because we are human. We tell our friends and families what happened at work. We tell our colleagues what happened on the way to work. We tell stories.
And we make sense through stories. We are hardwired for it.
But not everyone is a natural Storyteller.
Here are three resources that start to help identify and shape the stories you encounter in organisations.
Once. Then. Then. The story spine.
A couple of years ago, Pixar’s 22 rules for storytelling
The story spine, Kenn Adams’ definition has been used by Pixar and Disney.
The Moth’s 8 Tips
The Moth is a not-for-profit foundation committed to the development of art and craft of storytelling. Amongst their many resources for improving oral storytelling, including videos and podcasts, they have a simple list of 8 tips. These include:
- No essays
- Start in the action
- Have some stakes
Stakes are essential in live storytelling. What do you stand to gain or lose? Why is what happens in the story important to you? If you can’t answer this, then think of a different story. A story without stakes is an essay and is best experienced on the page, not the stage.
Anecdote’s Spotting Oral Stories Infographic
The clever folk at Anecdote have created a useful guide to recognising stories within an organisation.
The following graphic has been created by http://www.anecdote.com
Meaning Business 