Favorite summer activities: lounging poolside enjoying a long summer read, hanging freshly-washed linens on the backyard line, competing in triathlons.

Favorite line from Step Brothers: “Son, we literally have never done ANY of those things.”

OK, perhaps I’m waxing nostalgic about summer activities that exist only in my mind (y’oughta join me in here some time, it’s fun!) but reading a book or two between now and Labor Day isn’t out of the question, right?

Maybe it’s more likely to happen in seat 11C on a flight to Chicago than in a private cabana at The Mirage, but still…as a lifelong communicator, if you’re looking to enrich your spirit and expand your library, here are a few titles I can personally recommend:

What the Dog Saw
OK, I’m a sucker for Malcolm Gladwell, and I’d read his grocery list if they published it.  His fourth title is more a collection of New Yorker essays than a composed book (like “The Tipping Point,” “Blink,” or “Outliers”) but it’s still a great read. And you’ll never think of ketchup in the same way again. (coincidentally also on his grocery list) Read More »

Measurement has always been a pain point for communications. We have struggled to educate our colleagues about the meaning of metrics and we try our hardest to create direct links between communications activities and business outcomes. For some, measurement is so frustrating and difficult that we don’t even try in the first place. For example, I recently came across an article showing that even though more than 80 percent of companies use social media, less than half actually measure their efforts. But as lord Kelvin stated, “if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” With the increasing pressure to demonstrate our impact as communicators, we need a better approach. Here are three things to consider:

1. Make measurement part of planning.

Too often, we see companies think about measuring success of a project after they have already started. Wouldn’t it be easier prove value when you already know what success looks like from the start?  Once you’ve determine an outcome you want to achieve, ask yourself, “why is the outcome not already happening?” Gain a firm understanding of the drivers behind that outcome, and use that information to select the right metrics and shape your measurement strategy during the planning process. Read More »

In every interaction, whether we’re aware of it or not, we make assumptions about the other party involved.  These assumptions are often correct and help us condense or avoid the back-and-forth process of getting on the same page.  However, sometimes we get it wrong.  We assume that others know what we know or share the same perspective that we do, when in fact they don’t.

When this happens we leave the interaction feeling confused, disconnected, and disappointed.  Likely, we fault the other person.  After all, it made perfect sense to me!  Yes — sure it did, but that’s not really the point.  We needed the other persons help, but failed to consider their perspective and information needs, and thus ended up with a poor outcome.  Or, perhaps they never really understood that this was a problem in the first place.

ConAgra Foods communicators faced a situation that is quite familiar to those of us in the communications field and gave them a great opportunity to challenge their assumptions and typical ways of working. A business partner approached Communications with information that needed to be shared with employees.  More specifically, there was a financial goal that the organization needed to achieve.

However, rather than taking the traditional approach of asking “what information do you (the business partner) think is most important for us to explain this to employees,” communicators took an inside-out approach.  They considered the topic from the perspective of the employee – i.e., questioning the assumption that business partners’ information needs were the same as employees’ information needs.  The question to the business partner then became, “what information do we need to share so that employees can develop solutions and propose ideas on their own?” Read More »

You’ve made it to the end of Q2—congrats! Was the journey a bit bumpy? Did you ever sigh aloud, “If only there were a template for that, it would make my life so much easier!”?

Alas, you can’t change the past or recapture time lost, but you can do something about the rest of your 2011. You can make a commitment to spend more time being proactive and thoughtful in your role instead of feeling reactive and at the mercy of change—change in your team dynamics, your industry’s environment, your business partner’s expectations, or even your office coffee! And, we at CEC can help.

We took a look at the top tools and templates downloaded and used by your CEC Communications peers. These tools have helped your peers get their jobs done faster and more effectively, and they can help you do the same!

Download a tool, give it a try, and share your feedback (right here on this blog post) on how we can improve certain tools. See below the jump for the Top 5 Tools for Communicators. Read More »

A few months ago, I asked why collaboration with other functions is so hard. I heard at least one person’s take on the subject.

Meanwhile, as many of you know, the CEC research team has been hard at work studying what it takes to build a change ready organization, and specifically what Communications can do to enable agility across the enterprise.  It is impossible to consider a subject like building change readiness without revisiting the subject of cross-functional collaboration; this endeavor is, without question, a team sport.

