iabcUK

New (and old) boys and girls on the block

June and July is when the IABC UK Board and committees set themselves up for a new year of action. At our AGM hosted at the BBC on June 13th, we heard from outgoing President Amy Moser Serao just what a great 2006/2007 it had been - signified by winning the IABC Mid-size Chapter of the Year along with other awards for Leadership, Professional and Financial Development.

Your new IABC UK Board is Andrew Riley (President), Kevin Keohane (President Elect), Amy Moser Serao (Past President), Trish MacReady (Vice President Administration), Eva Appelbaum (Vice President Communication), Ellen Coomber (Vice President Finance), Kevin Keohane (Vice President Marketing), Susan Walker (Vice President Membership), Sarah Robinson (Vice President Professional Development) supported by additional volunteers forming committees for marketing, membership and professional development. Board members stepping down were Helen Kelly (Administration), Marc Wright (Membership) and Jacqui Hitt (Professional Development) who were warmly thanked for their outstanding contributions.

Our IABC UK strategy continues to build on last year's success and aims for: a vibrant programme of 10 events a year, target membership of 250 in the UK (220 members currently) with significant contributions being made towards demonstrating professional communication expertise here in the UK, at European and North American conferences and at IABC leadership programmes (watch this space!). 

After the ceremonies at the AGM we held a spoof Dragon's Den contest. 5-minute entrepreneurial pitches requesting funding were made. Kevin Keohane's idea for making a short film profiling members to highlight what the benefits of being a member was awarded the first prize of £500 funding (and a year's free membership to Kevin), and in joint second place came Sarah Robinson's desire for an industry-led IABC-inspired Professional Development academy and Ellen Coomber's plan for IABC members contributing their expertise to build a compelling communications plan to highlight climate change. Those of you interested in finding out more from these entrepreneur's please get in touch.

During the rest of July and August, the new Board and committees are getting together to put their plans in place - here's to us all catching up at the first event in September.

Wanted - Buzz Directors

Went to a particularly ideas-full conference run by the people at Sift - the people who manage the technology behind Simply. There Lawrence Clarke introduced the idea of the 'Buzz Director'.  This is the person - expert in your industry - who follows what is going on in the blogosphere and directs the rest of us to the latest controversy.
The thesis goes like this. Odds on the best stories and the juiciest news are not going to be broken on your site (no matter how hard you try) but are scattered around the blogosphere.   What Shel Holtz calls 'edge content' is  becoming more important than  the stuff we publish on our  knowledge sites - whether Simply, Ragan or Melcrum - and much of it resides on blogs.  Let me give you just a couple of recent examples. Lee Smith directed me to Liam Fitzpatrick's blog where guest blogger Paul Massie, Chair of CIPRInside (the internal communications group of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations) laid into social media.  Here there was a lively ding dong between a sceptic (Massie) and the more socially-media inclined end of the internal communication profession.

Then yesterday Neville Hobson went on FIR to podcast about the controversy of Debbie Weil trying to boost her corporate Alliconnect Blog. Alliconnect is a place to discuss weight loss with the creators of alli, an over-the-counter weight control medication, approved for OTC sales in the USA, made by GlaxoSmithKline.  Allan Jenkins has been laying into her for encouraging fellow bloggers to put posts on her blog because it's not getting any from its readership.

These blogspats are more illuminating (and more fun) than any academic article I could have commissioned on the etiquette of blogging and they attract far more interest (measured by the number of comments).  And what's significant is that they flare up out of nowhere, burn brightly and then subside very quickly sometimes before you've caught them and put in your tuppence-worth.  Famously Dell managed to miss the exploding batteries story although they were at the heart of the firestorm.

So what we all need are Buzz Directors - people like Lee and Neville - to keep us up-to-date with the latest hot topic or controversy.  These are the new Connectors of the blogosphere, the Technorati gossip columnists.

