This was my second year at the Strategic People Conference from Agenda Consulting. This year’s theme was ‘Thoughtful leadership for a healthy culture’. Once again I came away with lots of new ideas and questions to consider in my work with my clients. Throughout the day there was ample opportunity to learn from different perspectives … Read more
Values are important to me. Maybe that’s why I work in the not-for-profit and academic sectors. It certainly helps with running my own business – the values that frame my working life are entirely my own, not something that has been dictated or developed by others. This ensures that the work I choose to do … Read more
My first guest post of 2019 comes from copywriter, Holly Head, and gives some really helpful ideas for communicating with remote workers. As someone who works from home full-time, this topic has some personal relevance for me. But I’m certainly not alone. Despite the recent focus on it, remote working, is not a new phenomenon. … Read more
Earlier this week I had the great pleasure of chairing a panel discussion at the CharityComms Special Interest Group for internal communictors. This fantastic group of people with responsibility for IC in the not-for-profit world comes together quarterly to compare notes, share experiences and learn from each other. This month our speakers came from other … Read more
Last week I enjoyed having conversation with a room full of my fellow internal communications professionals at the Public Sector Internal Communications Conference. I came away inspired with ideas and tips to use with my clients. I liked this quote from Mandy Dryden, Head of Internal Communications at the Department of Health and Social Care, … Read more
I’m delighted to welcome communication specialist, Katie Jones, as my guest blogger this month. Katie shares with us her story of seeing the communication light as a student and her top tips for developing your organisational narrative. In a smoke and beer-filled room in Freshers Week I had a revelation. Angels sang and the clouds … Read more
I often help my clients to run focus groups with their employees, volunteers and other stakeholders, which is a role I love. Being a facilitator and enabling people to articulate and present their views is really important. However, running a focus group is not always as easy as it seems and if you get it … Read more
Editor’s note: this blog was written pre-pandemic so references working together in an office – this may no longer apply, but the comms advice is even more relevant when you’re not even in the same room.
Since I work with a lot of different organisations, I get to work with many teams and in a variety of environments – the best way to understand their culture is to suss out the tea and coffee making facilities. Back in 2014 I wrote a blog about the things I’d learnt from the humble … Read more
They may never be anyone’s favourite part of a job, but done right, potentially difficult conversations can have positive, productive outcomes.