Recently, Forbes India carried a so-called sensational story on Flipkart, a five-year-old fast-growing online retailer often touted as Amazon’s Indian equivalent. The story raised some serious concerns about Flipkart’s growth prospects and management challenges — something Flipkart believed was contrary to the opinions shared during the interview to the magazine. Result? The company’s CEO Sachin Bansal had to go defensive and write an open letter to the magazine, in a bid to clear the air around company’s negative image created in public eye.

So what exactly went wrong? What could have saved Flipkart from public embarrassment? What can we, as communicators, do to prevent such misrepresentations ? After all, communication is not what we say, it’s what is understood.

Here are 3 tips for handling media requests:

#1: Assess the business value of the request

Lack of advertising, declining readership, and increasing competition has put tremendous pressure on journalists and negatively impacted the quality of journalism. Journalists are hard pressed for time to check for accuracy and do less original writing, giving rise a new form of journalism—“churnalism.”

In such new media relations world , it becomes even more important to take in only those media requests that provide value to the organization.

Always consider:

• What media is it and who is the journalist? What’s their editorial line (looking for sensation or understanding)?
• What does the media want to learn about? Have they requested to interview specific employees?

CEC members, check out LEGO’s standardized media request process  to learn more on how you can assess the strategic business value of a media request.

#2: Develop a media relations policy

Inconsistent and mismanaged communication can not only jeopardize an organization’s reputation but also have serious legal ramifications. Moreover, as organizations become increasingly global and local communication teams seek more authority, presenting a consistent voice externally has become a challenge. Here, a well-defined media relations policy that clearly lays down the principles to guide stakeholders’ decisions about what, how, and when to communicate, can go a long way in preventing crisis.

CEC members, check out International Paper’s media relations policy  and get inspired.

#3: Train staff for handling media interactions

Creating an effective media relations policy is just half the battle won. Reinforce the policy through training sessions to sensitize employees about the importance of strategic communication. Provide targeted media training programs to company spokespersons to increase their fluency with policies and to better equip them for handling media interactions.

CEC members, here are the profiles of some media relations training providers , in case you need external help.

CEC Related Resources:

• Succeeding in the “New” Media Relations World
• Protect Your Reputation
• Media and Press Relations Specialist
• Managing Communications Across Global and/or Virtual Teams

CEC Related Blogs:

• 5 Things You Need to Know About the Media
• 4 Tips to Boost the Impact of Your News Releases
• The Communicators’ Guide to Professional Development: Part II (The Influencer)

I have a confession: I love the Olympics. From watching the parade of nations at the opening ceremony to picking up a new sport to follow (this time it is fencing), and as a Londoner I’ve been caught up in the action and the excitement of having the games in my own backyard. This year, aside from trying to see as much action in real life as possible, I’m also looking at the Olympics from a communicator’s perspective and there are a few things that I think we can learn from:

Showcase your brand’s strengths: Some have said the opening ceremony wasn’t as grand as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but in any case it was a remarkable, fun, and skillful display of the “Made in Britain” brand and its global exports – from Her Majesty the Queen’s helicopter jump entrance alongside 007, to Mary Poppins, Lord Voldemort, classic rock, David Beckham, and the inventor of the internet.

CEC Members: Check out some ideas for how to differentiate your corporate brand and follow these steps for leading brand action workshops. Read More »

Recently I stumbled across this post from Forbes about The Most Annoying, Pretentious And Useless Business Jargon.  It’s a fun read for anyone who has spent time in the corporate world, particularly those of us who work in corporate communications and are bombarded by jargon everyday.

Like it or not, corporate meetings and conference calls have become infested with buzzwords.  We’ve all experienced it (probably even today!)—the annoying and detrimental rambles of a speaker who wants to appear to being saying something relevant, but in fact has zero meaning behind his statement, like a hack magician fumbling to pull a rabbit out of a seemingly empty hat. But just as any sensible person knows that there is a false bottom in the “magical” hat, we communicators—and I’d like to think most competent business professionals—can spot a cheap trick a mile away and properly view jargon for what it really is—sloppy, imprecise, and lazy.