Is it just gossip?  Or could Buzz Directors play a key role in corporate communications within large organisations.  If you have a famous brand, should you not have a Buzz Director whose full-time job is to scan the web about your iPhone or airline and direct the rest of the company to what customers and commentators are truly saying about your products or services.  You might not like what they unearth - but at least you can join the conversation.

Using psychology to improve your communication style

One of the trickiest communication challenges we all face is how to make sure we get our message across successfully. Whether talking to your partner, colleague or boss we have all had experience of when communication has gone well or really been messed up. Our recent IABC UK event on 29 March explored all these issues and more.

Guest speaker, Nick Fewings, co-founder of The Colour Works lead a fun and interactive session where we explored different psychological types and what this means for how we communicate. The Colour Works uses the colour-based Insights Discovery System to help people understand their preferences and how this translates into how they prefer to communicate.

During the session we discovered what blend of 'Cool Blue', 'Fiery Red', 'Earth Green' or 'Sunshine Yellow' we all were. We then did some fun exercises to show how people with particular preferences look at the world in different ways - all revolving around how we would approach organising a village fete. This led to lots of laughter as well as more than a few 'ah ha' moments. If you'd like to discover more about what was shared at the event then you can find a copy of Nick's presentation together with several other articles he's written on our events page.

So why was a session like this of value to professional communicators? Understanding other people and their preferences lies at the heart of influencing others and also of crafting messages that are really compelling. Once you appreciate the similarities and differences between people it opens up a whole new way of understanding how communication really works. The Insight Discover System that The Colour Works team uses is one tool you can use. There are also others - many of which are, like Insight, based on the work of Carl Jung. These include

• The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - the most extensively researched and used tool of its type. This can only be administered by a qualified practitioner. I qualified using this tool about 5 years ago and have found it has transformed the way I approach what I do. I recently wrote a piece for the Simply Communicate site introducing the tool and how communicators can use it. You can down load a copy here. Download introducting_the_mbti.pdf
• The Kiersey Type Indicator - Similar to the MBTI but more accessible. Visit www.kiersey.com to find out more.
• The Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) - This a tool that helps you understand your strengths and how to use them to improve your work and personal relationships. Visit www.personalstrengths.co.uk.

In many ways it doesn't matter which of the above work best for you - they will all provide you with invaluable insights into yourself, others and what makes communication work.

Finally I promised to share a list of good reads in this area with those who attended the session. My top four are:

Please Understand me 2 by David Kiersey - this includes a questionnaire and then detailed write-ups on each of the different temperments. It also explores how this influences relationships with partners and children and what it means for leadership style. Very illuminating.

Life Types by Sandra Krebs Hirsh & Jean Kummerow - This introduces you to each of the types - how they like to live, learn, work, lead, spend their spare time, love (!) and lose. Could completely change your understanding of people...

Beside Ourselves by Naomi L. Quenk - this explores what happens to us when we are having a 'bad day' and what this means for how we interact and communicate with others. If you have ever wondered why you or others behave out of character this will reveal all.

And at the more fun end of the spectrum, Nigel Risner has written a great quick read on "It's a zoo around here - new rules for better communication" this time using animals to reflect different communication styles (Are you a lion, monkey, elephant or dolphin?). Further details are available from his website www.nigelrisner.com

I hope you find the above helps you explore this fascinating area in more detail. And like lots of valuable things, the more you read, the more you realise there is to discover.

Jacqui Hitt

VP Professional Development, IABC UK

New Year, New Opportunities

Last Thursday we had a great evening session on the theme of New Year, New Opportunities which explored what was happening in the internal communication and freelance market place and how to make sure you transition successfully into a new role. We had a good turnout for the session and speakers, Quentin Cowdry of Libero, Emma Brierly from xchangeteam and Sue Burnell from This is Business Coaching all did a terrific job of sharing the latest trends.

