The Source for Communicators

Melcrums Source for Communicators - A Free Weekly E-Zine for Corporate Communicators

May 9th, 2007 How to fill a power vacuum

Judging by the unusually high visitor numbers on our Internal Comms Jobs website recently, a lot of you are looking to move on soon.

But for those of you who are staying put, there's a void to be filled, and maybe even taken advantage of.

Writing for the latest issue of Strategic Communication Management, comms consultant Liz Guthridge of the Connect Consulting Group gives her tips on how to step into the breach:

• Encourage and support junior staff
Even if you don't aspire to be the group's leader just yet, serve as a mentor/coach for junior staff members. They'll respect and appreciate you, and so will the senior staff.
• Guard against waste
Without anyone accountable for employee communication, staff can create and distribute information independently. Employees will lose precious time plowing through it all.
• Promote metrics
Recognize that gut feelings can't replace good measurement, especially if there's a shortage of experience.
• Don't follow leaders, guide them
Make sure you're actively supporting leaders, including helping them meet with employees face-to-face.
• Don't just e-mail, engage
You need to get out of your comfort zone and constantly reach out to critical stakeholders. Give them a chance to tell you what's on their mind and what they're concerned about.

The featured job this week is for a head of internal communications, just in case you hadn't noticed.

Mandy Thatcher,
Editor
mandy.thatcher@melcrum.com

P.S. For the social networkers among you, Melcrum has just announced "The Communicators' Network", a professional networking community.

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Further reading
What to do when absolutely everything goes wrongWhen the unthinkable happens for your company, you don't want to be caught without a plan. Are you a writer or leader?Do good communicators need to be good writers or not? Find out how to brush up on your writing skills.