Top UK Communicator Planning Canberra Visit

IABC is working to bring Russell Grossman to Canberra

 It's tough times ahead for content marketers in Australia's Public Sector

Four months into office and the Abbott Government is scrutinizing staffing levels across the public sector in a bid to cut government expenditure.  

That means bad news for government communicators of all persuasions as well as other staff.  Facing the Treasury scalpel Departmental leaders will be looking at ways to trim the ranks of employees, motivate the teams that survive and and exhorting bureaucrats to do more with less.

That's a tough task for executives at all levels.  In the coming months cool-headed, strategic management and internal communications will be at a premium across the Capital.

Top UK communicator Russell Grossman is someone familiar with engaging and motivating public sector staff in times of change. And he is certainly worth listening to.  A polished speaker, he currently leads a UK Government program to strengthen internal communications for the 440,000 staff who work in the UK Civil Service and Government bodies. He is also the Director of Communications at the UK’s Department for Business and a former Head of BBC Internal Communications.

Grossman is planning a visit to the National Capital in early March to share insights with his Canberra colleagues. 

He will most likely talk on ground breaking UK research on employee engagement and how the UK Civil Service is embedding an engagement mentality among its staff for competitive advantage.  He has also been asked to reveal UK Government efforts to improve the performance of Whitehall communications teams, strengthen communications as a profession within government and move bureaucratic thinking from ‘press release by default’ to ‘digital by default’.

The Canberra Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators is finalising arrangements for Grossman's visit. 

Strut Your Stuff Gold Quill Style

Last year Canberra communicators created some outstanding content marketing campaigns so how should we recognise that Aussie excellence?  

It's time to enter the IABC’s 2014 Gold Quill Awards which celebrate the best of the best communications and marketing practices from around the world. Entering the Awards can bring international acclaim to a local campaign success.   

Winning a Gold Quill boosts your resume, earns global recognition for your team and is a source of personal pride in your accomplishments.

Entries close on 10 March 2014 so start today by visiting IABC.

How To Succeed In Change Management

Change Management from Bob Crawshaw

Changing behaviour in organisations is one of the toughest challenges communicators face. IABC Canberra presenter Tina Chawner recently offered insights on the subject based on her UK experiences.

How To Tell A Story The World Will Listen To

Have a good cause, issue or product, convert it to a simple, well told story and the world will listen.

Over Christmas I have been reading books on storytelling by former World Bank executive and Australian author, Stephen Denning.  Recently I blogged about Denning's thoughts on  corporate storytelling and change.  

So how do you construct an effective story that can stimulate people's willingness to change?

A springboard story is one designed to take listeners to a new level of understanding about a change. This type of story can be used to inform, educate or to shake the skeptics out of their complacency or hostility to your new idea. 

According to Denning an effective springboard narrative has seven  parts:

A strong idea	The change idea you communicate is clear and worthwhile aiming for.
The story is about on a real example of success	It can be from a program that tested a new idea, a successful case study from another part of your  organisation, or one from the same industry or a different but nevertheless relevant environment.
Single protagonist	Tell the story from the viewpoint of an individual the audience can relate to.
Date, time and place	Set the boundaries of your success example so people readily see your story’s authenticity.
Detail	You only need minimal detail because listeners need mental space to make the leap between what they are hearing  and their own situation.
Ending	Have a genuinely happy ending: one that illustrates success in terms of improved outcomes, team work, health, sales, production efficiency or other measures your audience relates to.
Purpose	End with a visible link back to your central change idea.

Perhaps we should take a leaf from the history books and use stories, as well as the facts and figures of business logic, as we set out to encourage people to accept change.

Make Stories Part of Your Communications Toolkit

PR people have long known the power of stories to engage the media.  However storytelling is becoming an important tool in corporate communications.  Management fads may come and go but stories still resonate with people - even in the workplace.

Denning's book is a guide to corporate storytelling

I'm currently reading The Leader's Guide to Storytelling by former World Bank executive and Australian author Stephen Denning.  

Denning describes the intrinsic power of stories, the range of stories that can further organisational goals, and how to construct  effective narratives in particular situations.

He identifies a corporate communications catalogue of stories that can be used to:

• Springboard staff into adopting new practices.
• Introduce a manager and his or her vision.
• Communicate an organisation's brand to external audiences. 
• Transmit culture and values throughout an organisation.
• Pass along knowledge and highlight the benefits of collaboration.
• Deliberately set out to counter workplace gossip and rumours.

Stories are the language of the human camp.  They have been around 40 000 years and  continue to be as effective today as they were back then.  They work in our personal lives so we as communicators should borrow their power and make it work for us in our work lives.

Denning's book is good guide to story telling so I'll be blogging highlights and practical tips in future posts.