A summary of the Unconference held at Hill and Knowlton on Tuesday 20th March 2012.

1. Tuesday 20th March 2012
London Communicators and Engagement Group

4. ISSUES...
• Not taken seriously • Top down/monologue
• Not understood • Controlling agenda
• Not sexy • Professional credibility
• Supportive • Lack of confidence
• Legacy perceptions • Employees poor relation
• Hard to measure • Discretionary
• Vanity comms • Internal/external
• Fear of losing control • Lack of professional status
• Leadership role ill defined • Lack of perceived consequences
• Mismatch with biz opportunities • innovation
• Looking through the wrong lens

5. SOLUTIONS...
• Skills • Create allies
- consultants -make ‘em famous
- business acumen
• Build confidence
• Brand -quick wins
- case studies- relevant
- create advocates • Strategy
- insight led
• Silo busters
-commercial
- facilitators
- brand
- big picture - bigger picture
• Hold up a mirror
- highlight issues and solutions
• Status
-delivery
- business intelligence
- confidence
- relationships/politics

6. Issues... Solutions...
Downstream Strategic
Tactical Insights lead
Support function Value chain
Facilitators
Transformational
Strategic
Creativity
Professional status Innovation
Integrated
Challenge
Commercial
Business acumen
Discretionary Hard measures
Soft stuff Risks
Evidence based

7. ISSUES...
 Its impact can’t be separated from
Soft skills
No objectivity other business management
Why does it matter?  Senior managers don’t understand
Difference between comms and buisness internal comms and it’s value
comms  Not enough info about where the
Internal comms folk don’t understand
organisation is going
business dynamics
 ROI is the wrong thing to measure
Just sanitisers – a tool of management
It would happen anyway
 Not knowing the KPI’s
Anyone can do it???  What’s the point of measurement?
Cannot be singled out  Seen as broadcasting not
communicating

8. SOLUTIONS...
 Cost of doing badly v well  Identify appropriate baselines
 Not purely financial  Employee speed of access to info
and ability to use it effectively
 Comparison to external agency fees
 ID on a day to day basis and
 Correlation feedback MI to senior management
 Measure project success  Link to performance measures
 Provision of valuable M.I.  Measure untapped potential to
improve
 New management approval ratings

9. ISSUES... SOLUTIONS...
 Do we know better than the  Behaviour change training for
audience do? communication people
 It’s beyond just I.C  Behaviour change strategy set
 Long term vs short term  Behaviour change about changing
 It’s a new skill set? About culture
psychology – we need upskilling?  Discipline about audiences
 Science vs art in communication  Appoint a chief detail officer who is
 Empathy based looking for details that make the big
 Self interest difference
 Evidence based  Needs role models
 Measurement- need even clearer  Needs internal ambassadors and
intentions shared beliefs to strive to live by
 Business more about culture, how  IC role to frame and facilitate
and why concept in engaging way
 Cultural sensitivity  It needs to be integrated financially
 Requires more collaboration  Requires individual reflection and
personal buy in

10. ISSUES... SOLUTIONS...
 I.C needs to understand
 Aren’t they the same thing? Do organisational behaviour and
differently? psychology more
 Audience has to change  I.C enabler and a key part of wanting
 Its not a choice in today’s climate behaviour change
 Why change? Personal resistance.  Evolution
WIIFM  Both need senior leadership,
 People don’t understand what sponsorship and role modelling
behaviour change is?  Work from the groundswell, peer
 We are hired for our potential not pressure and social norms key
for what we are today  I.C is an output and input , Behaviour
 We need the tools for I.C teams to change is the outcome
adapt  Be more at the strategic level – part
 It needs role models of the team
 Both need research and evidence
base