Opinion piece by Kim Harrison

Written and posted 10 Jul 2019

Has a colleague ever said to you: “I started a writing career because I’m hopeless with numbers.”? Many communicators find it difficult to understand, use and write about numbers. Some even admit to entering a writing career so they will avoid dealing with figures. Yet figures are increasingly central to good practice. In addition to […]

Written and posted 10 Jul 2019

It is crucial for you to start each of your major change communication programs by showing how the changes are caused directly by pressures in the external business environment. This conveys important authenticity to your employees. They can perceive these pressures for themselves, becoming aware of what is happening elsewhere. Otherwise, they will invariably have […]

Written and posted 16 Jun 2019

Remote and freelance workers are proving to be a very efficient and flexible source of talent in the digital age. Employers don’t incur the cost of providing technical hardware or office space for their external teams. This works for lawyers, accountants, HR firms, freelancers and many other types of workers including those in PR and […]

Written and posted 11 Jun 2019

Do you include a risk management plan when you organize significant communication activities? A risk management plan should be part of every important communication activity so you can minimize the impact of potential problems and are not caught completely by surprise if something goes badly wrong. Risks are present in all communication activities, especially in […]

Written and posted 12 May 2019

More than two thirds of organizational crises are predictable – because they are largely created by management’s own actions or inactions. Over the past decade, this consistent fact has been revealed by the Institute for Crisis Management’s crisis monitoring. Mismanagement is the biggest cause of crises, accounting for around 25-30% of cases of smoldering issues […]

Written and posted 12 May 2019

Every time new job growth trends are published by the US Census Bureau, a news outlet somewhere will lament in a “fresh” story angle that PR is killing journalism. I was about to write detailed comments about PR employment growing while journalism numbers are dying, when I noticed Lou Hoffman also commented in a post […]

Written and posted 9 Mar 2019

The evidence is in plain sight. Good internal communication (IC) creates high levels of employee engagement, which in turn lifts organizational performance outcomes. Key IC drivers of employee engagement are: Employees’ relationship with their supervisor/manager Line of sight – the extent to which employees can see how their work contributes to business unit and organizational […]

Written and posted 27 Feb 2019

You have just joined a committee representing three business units from your organization, and the chair asks you to speak about a joint issue without notice. You are called into an executive meeting to update top management about an issue you are responsible for managing. These are a couple of examples of off-the-cuff or impromptu […]

Written and posted 2 Feb 2019

Presenting to senior executives is a daunting proposition. They are extremely busy and have to make many decisions under great time pressure. Your presentation needs to solve a significant business problem or create a strong opportunity if it is going to stand out. They are not going to let you make a nicely detailed presentation […]

Written and posted 25 Jan 2019

Developing an annual communication plan is a complex task. You need to gather information from a range of sources about organizational activities that need a communication program to make them more effective. Then you use your professional judgment to prioritize the activities, checking that they support the achievement of your organization’s corporate and business unit […]