There are a handful of words that made Forbes’ list that would definitely find their way onto my list of top offenders:  “reach out”, “leverage”, “learnings”.  I would have added a couple more which consistently strike a dissonant chord with me — “align” and “synergies” are two words that, at a previous job, I’d hear at least three or four times per meeting…often crammed into the same sentence.  For example:

“Reach out to So-And-So to align on the initiative to spot potential synergies and leverage best practices.” Read More »

Business partners don’t “get” Communications.

The 5-Step Sequence
Click Image to Enlarge

Sure our business partners are asking more of us—76% of our network reports that service demands are up—but, they primarily are asking us for videos to kick-off town halls, talking points for managers to explain an impending change to employees, or posters to reinforce the company’s focus on safety.

There’s nothing wrong with these requests per se, but they barely scratch the surface of what the Communications functions is capable of when it comes to solving real business problems by attacking what’s preventing stakeholders from taking a desired action.

If you wait for a business partner to approach you to collaborate to solve a business problem, you might be waiting for a long time. Instead, I’d recommend that you proactively seek out a business problem to solve where Communications is uniquely positioned to help. To do so, you’re going to have to do something that might feel a bit uncomfortable—challenge a business partner.

Trust me, it’s not as scary as it sounds! But before you can knock of the door of your organization’s COO, CHRO, CIO, or CFO, you’ll need to get up to speed quickly on what these executives care about, why their problems persist, and how Communications can help. We can help you build your business acumen in with these simple cheat sheets on operational excellence, innovation, and compliance. 

Regardless of the opportunity you sink your teeth into, insight into a business partner’s world is only as good as the interaction it helps you to have. Armed with the above guidance into business problem (hint: these roughly break down into two categories: save money or make money), follow this tried and true 5-step sequence to help your business partner “get” that Communications can do more than write good messages.

1. Demonstrate an Understanding of the Problem—This helps you to build your credibility with a business partner. Remember, they only view you as an expert in communication, not in “real business” as they see it.
2. Confirm Current Solution Approach—This helps you to tease out what’s already been tried by a business partner to solve the challenge. It continues to build your credibility and start to intrigue your business partner who thinks “Hey, this guy/gal is pretty sharp. What might they have to share?”
3. Draw Attention to New Insights about the Problem—This is when you (gently) hit your business partner over the head with something they haven’t thought of before. At this point, your business partner should be leaning forward over the desk, brow furrowed or eyes wide, and eager to have you propose something to solve the new problem you’ve identified. Read More »

Corey Mull, a researcher with our sister program, the Marketing Leadership Council, recently shared his take on branding at the London Olympics. 

On Friday, athletes from all around the globe will file into London’s brand-new Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremonies of this year’s Olympics. People on every continent – now connected to far-off events at an unprecedented magnitude - will tune in to watch their nations’ athletes compete in sports we never really think about most of the time; decathalon, archery, synchronized diving and rhythmic gymnastics will occupy the imagination of the world. I’m far from the world’s most patriotic American, but even I get a swell of pride when The Star-Spangled Banner plays during medal presentations.

With the Olympics serving as global focal point for the next few weeks, it’s natural that brands want to glom onto the attention. And since the Olympics cost pretty serious money to put on, organizers are all for it. But some of the efforts organizers are making to protect brands’ investments are leading to an outcry from Londoners and people around the world.

(Want to create some buzz for your company without buying tickets to London? Check out our guidance on proactive PR for the networked communications environment and differentiating your corporate brand with a focused image and empowered supporters.)

Consider: to prevent non-sponsor logos from inadvertently being photographed or recorded during the games, London organizers have implemented a variety of Venue Restriction Zones in the immediate vicinity of the Olympic events. In these Zones, non-sponsors may have no presence, official or unofficial. Read More »

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and all the other social media platforms make communicating today so much easier. More and more companies are seeing the benefits to having a presence on these channels, allowing their employees to engage on these platforms and to listen, contribute, tweet, post, and update often. However, there is a dark side to social media – the ability for anyone to broadcast angry or negative thoughts about your company – instantaneously and to the masses.

Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed some of the largest and most popular brands across the globe come face-to-face with public scrutiny, dissatisfaction, and active opposition on our cozy, social online networks. Yikes!

