Resources

I'm just typing up the buy/sell board from the latest masterclass and one of the 'buys' is a list of resources (books, weblinks etc) that people have found useful.

I'm going to suggest that people look at the bibiliography that Lee Smith put on the Inter-comm site.  But it would be great if we could tap into the collective wisdom here....

Can people take a look and we'd love to see any other suggestions that people have (Book reviews most welcome!!!!)

Liam

Comments

[Sue]

'The Trusted Advisor' by David Maister, Charles Green and Robert Galford. Written for anyone working as a consultant/professional services advisor rather than for internal comms professionals per se. Looks at what makes a trusted advisor, how you earn and develop trust, building strong relationships, how to give advice, good listening, amongst other things. Made me think and gave me some new perspectives.

'How to talk so people listen' by Sonya Hamlin. Good, simple comparisons of the communication preferences of different generations (Generation X, Y, baby boomers etc.)and very practical tips around creating great presentations, leading and participating in meetings, managing Q&A sessions and 121 discussions. Thought provoking personally and also some great tips to pass on to line managers.

Martin Lukes & Lucy Kellaway: 'Who Moved My BlackBerry?' A hilarious read that will make you wince as you recognise some of the corporate rubbish and jargon you have seen - or worse written - in your time. Really makes you think twice if you find yourself typing corporate nonsense.

On the advice of Kim from Carburos Metallicos, I've just bought 'Managing Transitions' by William Bridges. I haven't read it yet, but I'm told it's a great resource if you're involved in change comms.

Also, I have to say that since I started working with Melcrum's research forum and hence writing the commentary for their research reports, I have learnt stacks - sometimes from new thinking, sometimes from case studies, sometimes from just plain reflecting and seeing things from a different perspective. It's well worth having a look at the list of reports published to see if there's one on a topic you're working with.

[Suzie Adams]

Hi there,

Here's a list of useful books that my team have come up with that you may find useful...

Cochrane L. (1997) Employee Communication: The Strategic Approach, London:The Industrial Society

Harvard Business Review on Change (1998)
Harvard Business Review Press

Harvard Business Review on Culture and Change (2002) Harvard Business Review

Larkin T.J. and Larkin, S. (1994) Communicating Change: How to win employee support for new business directions, New York: McGraw-Hill

Quirke, B. (1996) Communicating Corporate Change: Maidenhead, McGraw Hill

Quirke B (2000) Making the Connections – using IC to turn Strategy into Action: Aldershot:Gower

Hope these help,

Suzie
Virgin Mobile

[Liam]

Thanks for this...

I've not come across the Liz Cochrane book before - can you remember what it covers?

Liam

[Tony Quinlan]

I'd echo Bridges' "Managing Transitions" and raise you with Steve Denning's "The Leader's Guide to Storytelling" (although it might be worth hanging on for his next one, specifically on Leadership Communications), Bolton's "People Skills" and Lori Silverman's "Wake Me Up When The Data Is Over."

Tony

[Sue D]

Hi Tony,

The Lori Silverman book sounds interesting - what's that one about?

Sue

[Suzie Adams]

Hiya,

In response to Liams question about the Liz Cochrane book. She's one of the tutors from the Internal Comms Diploma at Kingstone College. The book is about the thought process behind a comms strategy - things to consider etc. Although it's quite pricey at £125!

Hope this helps,

Suzie
Virgin Mobile

[tquinlan]

Sue

Sorry for the silence - missed your note until Liam prompted me...

I'm reading my way through Lori Silverman at the moment and it's useful rather than brilliant - full of examples of how using narratives and stories engage/reduce staff turnover/improve results etc as opposed to those fabulously stultifying figures and bulletpoints that we've all watched (and, in my case, were guilty of producing).

I'm biased, of course, but I'm finding it useful.