So, let me suppose that you are a communicator, totally bought into the idea that it would be great for employees to be agile, ready for change. And you see how communication within the organization can help employees be more agile. But now, you confront the ugly truth: you can’t make this communication happen on your own. Read More »

When you think of that quintessential “start-up” guy or gal, or that cutting-edge talent that can bring the right level of innovation and creativity to your company, you may picture someone who:

• identifies unique opportunities in the market
• is driven by ideas and the possibility of having disproportionate impact, or
• is going to be proactive and smart about getting the resources and knowledge they need to make an idea a reality.

These are all concepts any growing and successful company in today’s marketplace, especially in the leading edge tech industry, would desire in their employees.

The idea of us being “corporate” (vs. creativity being more free and independent), however, can get in the way of our companies’ success in recruiting this type of top talent. Indeed, we see in CEC’s new study on Building a Change-Ready Organization that while 41% of employees are highly agile* in their personal lives, that number drops to 23% when we look at how agile people are in the confines of the work environment.    *FYI, by “agile,” we mean proactively adapting to changes and new opportunities with a constant learning and sensing stance.

As we look at the speed of new product development, the high frequency of M&A, and continually maturing organizational processes that many high tech companies face, these major changes demand more than high levels of employee effort, but high levels of employee agility to ensure your company gets the performance it needs. Read More »

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By Rebecca Canan

Early results are in from our Online Skills Assessment! Approximately 250 corporate communicators have participated in the assessment, which asks them to evaluate their current maturity on 16 core competencies.  Additionally, some managers also assessed their direct staff’s performance on those same competencies.  You can see the competencies and brief definitions to the right.

*Note: CEC Members have access to more detailed descriptions at four progressing levels.

Any guess on which skills emerged as the most developed on teams? Or which ones are in most dire need of improvement? A few things jumped out to me when I was looking at the results: Read More »

A friend of mine, seemingly experiencing one of those periodic moments of personal crisis, has decided to participate in a half marathon – and irritatingly, has been trying to drag me down with him. Personally, I’m much happier with what I call a “placebo” gym membership: I don’t go as often as I’d like, but the mere act of paying my monthly fee makes me feel a little bit fitter!

In spite of my increasingly blunt rejections, my resolve against athleticism did weaken briefly, to the extent that I looked up some of the events in which we could participate; my decision against running was finalized, however, when I stumbled across a Nike-sponsored event and realized that it interested me more as a communicator than it did as a runner!  Here’s why:

Company-Centricity

For 5 years, Nike had been organizing an event called ‘Run London’. It’s a 10km run, no different in kind to the various mid-distance races that your friends and family run, in their respective quests for physical fitness. For years, Nike put their name to the event, encouraged individual Londoners to run their race, and no doubt hoped for some kind of heightened awareness around their brand. One would imagine that they get some benefit from sponsoring a race, but it would be difficult to measure (at best), and negligible (at worst).

Stakeholder-Centricity

However, a few years back, Nike tried a vastly different approach. The race stayed the same – 10km, around a set track. But the communication of the race was different. Read More »

On Wednesday last week we held our first European meeting around  Building a Change-Ready Organization. The attendees were Heads of Communications at companies  ranging from telecoms to pharmaceuticals and media to utilities and with anywhere from 8,000 to 500,000 employees. One thing they all agreed on: change is the new normal and we need to not only get used to it, but to help our organizations embrace it.

The main message was one of helping employees move from being stressed and disrupted by change to feeling in control of the change. We need employees who lean in and adapt to a fast moving marketplace.

There were four themes that I thought were worth sharing: Read More »

Earlier this week, I was reading through PR Week, and by sheer coincidence happened to come across one of the CEC’s very own members, Ray Jordan, Corporate Vice President of Public Affairs and Corporate Communications of Johnson & Johnson (J&J). As someone who hosted the ‘Guru’ meeting in February of this year, I certainly recognized Ray’s name, and I found myself personally engulfed in this story where he speaks of some of the recent organizational changes and reputational threats being experienced at J&J right now, notably ‘recalls and FDA, Department of Justice, and SEC investigations, in addition to the recent announcement of an acquisition with Swiss device make Synthes.’ Ray went on to speak about the effects this is having on Communications at J&J and his thoughts and approaches.

Jordan helped internationalize J&J’s Communications function and we at the CEC have been privileged to work on a few things with J&J, notably our competencies work. Although I was unhappy to hear that Jordan was going through these challenges, what was heartening to hear was that it sounded very much in line with what we’ve been hearing from the global membership. CEC research clearly suggests that many organizations are experiencing some sort of significant change within their organizations right now, (and many of these changes happening at the same time!). Ray’s story for me certainly highlighted that change REALLY does seem to be new norm. Read More »