The Communicator

Summer is just around the corner. But if you were expecting some much needed R&R… think again. 

For professional communicators, The Dog Days of Summer represent the best (and often only) opportunity to focus on the fundamentals. As executive teams start to shift their thoughts from goals to golf, many communicators take advantage of the relative ‘down time’ of the summer to prepare for the business year ahead. 

Not sure where to start? Here are five areas that should be a priority for any communications team this summer: 

• Clean up your website: All too often throughout the year, press releases, feature stories and news items are rushed onto organizational websites in an ad-hoc fashion to meet an immediate need or crisis – sometimes with little regard to strategy or process. The quiet summer months provide an ideal opportunity to bring some much-needed focus and discipline back to your website(s).
• Update your corporate collateral: With long review and approval cycles, multiple stakeholders and complex production schedules, updating your brochures, press kits and other corporate collateral can be a time consuming business. While the summer season won’t necessarily speed up the process, you will find that key stakeholders (Finance, HR, Operations, etc.) are much more open to participating in these types of projects when their plates are less full. 
• Media train your executives: The worst time to media train an executive is in the middle of a crisis. To be effective, proper media training starts in a relaxed environment, free from distractions and competing priorities. Many executives benefit from group training sessions, which are also much easier to coordinate over the summer.
• Prepare for issues: While most issues are – by nature – unexpected, there are several ways that communicators can use the summer to prepare for the unknown. Standby statements, draft Q&As and position backgrounders are great ways to get ahead of a crisis, and the summer provides the perfect timing to conduct table-top exercises to ‘stress-test’ your crisis manuals.  
• Build/maintain relationships: Never underestimate the intrinsic value of a strong working relationship. Take some time this summer to build on your valuable relationships with your colleagues, peers and suppliers, as well as any key opinion leaders in your industry (media, bloggers, industry gurus, etc.). Besides, it’s a great time of year for a few drinks on a patio!   

Above all, take advantage of the comparative calm to take a vacation, long-weekend or afternoon off, and remember that achieving work-life balance is (or should be) just as important as achieving your business objectives. 

Looking for help to get ahead of your communications strategies this summer? Contact Peter at Peter@CommunicationsUnlimited.ca.

Even on the best of days, communications can be a high-stress job. In fact, in a recent study by CareerCast, Public Relations was ranked as the second most stressful job for 2011 (commercial pilots ranked first; senior executives third). 

And while much of that stress can be attributed to the short deadlines, high risks and demanding stakeholders that we all toil under, leadership and culture also play a commanding role. 

Indeed, many communications leaders often fail to fully understand the impact of their actions on the engagement, culture and stress of their teams. And since higher stress usually means more mistakes, lower productivity and burn-outs, we thought we would offer four key areas where communications leaders can significantly reduce their team’s anxiety levels: 

• Keep your cool – Remember that your stress level will have a direct impact on the stress of your employees. No matter what the topic – or how ‘safe’ you feel within the confines of your department – leaders should always try to refrain from blowing off steam inside the office. Bottom line is that stress breeds stress, or (as one of my old colleagues used to put it) when the Big Top spins, all the Little Tops spin too. 
• Maintain a reasonable schedule – This is a challenge across most organizations. Leaders like to get into the office before their employees in order to get a jump on the day, but employees like to get into the office before their bosses to prove their commitment (in a dance that is otherwise known as ‘Optics’). But eventually, everyone is coming in at the crack of dawn and staying in the office until 8pm which obviously kills any semblance of work-life balance. Leaders must break the cycle (though that will often mean starting and finishing the day from the home office) in an effort to demonstrate that it’s OK to have a life outside of the office.     
• Allow failure – Communicators take on a certain amount of risk every day (media calls, for example, can be very risky endeavours, even in the best situations). But to do this successfully, employees must feel that there is some allowance for mistakes within the team culture. And while I’m certainly not endorsing wild risks or stupid failures, many communications leaders may want to take a softer line on errors, thus promoting continuous improvement and experience over constant perfection. 
• Be clear and consistent – One of the bigger stresses for communicators generally manifests when ownership, objectives or goals are unclear or – worse – contradictory. And given that most communicators tend to serve multiple customers and stakeholders simultaneously, communications leaders will need to work closely with their teams to ensure that they are receiving clear and consistent direction. For more on defining roles, click here.

So while the title of Second Most Stressful Job of 2011 is probably a bit of a stretch, many communications leaders would still be well advised to keep a keen eye on how their own actions are influencing the overall stress level of their team. 

And by the way – those looking for less stressful jobs may want to consider a career as a Philosopher or Mathematician; two of the least stressful jobs for 2011 according to the analysts at CareerCast.

