What’s the coolest thing about working at the CEC? Without a doubt, it’s the opportunity to speak to a lot of communicators at different companies, in different industries, with different business models, and get a cross-industry perspective of their various approaches to shared challenges. So, when a member asks us a question, often we have the opportunity to provide insight into how someone else at another company tackled the same problem.

Recently, I’ve been working on a project on stakeholder mapping, and I’ve been keeping track of some of the challenges that members face, and the questions that they’ve asked. Below are some of the more interesting questions, matched up to some of the cooler approaches that we’ve been able to glean from other communicators in the network. This is an ongoing dialogue, so if there’s anything cool that you’re doing at your company, feel free to share it below!

Challenge #1

“We keep a running list of all of our stakeholder relationships, but it’s become pretty unwieldy – it’s currently about 1,000 strong! It doesn’t really help us make decisions about who to engage and who not to – how can we make it more action-orientated?”

“It would be way too difficult for us to think about every stakeholder that can have any influence over our company – there’d be too many of them. So, narrow it down a bit. We use our material issues as our starting point – we take the five strategic outcomes that’ve been identified by our executive team, and identify the stakeholders who will have the potential influence those outcomes. This helps us to be pretty targeted in our engagement – I wouldn’t recommend wasting time mapping every stakeholder who’s tangentially related to your company.” Read More »

As communicators, we instinctively know that we provide consultative support to our business partners. However, as much as we bring to bear critical thinking, outcomes focus,  and business acumen capabilities to our conversations with partners, there continues to be a disconnect with how our partners value this consultative approach.

The Council ran a workshop for our European membership last month in Zurich, as part of our effort to help Communications teams move up the value chain.

In the workshop we asked all of the 43 participants out loud if they think they add value to the business. All responded ‘Yes’! Then we asked them to write down what they think their business partners think of them, and we got a very different story. Communicators are the people who ‘write press releases’, who are ‘the right-brained, creative ‘types’’, who ‘help you put pretty colours on the website’.

But, is consultative skills just a ‘buzz word’ or do they really matter for communicators? And if they really do matter, then how and why do they matter? Here are 5 reasons why we want to help you develop consultative skills through attending one of our training sessions:

• Anyone can be a consultative business partner:

As a communicator, you already possess the skills needed to be a consultative business partner.  However, in order to be effective, you need to engage your business partners by asking ask them about what they think they already know.

• Anyone who was not part of the original process can catch up with what you already decided, in a matter of minutes: 

If you take the initiative to record this process, then this allows for any member of your team to quickly get up to speed by reading your notes – which is part of the benefit of making it a process.

• If you don’t get the results you were hoping for, it is easier to make mid-course corrections: 

Since you’re now creating a process and recording the sessions with your business partners, you now have the ability to go back and conduct a step-by-step analysis to uncover the weak or missing link. 

• The process lets your business partners see a direct link between what Communications does, and a metric-orientated outcome that allows them to be more successful:

Remember that you ultimately want to work with your business partners to determine what your target audience should be doing differently.  Your success then will be determined on your ability to help drive the behavioral change that will lead to the desired outcomes. Your business partner is an intrinsic part of the discussion where you set the metric; ipso facto they will appreciate the discussion.

• Over time, partners begin to see the real consultative value of the Communications function and come to you with increasingly more strategic & higher value requests: 

Once you begin to embed this process, you’ll be on your way to creating successful products for your business partners. It now only makes sense that by consistently providing your business partners with quality work that they’ll continue to seek your advice in the future!

We’d love to join you on-site to train you and your team on consultative partnership with the business. Learn more about this skill development offering.

CEC Related Resources:

• Consultative Partnership with the Business
• Critical Thinking
• Outcomes Focus
• Business Acumen
• Supporting Business Partners
• How to Seek Existing Business Insight
• Building an Outcome-Focused Communication Plan

One of my favorite parts of the job is moderating and reading the conversations on our member discussion forums. Recently, questions around Communications’ mission statements in both our External Stakeholder Relations Forum and our Employee Communications Forum caught my attention. I have been wondering about Communications missions and how the function positions itself to business partners in the last few weeks, as we work on our main study for this year Unlocking Communications Business Impact…what if with our function’s mission statements we are creating the wrong expectations with the rest of the organization on what kind of value can Comms add? When I speak with CEC members, I often hear frustration that Comms is seen as a service provider. Are we setting incomplete perceptions with business partners through our mission statement, and limiting our full potential to contribute to business results – or even the way we view our own role as communicators?

