By Kirsten Robinson

Did you know?

CEC research found that executives think articulating strategic objectives internally is twice as important as other leading business goals—including securing key stakeholder buy-in and coordinating strategy messages. And, the most important means for communicating these objectives isn’t through electronic forms or through cascaded memos, but through dialogue. Employees feel personally connected to the company when they receive information through direct, face-to-face conversations with their manager. What begins as a successful one-on-one dialogue ripples out and results in thriving business.

The problem is that while company success depends on effective communications, most managers aren’t very good at it. There can be many reasons—competing priorities or lack of self awareness. Whatever the case, poor dialogue skills are detrimental to achieving good business results; it sets back schedules, it weakens relationships, and it decreases employee motivation. We’ve also been hearing from members who are facing  pushback from managers who lack the drive to learn advanced dialogue skills or just assume that communication is someone else’s job.

But line managers are the preferred source of communication—and by way of ripple effect, they can make or break business results. So, how can your Communications team help managers become better communicators? We’ve created an online training tool, Investing Employees in Business Results Through Dialogue, to help managers improve their communications skills and gain employee buy-in. The training module helps managers to: Read More »

By Rebecca Canan

If you’ve been in Communications for 5-10 years, you likely realize that the things that made you successful back then are no longer as relevant today. For example:

Relationships with heavy-hitter journalists who cover your industry?

Back then = Critical.

Today = Arguably still handy, but more important to understand how influence works in a highly networked, messy media world.

Ensuring your CEO delivers smooth and effective speeches?

Back then = A big value-add (especially according to your boss)

Today = Your CEO probably still likes this; however, to add value to your organization at-large, your ability to enable employees and other stakeholders to be communicative, active supporters of your company is more important.

Writing comprehensive and punchy press releases?

Back then = Well, writing was the bread-and-butter of your role.

Today = Writing is still important; that said, the writing style has changed — the emphasis is now on creating content that gets shared; content that isn’t necessarily perfect and complete, but that is highly relevant and timely.

In other words, you’ve got skiiiillls…they’re multiplyin (to the tune of Grease’s “You’re the One that I Want“). Below are some early ideas we have on how communicators’ skill sets should evolve and take on new variations. What are we missing?  How have you changed your competency frameworks? Read More »

By Kirsten Robinson

As the holiday season wraps up (no pun intended), we find ourselves sending off a multitude of “Thank You” notes to relatives, friends, whomever—for gifts they’ve so generously given us. Because, hey, who doesn’t enjoy being appreciated for a kind thought or gesture?

The same goes for your company and executives. When you work hard to help and please the public and consumers, it’s nice to be recognized for doing so. But, what do you do when your business receives a “Thank You” note? Put it on your fridge? Share it in your internal newsletter? Publish it in the media?  How will stakeholders perceive the publication of a “Thank You” note? Self-serving? Inauthentic? Positive? After having widespread negative media coverage? You want to communicate to the public any positive recognition—but is it appropriate to publish such notes in the media? Read More »

As we are all recovering from a period of over-indulgence and TV re-runs, it is that time of year for a spot of reflection and a look forward at the year ahead.  My long list of resolutions for 2011 range from the practical (avoiding drowning in the mounds of paper on my desk) to the aspirational (learning to cross-country ski so I can take part in an Arctic biathlon for charity).  Beyond personal goals, I think there are also a few things that should be on a list of professional resolutions for 2011.  Here are some ideas for communicators, along with how we plan to help you along in 2011:

1. Make competency development a priority.

Why it’s important: As the demands on the communication function evolve to be less about simply creating and delivering communications to the desired audience and more about “managing the debate” and providing consultative support to business partners – a new competency set is required.  Whether it’s for your own professional development or standardizing and building the skills across your team, few Communications team have a formalized plan for skill development and it’s now more important than ever. Read More »

By Kirsten Robinson

As communicators, you play a large role in shaping the culture of your company. In doing so, oftentimes the focus is on what differentiates you as an employer or supplier—the thing(s) that make people want to work for you or purchase from you. But what about the basics? Respect. Professionalism. Commitment. How do you communicate these to employees when core values begin to slip, without coming off as too heavy handed or disrupting the rest of your corporate culture mojo?

An executive recently asked our Employee Communications Forum just that. He was interested in how other members run a cultural program that builds a positive, supportive, responsive workplace with trust, respect and commitment. Read More »

The most creative (and creatively inspiring) show on TV doesn’t fit into the category of comedy or musical programming.

It actually falls into an I-can’t-believe-this-is-a-legit-hybrid, the cooking-reality-game shows.  But it’s not Top Chef, Iron Chef or any of the various Cake Wars smackdowns.  I’m referring to the Food Network’s $10,000 weekly culinary contest, “Chopped.”

