Career Building Step #1 Get People to Pay Attention

Lately we have run into some fairly dispirited communicators frustrated by their senior management's lack of attention to their ideas. I sympathize.

I know how trying it can be to get people to recognise the value of your media or marketing suggestions. Worse still is when they readily adopt the same ideas from a consultant "earning big bucks", treat them like heavenly revelations and implement them.

So how can you get your boss to recognise the value of what you're suggesting?

• Sometimes it's sad but true. The communicators "selling the organisation, don't sell themselves". So don't just be tolerated- be valued. Continually talk up the value your communications brings.
• When you submit your annual budget are you asking people to commit to an act of blind faith? Forecast the results and benefits you plan to deliver.
• Most professional PR and marketing services run on a billable time basis. Clearly show how you spend your time and how your investment of effort brings results.
• It's easy to typecast communicators as left brain, artsy types far removed from the real world. Learn to speak the language of management - outcomes and objectives, deliverables, targets, milestones, prospects and sales.
• Managers are busy people. They want to see things at a glance. Use graphs, graphics and tables to visually present information.
• Benchmark with the best. Ask senior management which organizations they admire and then find out why those organisations communicate effectively. If in fact they do things better, learn from them. When you introduce new ideas tell those on the top floor, where these fresh insights come from and how others have made them work.
• Measure everything you can lay your hands on. Measuring your communications is the only way to show progress. (Check out Angela Sinickas' free resources on communications measurement).
• Report early ... report often. Regularly send one page reports upstairs about what you are doing. Don't write a history book so keep reporting short, sharp and concise. Finish each report with a "where to next" section in dot point form.
• When things succeed, collect and circulate testimonials to profile your achievements.
• "Comma jockeys and font fiends" talk tactics. Top communicators talk strategy. Continually remind people who they are trying to reach, what they are trying to say, the results they are trying to achieve and how your proposals will get them there.

Sometimes convincing people within your organisation can be tougher than convincing your external audiences. But taking the time to engage management can be a career building step.