It’s natural that our first response to negative commentary is to get prickly. Our first instinct is to go on the defensive, or to hurl an equally negative comment back at the commenter. However, we all know that combating anger with anger doesn’t help. Running away and pulling down our social network pages doesn’t defend against the situation either. Not one bit.

When confronted with online criticism, it doesn’t mean we have to stay mute while critics entertain the online masses with their powerful and irritated words. In fact, leading communicators recognize that the best way to respond to criticisms is to be proactive and to engage in dialogue on these platforms.

Read More »

The Communications Executive Council offers several diagnostics to our members. The overreaching purpose of our diagnostic offerings  is to help you  think strategically about your function, and help you track your progress in making the shift towards becoming a consultative partner to the business (whether at the functional or individual level).

The three key diagnostics that every member should make sure to participate in are: Resource Allocation Benchmarking Survey, Anatomy of Business Value-Focused Communications Function, and the Skills Maturity Assessment. Together these three diagnostics help you see how your function stacks up compared to others in the resources, strategic direction, and competencies required to help you become a true partner to the business.

Resource Allocation Benchmarking Survey

This annual offering provides your communications team with a comprehensive analysis of your budget and staff allocation to help you defend your budget, identify specific areas for reallocation, and plan for next year. The robust benchmark allows for cuts across revenue groups, organization structure and industry-level variables and has proven invaluable for many of our members in making a successful business case within their organization for keeping or increasing their current budget levels. The deadline to participate this year is July 31, 2012!

Anatomy of Business Value-Focused Communications Function

Using 20 attributes of a business value-focused function distilled from our research and partnership with hundreds of companies, this diagnostic establishes common understanding of team objectives and development areas; especially helpful during strategic planning cycles. This diagnostic tool helps you during the beginning of agenda planning cycle, after communications leadership role changes, or as a consensus-builder for team initiatives. Heads of function find this diagnostic particularly useful when getting a buy in and support from their team for a functional strategic focus shift.

Skills Maturity Assessment

The goal of this survey is to help you diagnose skill strengths and development areas on your Communications team across 18 key competency areas. The results will assist you in stewarding the professional growth of team members, prioritizing L&D investments, and clarifying expectations for success in Communications.  At this point, close to 90 of our members launched this assessment to their team resulting in a benchmark of more than 2000 communicators. This diagnostic is relevant to any manager with direct reports who would like to help his/her team growth in key competencies relevant to modern communicator.

Relevant Resources:

• Resource Allocation Benchmarking Survey
• Anatomy of Business Value-Focused Communications Function
• Skills Maturity Assessment

Want to know what goes on in an employee’s head when they hear that their company is involved in a major merger or acquisition? Well here goes – CEC’s parent, the Corporate Executive Board, has just announced its intention to make the biggest acquisition in its history.

For once, I’m the guinea pig for some of CEC’s work in the M&A space! Here’s what went through my head in the first moments when I found out about the deal:

• Is my job under threat?
• Are the jobs of my colleagues under threat?
• How will the deal affect my day-to-day responsibilities?
• Will there be opportunities for me to move to or progress within the newly acquired company?

CEC research would indicate that these questions are pretty much representative of employees everywhere, and what’s significant is that they exhibit our collective self interest. Of course we want to know the intent and the strategy behind a deal, but our first thoughts will inevitably be about ourselves and our colleagues.

In actuality, the responses we’ve had at CEC have been positive in every regard (thankfully!), and it’s an exciting time to be here. But in many cases – for instance if a deal relies upon cost synergies  - there may well be fear and uncertainty among employees.

Now, Communications can be a key player in assuaging this doubt and enabling integration. But communicators I’ve spoken with indicate that they often aren’t brought into potential deals until late in the game and that managing this uncertainty can be challenging.

