Black Belt Dojo

So long, farewell (well, not really)

So this is my final post. Tomorrow Timm Seuss takes over as guest blogger - and I am looking forward to hearing his views.  Over this past  month I have learnt from both writing posts, and getting feedback, on and offline.

1.  Blogging is fun - but I am not sure that social media is the next big thing in IC. Any publication I pick up that involves comms (PR, marketing) is focused on UGC - User Generated Content.  I will stick my neck out here and say that stuff on myspace, YouTube, blogs, is entertaining because it is entertainment (yes - even Black Belt, I love reading about what happens on the course). Business strategy still fails to be entertainment for me. 

2.  Have strong opinions (even if you don't agree with yourself 100%). I enjoy Liam's posts when he is irate about something. Passion is a strong argument, and even if I don't agree with what he says, I respect his views and I am more willing to challenge him.   Don't sit on the fence on blogs or at work.

3. Internal Comms does not save lives.  Last night I had a conversation with friends about the impact on the workplace if any of us died. Dr Upton won - because he is responsible for minimising the anthrax threat in the UK. Not many people can do his job.  On the other end of the scale, my company is not going to fall into a flaming ball of dispair and failure if I was not there.  I really, really enjoy my job.  I love internal comms.  Sometimes I take it a little too seriously - and ultimately that is not healthy.  I need to take a step back, smile, and put things in perspective.

So, as I go to put clean underpants on in case a bus knocks me over as I head home - I wish you farewell, and I look forward to discussions with you all in the future.

Mark

Cartoon blogging blackbelter

Found out in the bar last night that one of our blackbelters has a cartoon blog with 500 hits a day ... and it's very funny - definitely worth a look.

Try this one - the 'onosecond' - subject of a conversation last night about that split second after you've sent a text message or e-mail and you SO wish you hadn't!

Or this one in the 'men are from mars, women are from venus' line - another of our bar conversations yesterday.

Love the blog Jeroen - you've definitely got yourself another subscriber.

Sue

Robbie will never sound the same again ...

Tonight on Black Belt, we decided to try an after dinner quiz for the first time.  Despite OUTRAGEOUS cheating on Mr FitzPatrick's part and my team being unfairly denied a bonus point for having the excellent name of 'the kick ass comms chicks', it was almost neck and neck by the time we got to the music round.

So when we offered double points for the first team who offered to sing a Robbie Williams song of our choice after the round, we were nearly knocked over in the rush. After much arguing and shouting, we agreed to let all three teams sing one by one and award the double points to the best one.

Oh dear!!

I thought the second team took some beating for sheer tunelessness, but the sound of the entire room then joining in at full volume for the final chorus very nearly brought tears to my eyes. And I REALLY wish we'd had a camera with us to capture the full arm-waving effect.

So a very good time had by all this evening, nicely finished by one lovely table giving me their flowers, which are now sitting here beside me in my room!  I'm just so easily pleased, really ...  Although it's not quite up there with the time one group pestered the kitchen staff for two small baskets, filled one up for Liam with the mini-moisturisers everyone collected from their rooms and the other one for me with the chocolate mints they saved from dinner, stuck plastic flowers on the top and presented them to us with great ceremony at the end of the course. Aww. Now I know what teachers must feel like at the end of term.

Night all.

Sue

How to win friends & influence people

Back at Cranfield again for a Black Belt today, and we're talking about stakeholders, relationships and influence.  It got me thinking about my relationships with my clients, and what it feels like for ME to work with THEM.  Maister, Green and Galford say two characteristics of trusted advisors are that they seem to understand us and like us, and that they are reliably on our side and always seem to have our best interests at heart.

I think I'm pretty lucky with my clients. I really like working with them, and now I come to think of it, those two simple things make such a difference. Last week, two of said clients started a conference call by saying "We've just been talking about how we've been yelling at people all day. So we've just made an effort to calm down and get into nice mode - because we really like you!" 

Another client has just phoned me for one of her 'hi, how are you, just thought I'd give you a quick update about things' calls. She also remembers to e-mail me to wish me luck before workshops, calls me if she hears I've had a tough one and has been known to send chocolates and champagne.  One client even insisted on driving out to change my car wheel when I called him to apologise that I'd be late for our meeting because I'd got a puncture and was waiting for the AA!

The result?  I really like working with them, I look forward to seeing them, and if they really need something sorting out, I'll do almost anything humanly possible to sort it. Because I know they like me, they look after me and they make me feel valued.  It sounds so obvious and it only takes 5 minutes of thought now and again, but it makes such a difference.

Odds are, when it comes to the really difficult relationships, we don't make people feel like that. Generally because actually we DON'T like them and think they're a total pain in the backside!  But one of the best pieces of advice I've been given was from my coach years ago, who was trying to help me develop a relationship with a particularly difficult character. When she asked what I liked or respected about him, I saids 'absolutely nothing.' Her response was that I'd better find something, or I'd never build any kind of relationship with him or be able to help him as a customer.