Quentin spoke about the tight market for skilled internal communications professionals and the rising number of people deciding to go freelance or independent. Salary and day rates have risen sharply over recent years due to demand and supply pressures. From his research, people clearly love working in internal communication - but the challenges it presents can prove hugely demanding. Its never has and never will be a 9 to 5 job. Having said that there is clearly room for offering people in these roles much greater flexibility - whether you work in-house or for a consultancy. The benefits are clear  from reseach from a host of other organisations - greater motivation, productivity and staff retention. There is also a strong need for the industry to work much harder at becoming a profession rather than simply practitioners. A tough nut to crack given the number of industry bodies that represent communication professionals. IABC, CiB and CIPR could all work more closely together.

Emma spoke about the expanding freelance market place. It seems that whether you have a permanent or temporary role the freelancer mindset is what is expected. Jobs for life have gone and both employers and the people who work for them are looking for greater flexibility and higher levels of delivery. More and more employers are looking to resource more flexibly and the freelancer neatly responds to this need. It doesn't suit everyone because you need to be highly motivated, disciplined, adapatable and able to hit the ground running. For a glimpse at what the future might bring read Charles Handy's The Elephant and the Flea.

Sue shared her experience of supporting people transition into new roles successfully. The first 90 days of any new role are critical - both for the individual and the organisation - but few stop to think about how to make every second of those days count. Sue shared her tips on getting relationships right from the start and recognising that the newcomer isn't the only one who is affected - their team and colleagues also have to adapt and change. So if you're starting a new role think carefully about your goals for the first three months - it could make a real difference to your future progression.

The evening hopefully inpsired everyone to think bigger and better about their careers in 2007 and beyond. Its clearly a great time to be in the industry - with lots of challenges and opportunities.

The presentations given by each of the speakers, are available for download.

Jacqui Hitt, VP Professional Development

IABC UK - Mid-Size Chapter of the Year

Congratulations to everyone in IABC UK - we've won the Mid-Size Chapter of the Year from IABC International for outstanding chapter management. The award was announced at the recent Leadership Institute in San Diego.

The award recognises our dedicated team of volunteer leaders and members for their commitment toward promoting the goals and objectives of IABC at the local level. We received special recognition for our financial management and leadership development. There were more than 100 IABC chapters from around the world competing, and it was no easy task filling out the five applications that we did in November.

Our Board was delighted to receive the award (see photo below) and celebrate at the pub following our 7 Feb meeting. We had just made huge strides to 215 members after more than 100 people attended the 17 Jan 'Member Introduce Member' event at the BBC.

So on this great high for the chapter, I am taking my leave to have a baby and handing over the presidency to Andrew Riley as of 1 March. I plan to return for the 13 June annual general meeting where I've got a few surprises planned. I've really enjoyed this time of leading the chapter, and look forward to more achievements in the future. All the best - Amy Moser Serao

Happiness at work

According to a new piece of research by HR consultancy Chimento, happiness is the new weapon in the drive to recruit and retain the best and brightest new workers. Called the Happiness at Work Index, the research reveals the top ten things that make us happy at work are:

• Friendly, supportive colleagues
• Enjoyable work
• Good boss or manager
• Good work/life balance
• Varied work
• Doing something worthwhile
• Making a difference
• Being part of a successful team
• Achievements recognised
• Competitive salary

The above probably make quite a bit of sense (and are possibly not all that new) to most of us although no doubt there are more than a few who happily turn up for work just for the money. What's interesting to me as a communicator is how much time is spent focusing on communicating on these issues and helping create the type of culture it seems that more than a few people want to be part of.

If more and more companies followed the likes of Innocent, Orange and Google who are aiming to attract and retain staff based on offering a warmer, friendler and more personal work experience then it requires communicators to adopt a new approach. Less corporate speak and more of a human touch. Results will always be the number one focus for any organisation and if, at research suggests, those results are easier to achieve if people are happy at work then it signals a very different employer-employee relationship based on far more of a win:win philosophy. While few companies will go as far as Howie's in offering a 'too nice to be here day" it does suggest there is lots of creative scope for communicators and HR to work together to make work more fun and rewarding while also keeping everyone focused on the targets to be met.

