Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2016!

Firstly, thank you for taking time to read my blog during the year. Knowing that you are out there, ready to listen to what I have to say gives me the energy to keep writing. Together, I know we can learn and grow. 

The year started and we have been fortunate to see it end. Such times call for a quick review of a few things insofar as our careers in the communications field is concerned. In my research I stumbled upon an article that I know will be worth your while.

It is a nice piece by Diane Schwartz, who through her writing  prepares us to make certain steps before we wind up 2015 completely. Enjoy!

Consider these 11 simple activities at work:

1. Conduct a content audit: review the posts and articles on your web site and social media platforms to get a clear picture of your brand’s story over the past year. Too much of one topic, not enough of others? Create an Edit Calendar with wiggle room.
2. Reverse mentor: if you were born after 1992, then match yourself up with a Millennial at your organization and spend some time learning from him/her. Likewise, if Mary Tyler Moore and Wite-Out don’t ring a bell with you, there’s a lot you can learn from the Baby Boomers and Gen X. (Read my blog on this topic.)
3. Brush up on the Barcelona Principles. You already know what they are (right)?
4. Have a meeting with your Marketing colleagues to share ideas and develop cross-discipline communication strategies.
5. Do a Social Media Cleanse. Does your brand need to be on Pinterest? Is Instagram working for you? Are your Twitter followers not the best representation of your brand? What’s Facebook doing for you?
6. Review your Crisis Plan and update it, if necessary. If you don’t have a crisis plan in place, create a first draft asap and share it with your team and C-Suite.
7. Assess your media relationships. That holiday card you’re about to send won’t endear you to a reporter. Set up a meetings with key journalists in the first quarter of 2016.  Brush up on their body of work beforehand. Commit to developing meaningful relationships with this important stakeholder group.
8. Familiarize yourself with your organization’s stated mission and goals and make sure your PR dept’s Mission and Goals align with Corporate. Likewise, if you’re with an agency, be sure your client is in sync with its organization’s overriding mission.
9. Audit your resources. Do you have the right team in place to take on the challenges of 2016? What are the most important job responsibilities and skills you need on your team next year? Consider this carefully and don’t be afraid to have difficult conversations and make bold moves.
10. Do a Diversity Check. Is your brand inclusive and are the voices representing your organization and brand diverse?
11. Host a Failure Fest in the next few weeks; members should share their favorite failure of the year and what they learned from it. No #Winning stories allowed.

From me (George) allow me to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, 2016. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as we look forward to learning from one another come 2016.

The coming year is full of promise. Here's to a successful new year!

Image Source - Leovalente

Yes, you: Are you in the field of communications? Rather do you know anyone who is in that field? Is your function at work interrelated with the communications department's function? If no, its okay. If yes, then read along.

Times when the communicator was employed primarily to oversee the creation and dissemination of information from management to employees or external publics is past. The business landscape has changed. This change has tremendously shifted  the roles today's communicators have to perform.

And as Jeff Zwier explains; 'Today's internal communicators must manage the intersection of high-tech and high-touch in a communications environment that is becoming increasingly global, integrated global, integrated with external efforts and steeped in more and more concepts from change management, negotiation, social psychology and political influence. Yet at the same time, they must also retain the creativity and skills to engage employees across an ever-expanding array of platforms.'

To gain competitive advantage as communicators Jeff advises of three areas we need to learn or re-learn. We need to gain mastery in these areas for us to thrive in the days ahead.

Accomplisher: Usually we were 'only' required to trigger change. Make follow ups to establish if the desired change took place or not was not expected of us. In the not so distant future, employers will need to see actual behavioural changes, instead of mere engagements.

If the idea behind a campaign is to garner 1,000,000 votes, then that will be the expected result. 'Change management is moving from a specialty practice to an expected part of many internal communication efforts in organizations of every size.' - Jeff Zwier

Days of initiating movements are past. You need to start and take it to the very end. Get tangible desired results.

Business Savvy: Employers want to be surrounded by people who know a lot more about business. Their business. People who can strategically give clear advice on how to move out of an industry challenge and stand neck and shoulder high above the rest. Gone are the days, when you were expected to be narrow minded: to only know everything about your role as a communicator and nothing about the business and the industry its in.

'Business leaders value the ability to contribute as a leader, project manager and business professional, with in-depth knowledge of both general business concepts and your company's industry. Those with 'non-traditional' backgrounds (e.g., non-journalism or communications degrees) are increasingly entering - and leading - the internal communication function.' - Jeff Zwier

Link: The role of the internal communicator is to be a conduit between the organization and the C-suite. By far communicators are in a better position to traverse all the functions in an organizations. 'We can identify opportunities not only for effective integrated messaging, but also strategic synergies, duplicated efforts and key non-management influencers who can drive change. Social doesn't end with social media, and more and more communicators are being asked to step up as individual change agents, cross-functional team leaders, and to leverage their networks.' Jeff Zwier

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