The comms blog

3 steps to spring clean your communications

Spring is definitely in the air and today I have been having a spring clean of my home office. I’ve put up new lighter, brighter curtains, tidied away some clutter and put a lovely bunch of flowers on the window sill. I find that I immediately feel more energetic and creative myself, ready to meet … Read more

Guest post: Employee engagement in the workplace

Today is #WorldHappinessDay. This month’s guest, Alan Price, COO and Employment Law Director at Peninsula, gives us his thoughts on employee engagement, which is something that can help people to feel happy at work. Employee engagement is the approach within a workplace leading to the right working conditions for employees. It relates to an employee’s … Read more

Great communications from 2018

Whichever way you look at it, 2018 has been quite a year. There have been countless examples of communications, good and bad, that have influenced opinions and changed behaviours; helped people to live their lives and just plain entertained them; made them angry, made them laugh and made them cry. I asked some lovely people … Read more

#YouMadeItHappen – my favourites

This week charities have been using the hashtag #YouMadeItHappen to thank their supporters and celebrate the difference they make. An email from NCVO’s Aidan Warner, sent to members to launch the imitative, said, “When we ask the public what they want to hear from charities, one thing comes through loud and clear. They want to … Read more

Communications masterclass for charities

“It’s useful to have a structure to use for communications.” Charity delegate Today I ran a Communications Masterclass for charities on behalf of the Small Charities Coalition. During the half-day workshop we covered areas such as making the case for effective communication at your organisation, ensuring your communication is effective, how to build a strategic … Read more

3 point jargon-busting plan

Sometimes the world seems full of jargon. For example, this year I’ve been having problems with an error message on my laptop. Not as bad as the blue screen of death, but worrying enough for me to google possible solutions. And to ask in a High Street computer store. And to speak to a mate … Read more

Guest post: Becoming an IC trusted adviser

With the summer holidays drawing to an end, offices and workplaces will start to fill up again and it’s time to start (re)building working relationships. This month’s guest post comes from internal comms expert, Advita Patel, who shares some tips for becoming a trusted adviser. If you’ve ever worked as an Internal Communications professional you … Read more

Retro post: 8 tips for an effective presentation

Last summer I shared some tips for communicating effectively if you are called upon to give a presentation at work. If you will be doing something similar in the autumn, why not take a look and see how you can up your game. So far this year I have presented to groups large and small … Read more

Retro post: how to understand culture through tea

Since I work with a lot of different organisations, I get to work with many teams and in a variety of environments – the best way to understand their culture is to suss out the tea and coffee making facilities. Back in 2014 I wrote a blog about the things I’d learnt from the humble … Read more