Update and question - What conference have you spoken at recently?

Hi everyone,
I'm just sending out an email update to all IABC UK members in a minute so I've done a quick recap below of some of my comments. I also posted a question in there where I asked people to answer this question on the blog: 'What conferences have you spoken at recently?' I have this big idea about asking our members to promote IABC when they do presentations about best practice at external conferences. I facilitated Marketing Week's Employee Engagement Summit last March and I found it was a perfect opportunity to talk to a captive audience about the benefits of IABC and membership. I'm hoping to inspire some others out there - because we'd really like to grow our chapter to 250 by June (we're at 193 right now). See below for our big event on 17 Jan.

Recap of my update to IABC UK members:

* Happy New Year and welcome to an exciting winter season for IABC UK.*

Looking to act on your 'career' New Year's resolutions? This winter's schedule has three big events that will make the most of your membership:
* networking at Member Introduce Member - 17 January
* job prospects at New Year, New You - 22 Feb
* inspirational self-discovery at Personality Profiles - 29 March.
http://uk.iabc.com/pages/events.html

'Member Introduce Member' in London on 17 Jan is a first for us. We're acting on feedback that members and prospective members want to know how to get the most out of IABC and talk about hot topics with forward-thinking, influential people. IABC Member John Smythe will talk about employee engagement followed by a light buffet and networking. We hope to see you and your friends there. Members please sign up by 16 January: http://uk.iabc.com/pages/Events/MemberParty.html
Print or send the invite to your guests: http://uk.iabc.com/pages/events/guest_invite.pdf  Guests rsvp to Sharron@fonhouse.co.uk

Since my last update, the UK Board has continued to amaze me and here are just a few highlights: Eurocomm, chaired by President-Elect Andrew Riley, was a smashing success. Marketing head Kevin Keohane's branding work is bringing us some great new thoughts. And thanks to wise spending of the Board and Finance head Ellen Coomber, our 17 Jan event is a low-cost one for members and free for prospects. We are also sponsoring two Board members to go San Diego for the Leadership Institute on 25 January. It's an important investment that will strengthen us in years to come. While there, we'll give $1000 to the IABC Research Foundation. We've also applied for five chapter management awards this year, so wish us luck.

I hope I'll see you at one of the events before March as that's when I go on maternity leave and Andrew Riley will take over as president. At least you'll be able to find me easily - just look for the large bump in front. Although I'll be bringing a membership prospect to the world, he won't be quite ready to volunteer for a while. So this new year, I'd like to hear from IABC UK members about any outcomes you'd like to get as a volunteer and I'll help you find an opportunity. Best regards, Amy

2007 Resolution: taking the FD and HRD out for lunch

An argument we are familiar with is: do internal communicators deserve a place at the Board room table? For 2007 are internal communicators going to equip themselves with sufficient knowledge to have something to talk about and be listened to once we are out for lunch with the finance director and the human resource director?

Something I came across last month may be useful for internal communicators working in pensions, salary & benefits. The UK Pensions Regulator has issued a very interesting consultation document that highlights the five key risks to defined contribution pension plans (pensions where an individual holds his or her own shares in a plan that is financially supported by the employee). The risks described in some detail are: lack of member understanding, poor decisions on retirement choices, poor administration charges, poor investment practices and unduly high charges. The regulator is calling for better communication, better understanding and changes of behaviour by the employer, the board of trustees, pension providers and individuals. ..