If you’ve never seen it, you oughta add it to your family holiday TiVo list to watch during the long, lazy days between Christmas and New Year’s.

As a “creative” person, this show will definitely inspire you.  In fact, if you’re willing to open your mind and see it as such, it could be the biggest jolt to the creativity of your corporate writing/content creation you’ll ever experience while lounging on your sofa in tattered sweatpants.

Here’s the premise:  “Chopped” is a cooking contest between four chefs, each of whom is forced to spontaneously create some kind of gourmet dish in just 20 minutes, using a mystery basket of four random ingredients (which purposely do NOT go together in any way). Read More »

By Kirsten Robinson

Good communication skills are fundamental to every successful relationship. In time for the holidays, let’s think about the film Home Alone in which series of miscommunications results in young Kevin being left behind while the rest of his family travels to Paris over Christmas. And while the boy successfully fends off burglars, I can’t imagine anyone would be happy with such a scary misunderstanding.

Poor communication doesn’t just affect personal relationships—it also hinders us professionally. Employees can’t learn how to improve their performance if they have little clarity on what the company really wants to prioritize. Successful communications begin with the sender of the message, so it’s essential for executives to package information as effectively as possible to ensure that employees are able to decode it. Read More »

(This is a guest post by Ken Revenaugh, VP of Sales Operations at Oakwood Worldwide. Prior to joining Oakwood, Ken served as Director of Sales Operations at Exhibitgroup Giltspur and FedEx-Kinko’s. His areas of expertise include Sales Ops Management, Talent Development, and Sales Process Design.)

Is storytelling appropriate in business? Is there a place for incorporating an engaging tale in the commercial world? I believe there is, but after sharing my ideas about storytelling in the boardroom and beyond for the past year, I encountered many who disagree.

I am no longer surprised when someone sends me a disparaging note expressing disgust when I encourage incorporating a fairytale or fable to get a key point across in a business environment. Critics say, “Business is moving way too fast to endorse storytelling; it’s a waste of time.” True enough – no one has time to waste.

This year, the familiar red holiday coffee cups at Starbucks have a matching sleeve that reads: Stories are Gifts – Share. Anecdotally, I realized that many people are doing just that – sharing their stories. So, I decided to conduct a little (albeit unscientific) study.

I have been tracking the number of stories I hear per business day for the past three months. You may be surprised to know that I made at least two hash marks in my notepad each day. On average, my colleagues shared 10 stories per work day. The all-time high was 48 stories.

The day I heard nearly 50 stories taught me a lot. Read More »

When I asked the Head of Corporate Communications at a transportation agency last week, “What is your primary responsibility?,” she responded, “To always ask questions.” Through smart questioning, she explained, she is able to help the organization plan for what’s next and exceed expectations.

It struck me in that moment that the ability to ask the right types of questions—of senior leaders, internal clients, stakeholders, and communications staff—is a must-have skill for communicators.  If communicators fail to ask probing questions of the people they work with, and on behalf of, Communications the function will remain a service provider and not the consultative business partner it has the potential to be.

But what makes a good question? And hey, weren’t we taught that there was no such thing as a bad one?   Some questions—and questioning tactics—are better than others in that they help to uncover assumptions, build trust, show understanding, and discover root causes of challenges.

Rick Karlton of the Sales Executive Council, our sister program for Head of Sales, recently shared his thoughts on The DNA of a Good Question, posted below. Take a look. Could you imagine trying some of these tactics in your next conversation with internal clients? Do you already embed questions like this in your project management? We’d love to hear which questions you’ve used to help understand what clients really need versus what they say they want. CEC members, use this consultative workbook to diagnose and solve for business partner challenges. Don’t have time for the full workbook? Download and use Toyota’s Problem-Solving Worksheet instead.

THE DNA OF A GOOD QUESTION Read More »

Companies are struggling with talent issues across the board — high disengagement among employees and decreasing intent to stay year on year (latest figures from our sister HR program show an 8.7% drop relative to Q2 2009).  However, heads of Communications face their own talent challenge.  As the function becomes more of a strategic business partner – enabling communication between stakeholders to drive greater productivity and execution against company goals – the competencies of the professional communicator are also changing.

The Council believes that there are 5 core skills required of this new communicator role:

1. Listening: to learn about our stakeholders across many different channels
2. Analytics: to derive insights from the stakeholder data we collect
3. Project Management: to manage to key outcomes, yet be nimble about getting there
4. Training and Coaching: to make others more effective at communicating directly with stakeholders
5. Social Media Aptitude: to capitalize on new communication tools and behaviors in building stakeholder relationships Read More »