With these questions in mind, I went on the lookout for other CEC research around mission statements to see what commonalities I would find to the ones shared on the discussion forums…to paraphrase, some of them include: Read More »

One of our most popular diagnostics is the Skills Maturity Assessment.  It is a two part, quick survey in which individuals assess themselves on their maturity levels across key 18 competencies and they are also assessed on the same competencies by their manager. As a result, managers and individuals can have a productive conversation about the key strengths and development areas for the individual, but also about what the manager can be doing to support his or her direct report’s development.

Looking at the data that we collected from the 1500+ individuals who participated, we found that managers and individuals perceptions of which competencies are the most important for the individual’s success within his/her role are very often not well-aligned. Managers often place importance on very different competencies than their direct reports.  We found that the gap in alignment between manager and individuals is often correlated with the amount of support an individual receives from their managers.

Here is how participating communicators managers stack up:

• 60 percent of communicators agree that their manager is a great coach
• 74 percent feel that their manager is open to new ideas
• 72 percent regularly receive formal feedback  from their managers
• 71 percent regularly receive informal feedback from their managers
• 55 % of communicators say they have an IDP (Individual Development Plan) that emphasizes the skills needed to succeed in their organization

The good news is that it looks like many communicators are receiving quite a lot of feedback. Yay!  But when it comes down to coaching the manages ratings start to fall a bit, and once we get down to actually having something concrete, like an IDP explicitly written down, suddenly we are down to barely more than half of the respondents.

So if you are one of those communicators whose IDP is not quite what they would like it to be, where do you start? CEC has a bunch of resources to help you with your development and you can check them all out on our website. Or even better, why not send this blog to your team leader and see if your entire team can participate in the diagnostic so you can get a real 360 assessment and start a productive dialogue with your team and your manager about your development.

Recommended Resources:

Communications Training Resources

Plan Your Development

Skills Maturity Assessment

Responsibilities and Competencies of Key Communications Roles

It’s an exciting time to be a communicator! That is, of course, you get excited, and not overwhelmed, by the frantic pace and swift shifts of focus characteristic of today’s complex, unforgiving, and uncertain business climate. In these “exciting” times, how are Communications functions responding to increased demand from business partners? Early results from 50 respondents to our survey on Unlocking Communications’ Potential for Business Impact (add your two cents here) tell a foreboding tale of incremental improvements that may leave communicators doing ever more work, while feeling ever less connected to the bottom line.

Let’s start with the good news—Communications’ support is in high demand. Business partners’ growth ambitions coupled with a deepening appreciation for the importance of communication has increased the demand for Communications’ services. In fact, 78% of communicators surveyed report significant increases in the number and type of requests from business partners over the past two years. Even more telling of this demand is the fact that 52% of respondents say that business partners proactively come to the function for support on strategic business initiatives such as increasing sales or driving up recruitment. In short, demand for Communications’ services is up.

In response to this heightened demand, Communications teams are adding capacity and capabilities to their teams while simultaneously focusing on driving greater efficiency. Here’s what communicators are telling us:

• 22% of respondents have added capacity to their teams. Though budget growth slowed in 2011, communicators shifted their dollars to increase staff sizes and insource previously outsourced activities. View a list of the most common roles that Communications teams have been hiring for to boost capacity.
• 22% say they’ve increased the efficiency of their teams. Whether streamlining decision-making between central and local communicators or creating online communication networks, Communications teams are finding ways to keep up with the speed of information flows.
• 20% have responded to new pressures on the function by adding capabilities to their teams. Capacity without real capability doesn’t get you much. That’s why many teams are focused on training their teams and embedding a learning posture among communicators. Many within the CEC network have already adopted the 18 Communications Competencies of the Modern Communicator and begun practicing different-in-kind business partnership skills such as critical thinking and active listening.
• Perhaps not so surprisingly, exactly 0% of survey respondents have stopped any communication activities!

And now, the not-so-good news—Despite growing demand for Communications’ support, the function is still deemed a “nice to have” by the business. Read More »

Consultative skills — really important for the modern communicator, really difficult to practice. From critical thinking and business acumen to interpersonal influence and active listening, it can feel like we’re expected to learn through osmosis or come with innate abilities.