Want to reduce your stress levels? Get Communications Unlimited on your team. Contact Peter at Peter@CommunicationsUnlimited.ca.

No matter where you stand on transparency and good governance, the release of reams of sensitive information through WikiLeaks over the past few months should serve as a stark reminder for professional communicators: nothing is ever fully confidential. 

Information leaks are certainly not a new phenomenon for either public or private organizations. Most companies put a high priority on maintaining the confidentiality of their proprietary information and trade secrets (just ask any Pharmaceutical company, or the folks who mix KFC’s 11 herbs and spices). 

But while the recent rounds of revelations into the US State Department are certainly causing headaches for government leaders and their spokespeople, they also act as a catalyst for elevating the role of communications as a key component in the fight to safeguard organizational secrets. 

Being part of the solution
Traditionally, the role of protecting confidential information falls largely to the Legal Department (who create the controls and pursue the perpetrators) and IT (who build the security systems and develop the encryption software). 

The problem with this status quo is that leaks are not usually generated by computer systems or faulty processes, but by malcontent employees with misguided intentions. Bradley Manning (the 23-year-old US serviceman accused of being behind the US government leaks), still managed to find ways to circumvent the rigorous national cyber-security protocols (rumour has it he downloaded millions of files to a single Lady Gaga CD) because he believed that the means justified the ends. 

And while no amount of company Kool-Aid will stop the most malcontent or fanatical perpetrators, a stronger focus on communications may actually offer the best solution to mitigating many of the more innocent (yet no less damaging) leaks and acts of ‘casual’ corporate espionage. 

Protecting, not hiding
First and foremost, employees must understand that they are being asked to protect the company jewels, not hide malicious secrets. To achieve this, communicators will need to do a better job promoting the reasons behind confidentiality clauses in an open and transparent manner, rather than the ‘command and obey’ directives of the past. 

Part of this education campaign requires a clear separation to be made between leaks and whistle blowing, and proper outlets and processes must be provided and promoted for the latter in cases where wrong-doing is systemic.

The Plumber Communicator
Inevitably, however, it often comes down to professional communicators to assume the role of corporate plumber: plugging the leaks and maintaining the integrity of the information pipelines. For those in more benign industries, this may be as simple as including ‘information leaks’ as one of the many issues against which they are constantly vigilant. But for those who represent more questionable organizations (whether in truth or public opinion), protecting against leaks will require a proactive and rigorous plan, substantial crisis management skills, and the trust and respect of the C-suite. 

And – once all of the dust has settled – most communicators will find that the recent WikiLeaks fiasco provides the strongest catalyst yet for persuading executives to place a renewed emphasis on the strategic communication of confidentiality policies, rather than just the legal repercussions.

Looking for more ways to use communications to combat information leaks? Contact Peter at Peter@CommunicationsUnlimited.ca

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Mistakes are just a fact of life. Unfortunately for executives and other world leaders, some mistakes tend to be more noticeable than others (just ask BP’s ex-CEO Tony Hayward or former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer). 

Most professional communicators already know that the old days of closing ranks, circling the wagons and blaming everyone else are long gone. In its place, a new breed of leader has emerged and begun to reap the benefits of eating humble pie. 

When a crisis hits, most executives turn to their professional communicators to get them out of the hot water. So as their advisors, what should we be doing to help our executives navigate a crisis without losing their jobs? 

• Review crisis plans. The more equipped your executives are for each eventuality, the better chance they have of keeping their cool under pressure and mitigating the issue. Of course, businesses that involve more risk (like pharmaceutical, nuclear construction or politics) will require more comprehensive plans and more frequent scenario planning.
• Mea Culpa. Have your executive take ownership of the mistakes, and be genuine. The public is far more forgiving of a mistake than a cover-up, and the topic will likely spend less time in the headlines. Publicly-traded companies will want to work closely with Investor Relations to carefully time these announcements so as to limit the impact on shareholders.
• Give a reason. When possible, have your executive try to explain the logic and thought processes that led them to the decisions or actions in question. Make sure they use reasonable explanations (i.e. “we were told these children wanted to be working in that mine” probably won’t cut it).
• Don’t lie – even unintentionally. When a crisis hits, both the media and the public will be scrutinizing your spokesperson’s every word. Don’t give them any extra ammunition. Even though the pace may be frantic and the workload unbearable, it is critical that every fact be checked and every question explored before you send your executive in front of the media. 
• Tell your employees. There is no such thing as an internal cover-up. If the news is going to get out there (and it will), it’s best if you are the ones telling it. There’s only so much you can control, but keeping trust with your employees (and a unified front to your public) will go a long way toward maintaining employee engagement and public understanding through the crisis. 

