With just a couple of weeks to go to the ‘big day’, many organisations are facing the twin pressures of lots to do before the end of the year and employees who in many cases already want to be winding down for Christmas. Offices are full of chocolates gifted by suppliers and the tinsel and … Read more
Change communication seems to be featuring even more regularly in my professional life than usual at the moment. It has been true for a long time that whilst I often hear people saying things like “here we go again, we’ve seen all this before, it’ll be better when the change stops”, change has become an … Read more
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. April is Autism Awareness Month. March sees Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal. Time-specific campaigns can be a great way for charities to raise awareness of their work and the difference they aim to make. They can also be an opportunity for different organisations doing similar things to work together. … Read more
My clients are busy people, with lots to do and lots to achieve. They recognise that communication at their organisation needs improving – often because other people have told them so – but they don’t know where to start, haven’t got enough pairs of hands or they don’t feel confident enough in their own communication … Read more
Recently I watched a feature film in German for the first time in about 20 years. And I understood it! And I laughed at the jokes! As a German graduate from the University of York, I really shouldn’t be so surprised, but when I left university I moved away from using my foreign languages and … Read more
We’ve all heard the old cliché “Failing to plan is planning to fail”. Personally I’ve always found it a bit smug, but like most clichés, there is a truth at the heart of it. Regular readers of this blog will know that it has become my mission in life to inspire organisations to be more … Read more
To be honest, there are no hard and fast rules about what it will cost. You might as well ask how long is a piece of string. But it is useful to think about what to include for internal communication when you are putting your comms budget together. A recent CharityComms report found that communication … Read more
One thing I have noticed coming through again and again in all the post-referendum Facebook posts, tweets and blog pieces is the sense that so many people don’t feel listened to. This has been picked up in newspaper articles and comment pieces too. It seems that many Leave voters were motivated to put their cross … Read more
This morning I attended a local networking session, the Woodley Business Club, for the second time – I had enjoyed the first session so much last month that I wanted to go along again. I have lived in the town of Woodley for 12 years, but only discovered that it has a thriving business community … Read more
This afternoon I am talking to the local Women’s Institute (WI) group about ABC to read, the literacy charity of which I am a trustee. It’s a chance to spread the word about the work we do to change children’s lives by supporting them to develop their literacy skills. As with many small organisations, we … Read more