After hearing a lot of members struggle to identify competencies and develop resources in this area, we’ve identified and defined nine skills that lead to better business partnerships. Our newest resource will help you master active listening techniques to get a better understanding of business partners, gain their trust, and foster open, communicative relationships.

Active listening is characterized by listening with empathy and seeking to understand the intent and assumptions behind colleagues’ and business partners’ communications. To take that from conceptual to concrete, we’ve broken it down into three tactics you can learn and practice to become a master of active listening: Read More »

Is it the carpenter or the tool that creates quality work?  Undoubtedly it’s a combination of both, but at the same time a master craftsman knows exactly what tools he needs to create his work of art.  The same holds true for us communicators – we have many tools to choose from in our tool-box, but figuring out which one to select and for which situation is sometimes a difficult task. 

Well worry no more, the CEC Research team is here to help guide you and your team towards improving your audience understanding expertise.

The CEC Research team has identified six different methods to help you master your audience understanding.   We’ll take a brief look at our list and focus on the strengths and weaknesses of each method as it’s important to understand the limitations.

1. Focus Groups

• One obvious strength of this tool is that it gives you an in-depth understanding of your audience, but at the same time, because this method provides a holistic view, it can be very time intensive.  CEC’s resource to help balance these trade-offs:  How to Conduct Focus Groups

2. Observation/Ethnography

• This method is similar to Focus Groups in terms of the pros and cons. However, this method tends to be even more time intensive and may even require the assistance of a vendor.  How to Conduct Ethnographic Research Read More »

If your Communications team is like most in the CEC network, you’re being asked to stretch  your team’s resources more than ever.  In fact, we know from CEC’s latest Resource Allocation Benchmarking Survey that more communications activities are being in-sourced while FTE resourcing remain flat.  This emerging trend leaves communicators in a tough spot – if your plate was already full and now even more is being added to it, how do you know what to work on?

Further complicating the story is that the nature of requests that communicators are being asked to execute is skewing towards the non-strategic.  During a recent CEC conference, a group of Heads of Communications were asked what percentage of their team’s time was spent reacting to tactical requests.  The consensus figure was about 70% (though some said the number was more like 90%).  So, it seems pretty clear that, while we communicators talk about being more “strategic, when it comes down to it, evaluating all the possible demands and selecting the work that truly creates value is actually quite difficult.

How CEC can help:

Though this blog might  have started off by painting a grim picture, I promise that it’s not all doom and gloom — there is a silver lining to this scenario.  In fact, CEC has created some terrific resources aimed at helping Comms teams assess and select the projects that are tied to the tangible outcomes that your organization is trying to achieve.  Here’s how we can help: Read More »

When it comes to knowing where to spend your time and energy on proactive outreach towards external stakeholders, are you finding it increasingly difficult to work out who is most worthy of your attention? If so, you’re not alone! One member told me recently:

“I only have so much time to create content for journalists, bloggers, and thought leaders – and it’s sometimes hard to know if the most important people are getting enough TLC! There’ve been plenty of instances over the last year or so when we’ve underestimated the impact that an individual could have, and haven’t paid them enough attention as a result – and it’s come back to haunt us later!”

Sound at all familiar?

Over the course of the last month, I’ve been speaking with members about how they prioritize the various influencers they deal with every day – and it seems that it’s become increasingly difficult! The ease with which content can now be created online means that there are more influencers than ever before, and as stakeholders dip their toes in and out of various sources, the identity and tactics of the most important influencers can be difficult to keep track of.

So how do you know who to prioritize and who to de-prioritize? That’s exactly what CEC has been asking members. Below are some of the most common answers we’ve heard, along with a few small twists that seemed different, innovative, and smart.

Criteria #1: Reach

Of course, it makes sense to focus your energies on those influencers with a wide reach – if no one is reading a particular newspaper, or blog, then there’s no point in communicating with them!

• What we’ve heard –prioritize according to activity stimulated: There’s a big difference between an influencer with a large but passive readership, and a highly engaged readership that engages in discussion, forwards content to their peers, and comments freely. Focus your energies on the latter influencers, who stimulate activity amongst stakeholders!

Criteria #2: Credibility

Many communicators I spoke with said that it’s important to focus their energies on influencers who are credible and well respected.

• What we’ve heard – prioritize according to originality: Again, this is a baseline requirement – one communicator in particular told me that his team spends a lot of time and effort with thought leaders and gurus who shape opinion.

