Good decisions can be extremely difficult to make, especially when different decisions may involve similar paths to action. Bias in planning and making a decision may also complicate the picture. It helps to know how to reduce bias in your planning and decisions, even for apparently simple decisions. Research suggests this is about 75% of the time!
Read more
When putting your communication plan into action, you need to identify your objectives and execute activities that enable you to maximize the results in return for resources expended. This article discusses the broad variables of comms project management, including the use of Gantt and PERT charts. These will provide key insights into implementing communication plans.
Good communication helps people to understand and consider complex concepts by using techniques to simplify the concepts and create more impact. “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough,” is a great observation from Albert Einstein. Therefore, make the effort to understand the complex idea well enough to identify its key elements so you can communicate these simply to others, rather than trying to communicate complex ideas in ways that baffle others.
Read more
SWOT analysis is widely used in strategic planning and can be a powerful tool in assessing your relative position on issues. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It is most effective when you have defined the problem or concern that needs to be addressed and ideally have also developed your goal statement or intended end state for the project. In this way it helps to give clarity between where you are and where you want to be. Here’s how you can make the most of SWOT analysis for communication planning.
Read moreWhile having a haircut recently, I was reminded of the power of word-of-mouth marketing campaigns. My barber Jacob, a part-time rapper and guitar player, said he doesn’t seek social media coverage to build up his fan base for gigs – he finds offline word-of-mouth more effective. This raises the question of word-of-mouth marketing’s value. The answer is a resounding “Very important.” Around 19% of an average US brand’s sales is driven by social conversations ...
Read more
Some communication problems and issues may seem simple to solve, and certainly can be addressed at that level. But many of these need greater depth of thought. They may contain deeper or more complex factors that need resolving – and defining. Therefore, defining the problem is the important first step in planning.
Read more
A crucial skill in communication and in business generally is being able to clearly define problems or opportunities before you act. If you don’t define problems clearly, your response may be fuzzy and superficial. This article provides an easily-understood way of defining problems and opportunities.
Read more
Many types of risk concerns have emerged more into our thinking in recent years, including the biggest one of all – the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected every aspect of society around the world. We are much more aware and concerned about the risks to ourselves, our organization and our community. Reflecting this, risk management will be treated as a much more important business activity in future. And it will play a larger role in good communication practice. There is no doubt that good risk management is important in PR planning.
Read more
People’s biases can cause massive errors in making business decisions, including communication decisions. Experts believe around 75% of major decision-making in business goes wrong due to unperceived biases. This article explains the most common biases in planning and decision-making, and how you can counter them. You need to avoid biased decisions that damage your results.
Read more
Different audiences have different communication needs. And different segments of audiences have different communication needs. As professional communication has progressed from the days of mass communication, we have increasingly been able to target messages to the needs of different audience segments – internally and externally. These audiences can be in-person, via mainstream media and social media. The lesson is to segment target audiences for better communication.
Read moreHybrid work looks like continuing to evolve as the way of the future. The concept of a hybrid workplace is
Many organizations have had quite a shake-up due to the pandemic. As a result, some may have had to go
PR is an exhausting field to work in, creatively speaking. As a communication professional, you’re caught between the dry,
Join 5,000+ subscribers to our free newsletter, Cutting Edge PR Connections, and get awesome communication tips and articles delivered monthly direct to your inbox. PLUS a $10 voucher to my Amazon paperback books, which normally sell for $19.95 each.