Now here is something of interest linking the internal communicator to the finance director, and human resource director for us to drop into the discussion over the set menu (I assume we should not appear too flash with our cash in front of the FD). Responses to the consultation are required by 2 February so don't delay and take a look at: www.pensionsregulator.gov.uk/mediaCentre/pressReleases/pn06/pn06-37.aspx

Review of the IABC Café

  Just thought I'd bring to your attention this review of the IABC Café blog by Lee Smith:

"Launched in autumn 2004, the IABC Café is produced by the International Association of Business Communicators, the global networking organisation.

Themed around a coffee bar and described as ‘the gathering place for professional communicators’, it features posts from a variety of senior communicators, most of them in the US.

The ‘Chief Barista’ at the café is Glenda Holmes, VP of communications and marketing for the Texas Apartment Association and current IABC Chair. Glenda is supported by five very able ‘Guest Baristas’, including UK-based Barbara Gibson.

This ‘all hands’ approach works well and gives the blog a more balanced, community feel - wholly appropriate for a professional body.

As the name suggests, the blog features an eclectic mix of news and views. Recent topics have included poor leadership behaviour, social media, reports from various IABC events and the likely role of communicators in 2020. As you’d expect from such esteemed contributors, there’s some fascinating, insightful and though-provoking content in there.

Criticisms? Whilst I love the simplicity of the site - it’s clean and uncluttered – finding entries about broad themes and specific topics can be tricky. At the time of writing this review there were just three ‘catch all’ categories containing all 462 posts. If you can’t find what you’re looking for under ‘General’, ‘IABC’ or ‘IABC International Conference 2005’ (which, let’s be honest, is unlikely), you’ll need to use the search facility. That, as regular Googlers know, can be a hit or miss affair. But if you persevere, you’ll find some tasty morsels.

As with so many blogs of this type, the site also suffers from a distinct lack of posts. There are a handful of posts each month, but I’d argue that’s simply too few to keep the conversation going. It’s a case of the coffee tasting good, but the café lacking atmosphere. As a result I suspect that many people visit, but few of them return on a regular basis.

So what does make this blog special? Alongside the blog, the IABC produces a great monthly podcast called Café2Go. It features many of the hallmarks of a good podcast - it’s short (less than 30 minutes), topical (the December cast discusses the big communication related news stories of 2006), punchy and opinionated. Though it originates from the US, it’s still very relevant to European communicators and covers themes most of us will find of interest.

The interview-based podcast includes a variety of voices. In addition to Glenda Holmes, the December podcast features IABC President Julie Freeman, Gold Quill Chair Jennifer Wah and social media supremo Shel Holtz. It’s a great way to keep up-to-speed on what’s happening in the US and what the IABC is up to globally.

Overall, the IABC Café is a useful destination for internal communicators. It would certainly benefit from some refurbishment, and I would love to see more international blends on offer, but it’s definitely worth stopping by every now and again for a quick expresso…"

Review by Lee Smith
www.talkingic.typepad.com

Collaboration for busy communicators

The IABC UK Board has started to use an online collaborative tool/website to share documents, messages, to-do lists. The main idea behind it was to alleviate the large number of e-mails going around with important documents attached, that may or may not have copied in everyone, and that are difficult to locate when you need them.  Sound familiar?

There some amazing, easy-to-use, inexpensive (or free) tools out there:  BaseCamp, Zoho Projects and ActiveCollab. 

Basically, with a very simple set-up (it took me 5 minutes and less than £5), you can give teams of people access to a secure website where they can post documents, messages, to-do lists, milestones, or write and edit collaboratively.  There is a built-in e-mail alerting function - so when you post something new, you can send a message to other members to go and look at it on the site.  It's all very logical and civilised.

These collaborative tools/sites have been very popular within the geek tech community for a while now.  More and more communication professionals have begun using them as well, which is great because they are an excellent example of a new generation of web tools (notice I don't say web 2.0), which are applicable to all audiences and easy to use, (no matter how un-tech savvy you are). 

If any of our IABC members (or blog readers) would like to share their thoughts or experiences using these any of these tools from a communicator's perspective - we'd love to hear from you!