Pod off

The ‘lived experience’ of practicing internal communication is not the same for everyone who works in the industry and our individual circumstances are often very different. There has been a recent explosion in the number of internal communication podcasts where advice for practitioners, founded on the lived experience of others, is liberally shared. Should we be asking ourselves if this advice is universally applicable to all, and if for some of us it is more a case for ‘pod off’ rather than ‘pod on’?

The inspiration game

When did you last inspire someone? Can’t remember, or are you just too modest to admit it? To inspire is to create the hope of a better future for internal communication, for the talent we spot and the profession as a whole. With that in mind we should all set our modesty aside and become active players in the inspiration game.

Power of the collective

We need to develop a better internal communications ecosystem to support our profession. An ecosystem where there is a symbiosis, co-existence and more co-operation between all the actors in it, and a little less commercial competition, so we can properly harness the power of our collective.

The tyranny of the future

The ever-present tyranny of the future has been intensified by the uncertainty created by the pandemic. Maybe the best thing any of us can do right now is to just take things one day at a time and to not try to think too far ahead.

A stitch in time

In a week of significant coronavirus related UK government announcements, it feels like we are in this for the long haul now and there is a creeping permanence in our current remote working circumstances. Internal communicators should be heeding the ministerial mantra of ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ to move away from the crisis and change communications approach of recent months towards one of continuous improvement.

No seat required

One of the more enduring myths in the world of internal communication is that you need to have a ‘seat at the boardroom table' to be an effective and influential internal communicator within organisations. This simply isn’t true and the reality for most internal communicators is that they will never achieve this lofty and privileged status.

Caught in the Middle

There is much research and opinion about management communication and leadership as a key influencer of employee engagement and organisational performance during change. However, this usually breaks up managers into two distinct groups, senior managers and “others”. There has been little examination of middle managers as a distinct communications audience and influencer in organisations.

Cat’s Cradle

We are being bombarded with rhetoric telling homeworkers that it is now time to get back to the office and ‘get back to work’. As we move into the next phase of the pandemic the gaslighting continues and does nothing to help organisations prepare for the safe return of some employees to their pre-pandemic workplaces. How can internal communicators neutralise the tangled messaging of an insidious gaslighting campaign designed to confuse and disorientate us?

Paradise Lost

In the wake of the pandemic is your organisational culture an Eden destroyed or a Hell vanquished? For internal communicators tasked with helping organisations balance the needs of employees and the demands of leadership to establish a new workplace Eden, there may be some big challenges to come.

Knowledge has a price tag

The explosion of philanthropy in knowledge sharing and support which many internal communicators experienced in the early days of the pandemic is over, and paid for online events are now making a comeback. Knowledge has a price tag, but it should be one that everyone working in internal communication is able to pay.