Of course, there are always occasions where ‘telling the truth’ may be preferential to ‘telling the WHOLE truth’. Take Toronto’s Mayoral candidate Rob Ford, who boldly told voters that the reason he ‘forgot’ about his history of drug charges was because he was too worried about his drunk driving and domestic violence citations. Oh right, and that pesky assault and battery charge… 

However, rather than letting his humble pie hit him in the face, Rob is actually tracking to become the city’s next mayor!

Need help with your executive or crisis communications? Contact Peter at Peter@CommunicationsUnlimited.ca.

Before starting Communications Unlimited, I spent a number of years managing the external communications program for one of the big brand-name pharmaceutical companies.  And while I’ll have to admit that it was probably one of the more challenging roles I have ever tackled, I learned several important lessons that have served me (and now my clients in other industries) rather well since leaving. 

In truth, the pharmaceutical industry – much like many other fast-paced and highly-regulated sectors – is a great place for communicators to rapidly build their skill set and experience. Regardless of your industry or audience, there are a number of significant lessons that every professional communicator can take from the world of ‘Big Pharma’. Here are five:

1.            Risk mitigation is always better than issues management: Every professional communicator knows that it’s better to manage a risk than an issue. And while most of us are quite good at identifying and eradicating risk within our own communications programs, we tend to be less willing to raise the spectre of risk when it comes to the overall business strategy. Sure, raising prices on batteries during a storm may be a smart commercial decision, but the repercussions for the organization’s reputation clearly present a risk, and should be identified and reported as such to leadership. 

2.            There is no such thing as ‘over-prepared’: It’s amazing what can come out of left field when you least expect it. Even the most robust communications strategy can come undone in a matter of seconds, ambushed by some unplanned occurrence or external event. Whether contingencies are actually developed or not, communicators should be mindful of the potential for unexpected incidents and build some flexibility into their plan for on-the-spot course-corrections.   

3.            Pay attention to your key influencers: Every industry has its key influencers and market makers. For fashion, it tends to be celebrities; in pharma, it’s doctors and medical researchers. Regardless of who sets the trends and purchasing patterns in your industry, it is always smart to treat this group as a separate and sophisticated audience that requires special attention. Very often, providing this group with a confidential ‘heads-up’ in advance of an important (non-material) announcement can not only build relationships based on trust, but also create an instant and educated audience for the media and public to consult.  

4.            Empathy builds better bridges than silence: Sometimes people just want to know that you understand their concerns. So while the lawyers and risk managers may counsel silence in the face of public scrutiny, professional communicators must learn to work with legal counsel to craft messages that – while not necessarily admitting guilt – demonstrate some level of empathy with the audience’s concerns. Silence will only create animosity, resentment and rage – but empathy builds relationships.  

5.            Ignorance should be educated, not scorned: Often, negative public opinion is based on a misperception or misunderstanding of an organization’s motives. While it’s certainly easy to get defensive or indignant with what seems like outright ignorance, communicators should instead recognize and seize the opportunity to educate their audiences and – hopefully – influence their opinions.  

The other thing I learned from pharma? It helps to have a good flack-jacket and tough skin before you sign up for certain deployments.  

Looking for ways to make your communications program more efficient and effective? Contact Peter at Peter@CommunicationsUnlimited.ca.

Recent events should serve as a stark reminder for professional communicators: your organization’s reputation is intrinsically tied to your suppliers’ actions.  

Take Apple for example. After scores of suicides at one of their contract manufacturer’s Chinese facilities, Steve Jobs has recently had to defend his company’s reputation against allegations of improper labour conditions. 

Or Unilever, who recently found itself at the centre of an environmental practices storm over the use of Indonesian Palm Oil that has sullied the pure reputation of their flagship brand Dove. 

Most readers will also remember the boycotts and protests that surrounded Nike in the 1990’s over persistent allegations of sweat-shop practices within its contract manufacturers in Indonesia and Vietnam. The ensuing backlash gave Nike a reputation for bad corporate citizenship that affects it to this day. 

What these – and countless other – organizations have learned is that the public expects companies to take full responsibility for the impact of their products, from raw manufacturing through to long-term disposal. And ‘passing the buck’ isn’t an option; consumers only hold the final brand to account, not the bevy of supplier brands that support it. 

