Any impressive building starts with sound architectural plans. The drawings step is vital to the creative process – it’s where architects and their clients can work together to think big, refine their ideas and validate that they’re on the same page before construction begins. No one would dream of starting a building project by digging a hole for a foundation and laying bricks all over the place, and then discuss whether we’re aiming for a cabin, an office tower or a sprawling bungalow. And yet, this is exactly what happens to so many communicators. Our version of architectural drawings is a ..read more

I’m back from my first Results Map® workshop national road show after a loooong season of online-only sessions. What’s crystal clear to me now is that nothing replaces the energy, buzz and insight that comes from in person connection. There is a sense of re-emergence and reimagining possibilities among the communications teams I’ve had the honour of working with over the last several weeks. One thing that strikes me is the number of communications professionals coast to coast that I’ve never met, but who share that they’ve been exposed to the Results Map® model of strategic communications and ..read more

Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of facilitating several executive and leadership retreats. Most of these sessions have been focused on supporting senior teams through leading and communicating change related to new hybrid approaches to work.  Without exception, these leadership sessions have been engaging, fascinating and refreshing. On a personal level, having the opportunity to work with leaders in-person has been particularly nourishing, especially after the isolation of the pandemic and the haze of endless Zoom sessions. Professionally, I have found navigating groups t ..read more

Last week’s post, WTF is going on?, generated a ton of online discussion. Clearly, organizations are struggling with the disruption of our time, particularly in cutting through the noise of the attention economy. My sense is that the corrosive cost of the current overwhelm has now reached the point of a burning platform – many organizations are finding that employees are unmoored, teams are dangerously misaligned and there’s a worrisome rise in internal conflict.  While we’re in the early days of understanding hybrid in the attention economy, one thing we know for sure is that this i ..read more

This week I was invited to deliver a talk entitled More Signal, Less Noise at a national financial organization event on the theme of the attention economy. On the surface, the focus was to be on how to communicate effectively with employees in a hybrid environment. But the real topic – the one that is the undercurrent of most of my conversations with executives these days is: What the f**k is going on?  Almost three years into an unrelenting pandemic, I think we can all agree this is a very weird time. It’s as if there’s something in the air that’s affecting all of us, but that somehow s ..read more

Over the last few years, we have had the distinct privilege of working with several leaders on driving organizational change. The pandemic has triggered massive growth in my change practice, and also a fundamental shift in direction – moving from traditional “managed change” to supporting executives in leading through ambiguity, chaos and disruption.  The essential nature of the changes I’m working on has evolved – from planned change exercises like a roll-out of a new IT system (ah, the days of straightforward change management!)  to a focus on emergent transformation. That is, a pa ..read more

As the saying goes, fish perceive water last. When you’re swimming in the waters of your organization, you’re so immersed in its dysfunctions and idiosyncrasies that you might lose sight of what a really high performing communications function actually looks like. Let’s take a look at the five essential traits: The first is alignment. The best communications teams are tightly aligned with their organization’s goals and priorities. Basically, they’re doing the right things, and doing them right. This practice is anchored in a solid, current strategic communications plan that reliably directs co ..read more

There has never been a more compelling time for communications teams to come together to help shape the future of work. More than two years into the pandemic, communications professionals are universally feeling both overwhelmed and underwhelmed. The pace of demands is relentless, technology and organizational change is constant and stakeholder expectations are sky high. At the same time, communicators are fragmented, disempowered and disillusioned in ways we’ve never seen before. Whether your team is in trouble, or you just have a nagging sense that things could be so much better, investing t ..read more

Let’s face it – nobody has a perfect communications team. There are always things we’d want to tweak – it would probably be better to have a bit more evaluation, tighter processes and a stronger planning culture. Fair enough. However, at what point do these areas for improvement turn into something more significant, and signal that the communications team is actually in trouble? From my experience with hundreds of communications teams, here are the tell-tale signs to watch for: The first one is when your internal clients do an end-run around you and hire their own communications consultants. I ..read more

One of the main occupational hazards for communications professionals is dealing with the frustrations of working with internal clients. The space between the communicator and the internal client is fraught with dangers, disconnects and delusional expectations. The first rule is this – do not accept the conditions that have you set up to fail. This happens a lot. Communicators are put in mission impossible situations all the time, so it’s vital that you develop a Spidey sense about when this is happening to you, and take immediate steps to shift the situation before you’re in too deep. An exam ..read more