The comms blog

Back to square one?

With #lockdown2 about to start in England tomorrow, it’s hard not to feel that we’re right back where we started earlier this year. Personally and professionally, I’ve heard a lot of heart-sinking, sighing and here-we-go-again-ing. Many communications teams and individuals are gathering themselves and setting to work once again for their colleagues. Finding the best … Read more

Guest post: Communication is the real work of leadership

My guest this month, leadership comms manager Shalini Gupta, shares her top tips for being our leaders’ trusted partners and supporting them to communicate well. She also describes us as unofficial ‘key workers’. Wouldn’t it be easy if our leaders could just push a button and say the right thing in the right tone and … Read more

10 quick and practical tips for communication that works

For this week’s blog I asked on my Twitter and LinkedIn pages for practical tips for communicators in a hurry. The results cover a wide range of areas, from planning and strategy to intranet and message suggestions. I particularly like the ideas in relation to sign-off, an area that can easily slow us down as … Read more

Guest post: Join up internally – one team, one mission

This month I am delighted to welcome Adeela Warley, CEO of CharityComms, as my guest blogger. She shares her thoughts on charities that are responding to the global pandemic by communicating and collaborating internally in new ways. This joined up approach helps them work together as one team. From reaction to reflection We’ve all dealt … Read more

How to avoid misunderstandings in times of uncertainty

One piece of communication can send many messages, some of which may not be immediately obvious to the person sending it. This is particularly true in situations of uncertainty, where your people are worried about the future. They may even be actively looking for hidden meaning behind your words. So as communicators we need to … Read more

Your perception is your reality

One day some time ago when my daughter was much younger, we were discussing colours on the school run – to be more precise, we were discussing the colours of the autumn leaves that we kicked through on our way to the playground. Soggy weather had really highlighted the bright colours of the leaves and … Read more