In addition to your traditional communication role, you can make your presence felt by improving operational communication and therefore operational performance. You may ask why you should become involved in operational communication. After all, it should be an operational responsibility. The answer is that workplace communication is probably the most important communication of all—because it directly affects profitability, or in the case of government entities, their efficiency and effectiveness. And if operational managers aren’t ...
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Most business people don’t understand the role of communicators; they usually just see the busy, visible, low-level PR activities, and don’t realize that strategic focus is hugely important to communication planning. This article explains powerful ways you can turn decision-makers’ focus from tactical to strategic for better results. It is available to you in a special Kindle collection of 12 top articles on communication campaigns for only $11.99 including tax. Click here to buy.
Read moreEffective employee communication is a key driver of employee engagement, which in turn is a vital factor in successful workplaces. Therefore, it is important to take stock of internal communication activities to determine how effective they are, and what communication initiatives can help to strengthen engagement levels. Engaged employees are highly involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace, as defined by Gallup Inc., the leading firm specializing in this aspect ...
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Working with your boss requires a balancing act. On one hand you need to know how best to work with your boss and maintain a good relationship. (Read my article “Successfully manage your boss to boost your career.”) On the other hand, you need to know how to emerge from the background and assert your own standing within the organization, to promote your value to the organization.
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It is not easy to get senior management to listen to communicators about the importance of crisis communication plans. Those executives will need to be convinced of the impact on the organization’s operations and therefore its profitability before they take full notice of your communication plan. (In a government agency the discussion would need to be about the impact on efficiency and the government’s attitude to a public shambles.) At least, in a sense, the COVID catastrophe around the world has forced executives to take more notice of potential crises. This will make it easier for you to convince top management with your crisis communication plan.
Read moreOne of the biggest issues facing us as communication professionals is how to gain greater influence within our own organization. Our work is largely intangible, based on strengthening organizational communication links and working relationships at all levels, and so we are often vulnerable to the subjective views of corporate decision makers about our effectiveness. The question is how do we increase our standing within the organization? People can have good potential or may already ...
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‘Managing upwards’ is the systematic process of working with your boss to obtain the best possible results for you, your boss and your organization. When you manage upwards, you show leadership on your own part. What’s more; when you successfully manage your boss you boost your career prospects.
Read moreProving our worth as communicators can be a real challenge, especially during tough economic times, but some astute professionals ensure they can prove the value of their work by using some thought. Meet with senior managers to understand their priorities and concerns Smart professionals meet with senior managers, especially line (divisional) managers to find out what are the major problems on their minds. Then they develop communication activities to directly help solve those problems. ...
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Well, well…the threat of a virus pandemic never entered experts’ minds, not to mention the mind of the average person. All other risks have paled in comparison. Nevertheless, other risks still exist worldwide, and can strike our community and organization. As a result, you need to know how to get your senior management to act on your crisis communication plan.
Read moreAs communicators, we invariably have to battle to prove the worth of our activities in dollars. Here’s a case study of how US consultant Angela Sinickas helped one client to prove the value of her internal communication. A division of the former Pharmacia Corporation had identified five goals. One was to increase sales of their highest profit-margin product, a goal they exceeded. They did this without increasing the advertising or PR for this product, ...
Read moreManaging or supervising a hybrid PR team can be challenging when you want to achieve effective coordination and communication. It
Many people hate the idea of playing office/organizational politics. But staying out of such activities may hold back your career
The public relations field has changed remarkably in the past decade. Hiring practices have also changed as a result -
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