Criteria #3: Perception of company

It’s common to seek to change the minds of people who’ve criticized your company in the past – or at least to bring them up to a level where they’re not going to drag your organization’s name through the mud too much!

• What we’ve heard – prioritize according to receptivity: One idea that a member mentioned to me was that not everyone’s mind can be changed – some people are more receptive to new ideas than others. This member organization makes a point of focusing their communications towards those influencers they know to be open minded and ‘persuadable’, rather than waste their energies on those who aren’t.

Criteria #4 – Level of vested interest: It’s obvious to some extent that you want to focus your outreach towards influencers and stakeholders with a specific interest in the subject matter that your company is interested in.  

• What we’ve heard – prioritize according to personal attachment: it’s been mentioned to me that influencers such as NGOs with an emotional and personal attachment to an issue will be more vociferous when discussing that issue than a trade magazine discussing the same topic with a rational attachment. This seems like a really fascinating distinction – I’d be curious to hear if anyone else is thinking along these lines.

Direct our research:

• Do you ever overlook the importance of individual stakeholders or influencers?
• How do you prioritize influencers?
• Have you tried any of the ‘new’ approaches that we’ve called out above?

We’d love to hear from you, and get your company’s input into this project. Please respond to Daniel O’Keeffe O’Donovan to get involved!

Related content

• A Better Approach to Prioritizing Your Stakeholders
• Network Hot-Spot Screen (Southwest Airlines)
• Issue Prioritization Framework (BBVA)

As technology evolves and becomes increasingly accessible, more communicators than ever are considering the use of mobile technology—text messaging, podcasts, smartphone apps, etc.—to enable communication to, from, and among employees.

While there can be numerous opportunities for using mobile for internal communications depending on organizational needs, here are three broad scenarios when launching a mobile communication channel may be more effective and beneficial.

#1: Target the “On-the-Goers”

The workforce is becoming more mobile as businesses compete in a global economy. Field technicians, sales executives, auditors, logistics personnel, etc. are always on-the-go for their work and struggle to remain updated about what’s happening back at the company office. In some cases, such employees are so disconnected that they run the risk of becoming disengaged. Thankfully, mobile employees are generally not without their mobile devices. So, wouldn’t it make sense to employ mobile technology to keep them aligned with the organizational goals, say a simple SMS update on important corporate news? Also, how about a mobile app that enables them to communicate with their office-based peers for problem solving? Learn how Chevron segmented its employee population to focus on mobile technology development for its “on the road” staff.

#2: Target the “Time-Starved”

Non-wired employees (i.e. those in production facilities, retail stores, restaurants, etc.) are not too willing to leave work in-between or use their limited break times to visit that lone intranet kiosk or read that dense information put up on the bulletin board. Even if you designed the best intranet site, put up the most visually-appealing message on the bulletin, or bombarded them with regular emails , employees may be just too time-starved to take notice, regardless of whether they are “wired” to the company network or not. Imagine a contact center employee putting down the phone to access the intranet. Sounds scary, eh? Well, now imagine a mobile communication strategy that provides easy, timely, interactive, and “at leisure” access to employees. Use CEC’s simple tool for selecting the right mix of traditional and virtual channels for communicating with non-wired staff.

#3: Target the “Information-Avoiders”

Yes, you read it correct – employees “avoid” accessing the information. But don’t get baffled. There may be absolutely nothing wrong with your communication strategy or employees’ engagement levels. Rather some cultural barriers, such as a manager expecting his subordinates to spend work hours only on productive/billable activities, may discourage employees from accessing the intranet so as not to be seen as slacking off. (You might want to share some of these simple empowerment tips with managers to help these managers cede some control to employees.) In other cases, employees may feel uncomfortable accessing information in the presence of their peers, especially on topics that are too sensitive or personal. Here, a mobile-based solution could enable a comfortable, private, and guilt-free information access to employees.

These are just a few examples among many more where mobile technology can be leveraged for improving communication effectiveness. If you have any examples about how companies are using mobile for internal communications, we would love to hear back from you. You can email me or leave a comment here.

CEC Related Resources:

• Non-Wired Communications Channel Selection Guide
• Deepen Your Stakeholder Understanding
• Message Management

CEC Related Blogs:

• CEC’s Top 4 Internal Communications Tools
• Communicating with Hard-to-Reach Employees
• Next Step Tech—The Mobile Intranet
• User Profiles: The Cure for an Unloved Intranet