She was right. I thought about it, I can't say I found things I liked, but I did find things I could understand and connect with. And it started to change the way I acted with him. I actually started to treat him like somebody it was worth being reasonable with instead of someone who annoyed the hell out of me. Tellingly, months later when we were getting on swimmingly, one day he said 'you actually DO like me, don't you? For a while I thought I just got on your nerves, and then for a time I thought you just were being polite. But now I know you like me. It makes a big difference.'

So here's an interesting task for the day. Who's your most difficult customer - the one that gets right on your nerves and you just can't seem to get on with?  Now what can you find to like or understand about them? Trust me - it's in there somewhere ...!

Sue

What are the academic options...?

I was down in Bournemouth this week speaking to students doing post graduate studies in internal communications.  When my brother used to live down there he used to joke "What's the difference between yogurt and Bournemouth? - Yogurt has a living culture...".  Shows how long ago he was there. In those days there wasn't even an university there and it's become pretty groovy - not yet exactly Brighton - but getting there.

I was talking about the research which Sue and I have been doing into competencies and skills and really enjoyed speaking to the students (Course leader Christine Daymon sneaked a few working communicators in as well - what a result it must be working in IC and having a researching university on your doorstep).  We had a short discussion about the redundancy of the "Strategy" word - I really feel it's been so over-used and abused in IC that it's almost meaningless.  You should focus on where you add value to the whole enterprise - rather than jumping up and down and claiming to be "strategic".  Nonetheless - it will probably make an outing in the model that we're producing (have just sent article off to Mandy Thatcher for the next edition of SCM so watch this space!).

On the train ride back I got to thinking though about where internal communicators go for a theoretical grounding.  My post graduate experience was studying for the CAM Diploma (which naturally was much harder in my day!) and I know quite a few Brits come in with the CIPD diploma.  However, there are relatively few good academic courses.

I rate Bournemouth (I was one of the CIPR team that validated the qualification - so far their MA and Post Graduate Certificate are the only ones validated by a Chartered professional body in the UK and led by researching academics). Kingston University also offer a course run by consultants/practitioners and I know that Wolverhampton and other places will touch on IC as part of a qualification in PR or HR.  I'm not sure if it ever appears as a significant unit on business qualifications.

I'd be really interested to know (email me at liam.fitzpatrick@competentcommunicators.com) what academic courses people have found personally useful (I'm not planning a Trip Advisor service here) and what it was that made them stand out.  In particular I know about the UK courses but wonder about what else happens around the World...

The reason for asking is that as Sue and I work towards publishing the full research findings, I know we'll have a chapter on development routes.  Clearly we'll have a lot to say about getting a mix of experience and finding the right coach (ever thought your boss could count as one?) but I don't want to just say "and if you want a formal qualification go to Bournemouth..." (as much as they'd love to have you, its not much use if you're in Auckland!).  It would be good to include some advice on what to look for when considering an academic course of study (should the teachers be published researchers in their field? what in-house jobs have they done? what are the backgrounds of the other students?) so, let me know.

Liam

Podcasting - found this helpful

How to podcast article...

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/beginners-guide-to-podcast-creation/

Liam

I'm fuming...

I don't normally get into a bit of a rant but...(well I do if I'm honest, but what's wrong with a bit of righteous indignation?).

I've just been sent a link to an article in a national UK newspaper which is quoting comments made by an internal communicators at a recent networking event.  The communicator in question was presenting a case study and being candid about the problems faced by his organisation.  His comments about poor customer service were given the headline treatment in the business pages of this newspaper.

Now I don't know the circumstances - I wasn't there.  And I I have no way of knowing how the newspaper got the story - it may have been a deal done by his PR team.  I hope it wasn't one of the attendees at the event!

But what has annoyed me is the thought that we're all going to be a lot more careful in future about what we say at conferences.

I hate it when you go along to a presentation, hoping to learn how to overcome problems or avoid making mistakes that could be avoided, only to get a saccharine description of events.  You know the sort of thing..."and although we were very wonderful before, we did this really complicated thing and we were, amazingly, even more wonderful..."  And the '...really complicated thing...' is brushed over so quickly that your credibility begins to be stretched.

What you want to hear is "...oh my GOD, it was really awful and, if you find yourself in this situation, whatever you do - DON'T DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!". 

But if every time I feel the urge to admit to a mistake, I have to check if anyone is going to ring the press, I'm going to think twice.  And how many useful case studies will disappear from the agenda of conferences to be replaced by self-promoting puff?

What makes me doubly mad is that on a long train journey today I caught up on some of my downloaded podcasts (including a particularly good one from Tom Abbott about American Military might) and came across an item on new year resolutions on the HBR Idea Cast.  INSEAD professor Herminia Ibarra says that managers on the way up should make networking a key new year resolution.