If your company is in acquisition mode, check out these tools from the CEC:

Stage 1: Pre-Close to Announcement                                                                                      

We’ve highlighted the Comms risks apparent in any deal. Use these to ensure that you get a seat at the table, and start your planning early! CEC members, use these resources to quickly:

• Get up to speed on the deal
• Provide a cultural lens to due diligence
• Create an M&A comms plan

Stage 2: Announcement to Close

Legal restrictions may well prevent full transparency to internal and external stakeholders. Whilst preparing for integration, it’s vital to ensure that uncertainty and doubt doesn’t impact performance and productivity in the near term. CEC members, use these resources to:

• Quickly assess the informational needs of key stakeholder groups
• Assess change management competence at your organization
• Enable line managers to hold dialogue with employees

Stage 3: Integration Management

Reports claim that anywhere from 50-90% of M&A deals fall short of the anticipated value created. With this in mind, integration management is vital – and this is where comms can really earn its crust. CEC members, use these resources to:

• Build understanding of the change for key stakeholder groups
• Enable managers to communicate details of the change
• Enable employees to translate the change into tangible actions
• Enable peer-to-peer connections and learning
• Listen to employees’ concerns to direct future communications

Have you recently worked on a merger or acquisition? We’d love to hear from you! Let us know what’s worked well for you!

Communicators often look at themselves and view their role as one of simply responding to business partner requests and thus only serve to support those functions.  However, the best leaders in communications portray the function as one where they can help shape company strategy and bridge the gap between their business partners’ goals and actual results.

So what sets these communicators, the ones who see their role as one that can catalyze growth, apart from those that view themselves as a reactive function?  Well for starters, they understand what it is they do best and that is, well – communicate.  So by understanding their strengths and harnessing them to create dialogue with and among their business partners, these leaders in communications are able to assist their firms in achieving the growth results that they seek.  It’s also worth noting that this is in close alignment with the CEC’s major research initiative for this year, as we also believe that communicators have the unique opportunity to become consultative partners within their organizations.

Let’s take a look at our tool, A Dialogue Map, which can serve as your blueprint in getting these conversations with your business partners off the ground.  As with anything that seeks to drive results, it’s beneficial to lay out the process in an organized manner and that’s what we’ll discuss next.

Step 1.  Articulate the Business Objective

We have to start somewhere and the best place is to understand what it is that we are trying to accomplish.  Chances are it will be to assist your business partners in bridging that gap between where they currently stand and where they want to be.  Again, refer to the Map to see what kind of questions should be asked to determine where you need to focus your efforts.

Step 2.  Determine Your Communications Goal

In this step as with Step 1, make sure you spend a decent amount of time thinking about the problem and the desired outcomes.  This will help to ensure that you see the bigger picture, which will help you set realistic goals.  Also, during this step there are several possibilities as to what your goal will be centered around.  Such goals may consist of, increasing awareness, building support, or enhancing results; but keep in mind that it could be a combination of desired outcomes.  This is why it’s imperative to think through the problem so that you can deliver the best results for your business partners.

Step 3.  Plan Key Messages to Support Your Goal

Now that you’ve identified your goals, it’s now the time to brainstorm with your team to determine exactly what you want the employees of your firm to remember.  This of course is highly contingent upon the goals you have set, so be sure to refer to your blueprint to see what kind of questions you should ask to help make your message memorable and actionable.

Now keep in mind that these Steps comprise the Planning Stage of a 3 stage process that also includes Facilitation and Measurement.  Look for our tips on the Dialogue Map on how to improve upon your facilitation and measurement skills.  All in all, remember that you’re a communicator, so take advantage of those skills and facilitate the discussion with and among your business partners to achieve their goals and in doing so you get the opportunity to earn your seat around the table.

CEC Related Resources

A Dialgoue Map

Building an Outcome-Focused Communication Plan

Active Listening to Better Understand Business Partners

Consultative Problem Solving Worksheet

Consultative Partnership with the Business

Our latest research on Catalyzing Behavior Change through communication made its European debut in London at the end of June, hosted at HSBC’s headquarters. The executive retreat brought together over 30 Heads of Communications at global companies ranging from utilities and manufacturing to financial services and telecoms.   So as you can imagine, this was also a fascinating cross-industry focus group for me as a researcher!

The mix of backgrounds in the room (from lifelong communicators, to engineers and business partners now turned communicators, and even a behavioral psychologist!) created a rich debate about how Comms can cope with the increasing demands on the function to deliver value in a complex communication environment. More is being asked of us as communicators, and we need to better connect our activities to business outcomes – as one member well said it: “we have to be 50% faster at everything with the same resources…it’s impossible to do, we have to work smarter.”

So how do we get smarter about demonstrating our impact on the business? Four themes stood out to me from our European member roundtable: Read More »