Opinion piece by Kim Harrison

Written and posted 12 May 2019

More than 70% 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 27-30% of cases of smoldering issues that […]

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 […]

Written and posted 15 Jan 2019

In this era of growing technological sophistication, we need to keep reminding ourselves that the most effective type of contact is directly with other people. We tend to forget this amid all the clamor on automation; AI; VR; chatbots; smart assistants; robots; smart speakers; WhatsApp, Slack and other communication apps; social media apps, etc. Many […]

Written and posted 13 Jan 2019

Calls to action are vital to make in your internal and external business presentations because they are the key moments to persuade decision-makers to take action to support your case. If you don’t include a call to action in each presentation, your results will fall short of their potential. The most vital moments in your […]

Written and posted 13 Jan 2019

Time to strengthen your creativity and innovation skills! Future demand for these skills will grow stronger in the changing business environment, according to a Future of Jobs survey report by the World Economic Forum. Over the next 5 years, employers will be giving priority to those who are strong on analytical thinking and innovation, as […]

Written and posted 13 Jan 2019

The secret to successful sponsorship proposals is to invest the time to get to know your prospects and what they want. You need to do your homework! If you are seeking to land a major sponsorship, the odds are you will have to work hard to get it and provide good value for money to […]