Recently I’ve been involved in quite a few change programmes with clients. Throughout my time supporting these organisations I try to ensure that the communications we share with the workforce is as inclusive as it can be. Below are some top tips and techniques I hope help some of you who are working on change programmes. Here are five steps to help you communicate organisational change in an inclusive way: 1. Understand the change. The first step is understanding the change, inside and out so you know how communications can support it. You can start by asking curious questions. Why is t ..read more

Imagine waking up in 2032 and being able to choose where you do your morning workout – on Venice Beach or outside Syndey Opera House. A future that allows you to pick your hours, where you want to work, what projects you want to work on and be paid immediately via your crypto wallet. A place where you can meet your colleagues in virtual rooms, regardless of where they are based. A space where you can meet friends in New York one day and Shanghai the next. This may seem like utopia but it’s more of a possibility than you think, thanks to the metaverse. There may be some scoffing at the back of ..read more

The very first conference I attended was in 2003. I had no idea what to expect or how to behave. I even went to Marks and Spencers and bought a suit jacket as I thought that would make me look more important than the job title I had at the time. I remember walking into the hotel lobby, feeling a bit lost. The woman on the registration desk was chatting with her colleague. So I waited for them to finish. “The names are in alphabetical order,” she said without looking my way. I took my badge and the agenda off the table. These were the days before I had a smartphone to occupy me, and I wasn’t go ..read more

On a scale of JOMO* to FOMO*, I am very firmly in the FOMO camp. In my opinion, there’s nothing worse than finding out you weren’t invited to the party! Sometimes, what feels like exclusion is simply a communication mishap. Perhaps you assumed the right people would talk about it, maybe you misspelled the address. When our communications are well-considered and well-planned we can avoid a multitude of unnecessary exclusions. As communications professionals, we are constantly having to identify who is in and who is out of our messages but, are we going far enough to make sure everyone feels inc ..read more

Data Driven Insights Improve Representation at Pixar It was around a decade ago that I started to become aware of gender inequality at my church. I probably would have noticed a lot sooner if I’d been born Gen Z rather than Millennial! I was starting to get involved in leading the Comms team and one of my first assignments was to transform the ‘Family News’ (essentially the notices). At the time the Family News was presented by the homogenous, White, 40+, male, senior leadership team.  I didn’t have access to data but it was plain to see that our largely middle class church was certainly ..read more

In May 2020, the tragic murder of George Floyd sent shockwaves across the globe, causing many organisations and business leaders to release statements to say they will do everything in their power to make sure change takes place. Fast forward 12 months, and many would argue that even though externally, some leaders responded rapidly at what they'd witnessed, internally, not much change had happened when it came to diversity and inclusion efforts.  Building an inclusive culture might not be for want of trying but embedding diversity and inclusion into the organisations culture is something ..read more

This week’s guest blog feature is by Ilyana Rajwani, a Public Relations and Communications Management Graduate from Solent University. Ilyana’s blog is such an important read and I hope you find it useful. We still have a long ay to go before there is fair representation in the PR industry but I know with high flying graduates like Ilyana, things are about to change. The lack of racial diversity in the PR industry Having just finished my 10,000-word dissertation on this topic, you would think writing on this topic further would be the last thing on my mind. However, this topic is not written ..read more

This week’s guest blog comes from bestselling author, international speaker, public speaking expert and founder of Now You're Talking coaching business, Lyn Roseaman. I virtually met Lynn when I was presenting at an event about visibility and she contacted me to ask if my community would be interested in reading her top tips about how to build an online mindset. Of course, I had to say, yes! Enjoy Lyn’s tips and please do let me know if you want to write for my blog - I’d love to feature you - over to Lyn. Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the d ..read more

In my brand new guest blog feature, I’m pleased to introduce the wonderful Angela Wilson, an experienced communicator, who has shared some great tips on how to listen effectively. It’s something we talk about frequently, but hands-on heart, how many of us do this actively? Over to Angela… The key to great communication is not getting your message out there, it’s listening. Cast your mind back a year ago (if you can!). When we found ourselves plunged into a national lockdown, what did you notice on the rare occasions you left your home? The din of traffic gave way to a breeze through the trees ..read more

Last week I received a DM from a communicator who asked how they could to stop firefighting and focus more on strategy. Before I share some advice, I want to be honest here for a minute. What we’re all facing at the moment is a long-term crisis. You will undoubtedly spend some time firefighting as it’s hard to know what’s going to happen from one day to next so please don’t be too hard on yourself. However, with that said, continuously firefighting without any plans or measures in place can you put you at risk of burnout, and you can end up flipping from one thing to another without any though ..read more