She says that you should spend time outside the office with other people in your profession, getting fresh ideas or gaining new energy from the successes of other people.  She suggests signing up for voluntary panels, perhaps helping out with the running of your professional association, doing pro bono work or lecturing. 

All great things... but would you do it if you're about to end up on the front page of the Washington Post (OK - I'm exaggerating our importance - but you get the point!).

Grrrrrrrr

Liam

Food for thought

I've just been finishing off an article Liam and I are writing for the next SCM, and have come across two great websites full of quotations.  There's the quotation center on Cybernation.com and The Quotations Page.

I like these three quotes about goals:

"The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or even seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them." (Denis Watley)

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."  (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

"Set priorities for your goals. A major part of successful living lies in the ability to put first things first. Indeed, the reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first."  (Robert J.McKain)

And I also like this little quote from good old Dennis the Menace:

"The best thing you can do is get good at being you."

Sue

Lucky Escapes

I can't resist one of those 'it's Monday morning - let's have something different' posts.  BBC On Line has two lucky escape stories at the minute. Here's one about a super duck and a guy who survived a fall from the 17th floor of a hotel.

So, how do you fancy sharing the story of your 'luckiest escape' in internal comms? 

I'll start, shall I?  Once upon a time, I was doing a big redundancy briefing.  People were expecting it, it had been signposted for a long time, we were trying to do it properly and we'd brought a couple of hundred managers together to talk them through the plans and coach them through how to deliver the briefings.

It was a two day thing with an overnight stay, and we got a request from the managers that they'd like a big party on the first night, so they could go out in style.

I tried my best to dissuade the business. It was a major redundancy briefing, people might react in ways we didn't expect, all my instincts were screaming 'BAD IDEA!!!'. But they were adamant that if that's what people wanted, that's what people would get.  We got in some of the runners up from 'Stars in Their Eyes', the programme where people try to sound like celebrity singers.

I was so determined to avoid a disaster that I sat down with the events company and made them tell me exactly what people were singing. I didn't want anything with 'inappropriate' lyrics. Came the day, and even the business were getting nervous. Some people were quite upset on the first day of the briefings and I was going around half an hour before it was due to start saying 'we can cancel it - there's still time!'

It went ahead though, and wouldn't you know, it was the most amazing party! People were dancing on the tables and having such a great time, that ... the singers all decided to do an unplanned encore. So there we are, in the middle of our redundancy briefing party, with everyone waiting in expectation for the grand finale.  What did they decide to sing?  MY WAY! Which, dear readers, you may recall begins:

"And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain ...."

There is a video somewhere of me and the senior leaders all standing together with totally shocked looks on our faces at that precise moment. The rest of the room, however, found it hysterically funny. And so we joined in with everybody else and sang along.  It was a spectacular end to an amazing party.  A lucky escape indeed.

Come on, who's next to confess?

Sue

Only human

I've been talking to my friend Charles Artichoke about the volume of media coverage about Jade Goody.

One angle that's been picked up is the question of whether Channel 4 coached Jade through her eviction interview. Was she genuinely sorry, or did some wicked PR person put the words in her mouth, in which case, we don't believe her and we're mad at Channel 4 for trying to manipulate us.

Moving away from the Big Brother madness, I've been thinking about how this applies to internal comms.

In my line manager workshops, I ask people to talk about a leader they regard as a fantastic communicator, and why.  Usually people talk about leaders that are 'human', 'real', and genuinely on board with what they're saying. Conversely, the poor communicators may be extremely polished presenters, but they are seen as giving the company line, communicating what they've been told to in an impeccably-trained way, but TOO coached, too polished, too quick with their pre-prepared messages to be believed.

I've been talking with a few organisations about how we help leaders, yes, to understand and communicate corporate messages, but also to be themselves and make the most of their personalities.  How do we help people see the strengths of their own style and give them permission to use it, rather than having to cover it up with what they think the 'right' one might be? How do we get people just to be normal instead of talking a load of cringe-worthy jargon they'd never dream of using outside the office?  (Apparently Jade said she 'couldn't dignify her behaviour' in her interview. She thought up those words all by herself, did she?)

When I first got a coach, I was asked (not by anyone in my organisation) whether I'd be getting help to seem 'less feminine' and 'more corporate' in my style. The answer was, no thanks - this is how I am.

I've seen leaders a bit less sure of themselves with their personalities literally coached out of them. After seeing one person become more and more 'corporate' but lose almost all of his spark and look permanently miserable, I went to see him and asked where 'he' had disappeared to. He said I was the only person for months who had actually asked about him, rather than talking about who the organisation wanted him to be. And I'll bet his team wouldn't have described him as one of those 'human' and 'real' communicators, although he was saying all the right things in a technically perfect way.

I'm not arguing against coaching here, by the way.  I found it so helpful that I trained to be a coach myself. My question is, in an age where people are so alert to any idea of being spun a line, how exactly do we help managers just to be natural, human communicators?  Since when did 'just being yourself' get so difficult?

Sue