Don’t worry. I’m not suggesting creating thousands of detailed crisis plans to cover every potential supplier mishap. But there are a few ways to be better prepared for the impact of a supplier crisis: 

Close supplier relationships: Reach out to your company’s supplier network and build relationships with their professional communicators. When push comes to shove, it helps to start on good terms. 

Stand-by statements: Work with your legal team to pre-prepare a ‘mea culpa’ position that – while assuming no actual blame for the situation – takes ownership of the problem and reinforces the company’s position on corporate citizenship. 

Annual assessments: Don’t wait for an issue to catch you unaware. Spend a day or two each year brainstorming all of the possible issues and outcomes to assess the risks and remove the element of surprise. 

Create cross-functional crisis teams: Many crisis teams include communications and HR, but just as critical are reps from all departments including facilities, procurement and sales/marketing. You never know where the crisis will come from and who it will impact the most. 

That said, many industries have turned ‘passing the buck’ into an art form. After all … where would BP be today without Halliburton and Transocean to blame?

Looking for a communications supplier that won’t be an additional risk? Contact Peter at Peter@CommunicationsUnlimited.Ca to see what we can do for you.

Summer has finally arrived. But if you were expecting some much needed R&R… think again. 

For professional communicators, The Dog Days of Summer represent the best (and often only) opportunity to focus on the fundamentals. As executive teams start to shift their thoughts from goals to golf, many communicators take advantage of the relative ‘down time’ of the summer to prepare for the business year ahead. 

Not sure where to start? Here are five areas that should be a priority for any communications team this summer: 

1. Clean up your website: All too often throughout the year, press releases, feature stories and news items are rushed onto organizational websites in an ad-hock fashion to meet an immediate need or crisis – sometimes with little regard to strategy or process. The quiet summer months provide an ideal opportunity to bring some much-needed focus and discipline back to your website(s).
2. Update your brochures: With long review and approval cycles, multiple stakeholders and complex production schedules, updating your corporate collateral can be a time consuming business. While the summer season won’t necessarily speed up the process, you will find that key stakeholders (Finance, HR, Operations, etc.) are much more open to participating in these types of projects when their plates are less full. 
3. Media train your executives: The worst time to media train an executive is in the middle of a crisis. To be effective, proper media training starts in a relaxed environment, free from distractions and competing priorities. Many executives benefit from group training sessions, which are also much easier to coordinate over the summer.
4. Prepare for issues: While most issues are – by nature – unexpected, there are several ways that communicators can use the summer to prepare for the unknown. Standby statements, draft Q&As and position backgrounders are great ways to get ahead of a crisis, and the summer provides the perfect timing to conduct table-top exercises to ‘stress-test’ your crisis manuals.  
5. Build relationships: Never underestimate the intrinsic value of a strong working relationship. Take some time this summer to build valuable relationships with your colleagues, peers and suppliers, as well as any key opinion leaders in your industry (media, bloggers, industry gurus, etc.). Besides, it’s a great time of year for a few drinks on a patio! 

Above all, take advantage of the comparative calm to take a vacation, long-weekend or afternoon off, and remember that achieving work-life balance is (or should be) just as important as achieving your business objectives. 

Looking to get ahead of your communications strategies this summer? Contact Peter at Peter@CommunicationsUnlimited.ca  to see how we can help you make the most of the summer months. 

I lived in South Africa during the apartheid era. As the son of a Canadian diplomat, I could never understand how white South Africans could support a clearly abhorrent and criminal regime. Could they not see how racist they were? Did they have no sense of human rights and dignity? How could they stubbornly hold on to an ideology that died over 100 years ago? 

One day I sat down with a classmate of mine – a ‘liberal-minded’ Afrikaner – who passionately defended his people as a kind but misguided race. He patiently explained that Afrikaners truly believed that they were God’s ‘chosen people’. No other group qualified: not Africans; not Indians; not even Englishmen. Only Afrikaners. Fanatical in their ‘covenant’ with God, they set about creating a society that would protect and encourage their culture and race. Everything they had done since was in the single-minded execution of that holy quest. 

To be honest, I still don’t understand how one makes the jump from there to the brutality of apartheid, but – begrudgingly – I did start to understand why Afrikaners were so fervent and passionate about defending their regime. 

What I had learned was that I didn’t have to agree with a viewpoint to understand it. 

As communications professionals we are often confronted with opinions that radically differ from our own. The easiest (and most often travelled) path is to dismiss these critics as crazy or ill informed and assume that society will similarly marginalize them. Sadly, the easy route is often a recipe for disaster. 

Success, especially in the field of crisis communications, depends on looking at an issue from every viewpoint, however fanciful. Try to understand why an audience holds a particular perspective, and what emotion may be driving their bias. Acknowledge their right to their opinion and work to better inform them – not deny them. 

