​Has this happened to your organization?

• A crisis hits or change occurs.
• The response is late, all-consuming and reactive.
• The messaging and effective management is lost.
• The workforce is angry and confused.
• Staff morale and engagement suffer.
• Public faith, trust and engagement diminish.
• The work suffers.
• The organization is less effective. 

If you can relate to the above sequence of events, sorry and congrats. You've lived through crisis and understand the communications derailment chain. Once it starts rolling, it's hard to stop. If you can't relate, also congrats for avoiding the comms derailment chain. But here's the truth: Eventually your good luck will run out. 

How do we avoid this disastrous chain of events in the first place? Well, the first step is preparation. Preparation involves building a rock solid communications strategy for before and during the crisis so when derailment starts happening, you can stop it in its tracks. I often educate clients on ways to build that strategy which includes a solid foundation of messaging and education that must be built in between crises and change. Staying on track and moving forward with your communications planning takes time and effort. But the prep you do today will prevent the disastrous derailment chain tomorrow. If you need help with building a solid comms strategy to meet your organization's specific needs, we're here. Contact us today!

Who wouldn’t love super hearing? The ability to listen in to others’ conversations, to be in the know about the latest gossip. Sounds appealing in a decadent voyeuristic way. Superman used his power of super hearing for the good. But hearing is different from listening. And, in the world of communications, the superpower of listening is everything. If you’re a good listener, your communications will be more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall crises in a single bound (I had to do it).
 
But what makes a good listener? If you’re a communications leader in your organization or just looking to harness your superpower listening skills within your agency, below are three tips to get you started:

• Let people talk. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve encountered leaders who never take a breath during meetings to allow input from their staff or community partners. Listening is a 2-way street. If you want to be listened to, you must give people a chance to talk.
• Engage effectively. Make strong eye contact. Don’t cross your arms. Use body language that is open and engaging. Try to find common ground in what your audience is saying. Relate on a human level.
• Follow-up in a meaningful way. Repeat what you’ve heard and provide actionable steps that will create leadership and staff accountability. People need and want to know they are being heard. This is vital when dealing with staff and community partner concerns.

 
​For more communications strategies, tips, and tactics, check out my latest blog posts on this site and on Instagram at @lmgpublicrelations.

Storytelling involves trust inside an organization, but this can be one of the hardest things to accomplish. Employees need to be able to trust you enough to share the emotional aspects of their work. The more trust staff has with you, the more compelling the stories shared. The following are three points to consider when building internal trust within your agency:

1. Engage all levels in the process. Make staff feel vested. Work from the bottom up and engage all levels. Listen to all of the voices and give them a task in the campaign. Help staff see themselves as "ambassadors" of the department message.

2. Explain how it will benefit them. Everyone wants to know what's in it for them. For instance, will strengthening the internal and external agency image make  their work easier? Will it create more federal funding and donations for needed services? Will it increase morale thereby decreasing staff turnover? All of these benefits should be backed up with relevant data showing the far-reaching benefit of an effective storytelling campaign.

3. Take your time. Building trust is a process and doesn't happen overnight. Start by pitching out a few positive media stories and letting them take hold. Build on this goodwill to demonstrate the power of positive stories. Share examples of the stories you gather, so staff has a sense of what they should be looking for in their daily work.

​I don’t have to tell you that the world is a heavy place right now. Pile on the stresses of your average workday as a communications professional, organizational leader or business owner and you have a recipe for burnout. The last few years there have been a lot of articles, videos, posts, etc... about how to avoid burnout through meditation, exercising, sleeping enough, and eating right. That’s all great, but let’s talk about tips that are directly work-related and specific to what you do every day.

Here are some tips that have helped me, and I hope you find them useful!

• Prioritize the work in front of you. I don't know about you, but a lot of my work stress comes from trying to juggle too many projects at once. This is where I find my compulsive list-creating helpful. Every Friday, late afternoon (please don't do this on Sunday), I create a “to do” list for the next week. This includes every meeting/call/appointment I must do and only the projects I absolutely need to tackle for that week. For instance: write this blog post on burnout, take a call with Client A, etc. As I complete the tasks during the week, I check them off this list. This sounds simple, but there is nothing more satisfying than looking down at a list with everything crossed out.
• Find perspective. Did you really forget your agency’s name on that live spot on the 5 o’clock news? So your news release went out with a typo in the headline! Yeah, it’s annoying, but is it really the end of the world? In this fast-paced comms environment will anyone even notice? Believe me, it will be forgotten in 5 minutes. Analyze it for 10 minutes, write down a few ideas to do better next time and move on.
• What brings you joy in your work? Yes, let’s “Marie Kondo” this. If the well is dry on this one, force yourself to find at least one thing you like about your work. Is it telling stories? Is it the reward of problem solving? Or maybe it’s the fantastic work of a client or staff member you helped to media train. Find. Something. Look to re-spark the joy in your work by suggesting a new initiative or project that is proactive instead of reactive. It will give you something to work on in between crises.

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