In some cases, you may find that disengagement still is the best policy. But by seeing your opponent’s viewpoint, you may find common ground – or at least agree on a way to peacefully cohabitate.

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs … then you are probably a professional communicator. 

Ask any battle-hardened crisis communications manager, and they’ll tell you that preparation is paramount to their success. But apart from the School of Hard Knocks, how can the average professional communicator prepare for the unexpected? Here are some suggestions: 

Audit the issues: Take a closer look at your organization’s crisis policies or Business Continuity Plans (BCPs). Chances are that – with the exception of facility floods or fires – they fall short of identifying all of the other ‘nasties’ that could just as easily ruin your organization (say corruption, product liability issues or even an unfortunate YouTube video). Some of the best crisis communications professionals perform regular audit exercises to identify and plan for almost any risk – however fanciful or unlikely. 

Dust off the Rolodex: Now that you have line of sight to all of the potential issues that face your organization, you should be able to easily identify the partners, suppliers and stakeholders that you will need to navigate through an emerging crisis. Make an effort to build relationships with these contacts before a problem arises, and pay special attention to key government and regulatory officials who oversee and govern your industry. 

Influence the influencers: Outside your control – but not beyond your influence – are usually a handful of ‘independent’ industry experts who influence public and media opinion. From bloggers to retired CEOs, these key opinion leaders and authority figures hold immense sway and should be afforded special consideration. In some cases it may even be beneficial to pre-brief key influencers (under the proper confidentiality agreements) ahead of any potentially ‘uncomfortable’ announcements. 

Minimize the process: Regular readers know that I’m a big fan of process (see Process becomes King for more on this), but fast-moving issues often require nimble and creative solutions that don’t always fall neatly within a defined process. Instead, work with your legal and executive teams to create approved ‘short-cuts’ that can be engaged and regulated under emerging crisis situations. 

Sure – not every issue can be anticipated and not every crisis can be controlled, but with a modicum of vigilance and the right preparation, it is possible to be an unflappable communicator in the face of almost any crisis.

To learn more about implementing these ideas at your organization, send me an email at peter@communicationsunlimited.ca.

This year, many organizations will take a cold, hard look at their social media strategies. Sobering up from the initial marketing euphoria that seems to accompany the popular adoption of all new mediums, marketing and communications departments will focus on realigning their social media objectives and budgets to achieve results, and real value.

This will require a fundamental shift in the overall expectations of social media from ‘selling’ to ‘engaging’. In many cases, this move can be supported by a repositioning of responsibilities, taking social media budgets and management out of disparate Sales & Marketing portfolios and placing them within the oversight of Organizational Communications.

This move will facilitate two outcomes – it will de-couple social media objectives from the achievement of bottom line sales figures, and it will shift the overall expectations of social media throughout the organization.

So as you review your social media strategy this year, try to help your organization focus on five key areas where social media will create actual value:

Corporate Reputation – This year, most organizations will go beyond simply managing their corporate profile on LinkedIn and Facebook. The most tepid will harness social networks as an extension of their existing communications outreach, but market leaders will put special focus on building transparent relationships with their key influencers and most vocal detractors.

Employee Engagement – While some organizations continue to bar employees from using social media networks at the office, many professional communicators have already recognized the opportunity in creating and monitoring employee networks to enhance and manage employee engagement (for more on this topic, see Time for E2E).

Corporate Social Responsibility – An area that is already seeing good returns with social media, CSR leaders will continue to leverage the power of social networks to build awareness and encourage participation in their community, environmental and social programs. Internal charitable events (food and blood drives, United Way challenges, etc.) will find their goals more achievable through the tactical use of social media.

Issues Management – We have all seen the speed by which issues can circulate around social media networks. More than ever, professional communicators will need to put more resources towards monitoring the ‘chatter’ on popular networking sites, all the while seeking opportunities to engage supporters, manage potential issues and debunk rumours before they gain momentum. 

Client Communications and Customer Service – Many organizations are finding great success in creating social networks to provide ‘after-sales’ support. Not only are they able to communicate important product updates quickly and efficiently to customers, they enjoy increased customer loyalty and higher levels of customer service. In some cases, Customer Service departments have been able to reduce their workload by encouraging customers to provide support to each other.

The good news is that social media is ready to return value if used  properly. The trick will be in setting realistic and achievable objectives, while wrestling supervision away from those who are just looking to make a quick buck.

Social media (finally) returns value is one of our Top Ten Communications Issues for 2010. Next week we will look at Issue #8: The advent of GPS 2.0.