Circle Of Fellows

You have gained experience as a communicator in an organization. Now, you want to establish a consulting practice. You have questions. Do you focus on a niche or will you be a generalist? Will you remain independent or hire staff? How do you build your business? What should you charge? Four IABC Fellows with decades of experience as communication consultants shared their insights and experience in episode 85 of “Circle of Fellows,” IABC’s monthly broadcast/panel discussion.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #85: So You Want To Be A Consultant appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In July, four IABC Fellows gathered to discuss what communication is…and isn’t. That conversation will continue at noon EDT on Thursday, August 18. Too often, communicators are called upon to engage in activities some might consider communication. It may even qualify as communication under some definitions. But in the business world, simply distributing a routine notice is far from communication. It may be messaging, but even that is questionable if nobody reads it. Conversely, modifying a company process that is sending the wrong message to employees may not strike an executive as a means of communication — but it is. The August episode of "Circle of Fellows" features three additional Fellows -- and one returning from the July show -- continuing the discussion.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #84: What Communication Is…And Isn’t (Part 2) appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Ask leaders what “communication” is and you are likely to hear a wide range of answers, especially when it comes to the role of a company communication function. Some of those answers may be accurate, others not so much. Too often, leaders see communication as a one-way messaging function, for example. In the first of this two-part discussion, four IABC Fellows explored exactly what communication is…and isn’t. The conversation took place on Thursday, July 21. (The second installment, with another quartet of IABC Fellows, is set for August 18.)Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #83: What Communication Is…And Isn’t (Part One) appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this special episode of “Circle of Fellows,” meet the three IABC leaders who have been named Fellows for 2022 (and who will be formally inducted during the IABC World Conference in New York later this month). This conversation with Zora Artis, Sue Heuman, and Robin McCasland included their professional journeys and their core philosophies and beliefs about organizational communication. The conversation was moderated by Shel Holtz.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #82: Meet the 2022 Class of IABC Fellows appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

With today’s online discussions, forums, and social media platforms, communication professionals easily delve into what key stakeholders know-feel-do about something now. This enables comms pros to develop more efficient and effective plans to transform what stakeholders’ know-feel-do to achieve organizational goal(s) and objectives. Four IABC Fellows dove into research and measurement in the next Circle of Fellows, a monthly live broadcast featuring IABC Fellows in conversation about a timely communication topic.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #81: Research and Measurement appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

As part of the IABC Career Roadmap, the business leader path is essential to our profession and its role within society. The business leader plays a critical role in shaping an organization's future by adopting the Global Standard for the profession while building and maintaining a well-structured, competent, and trusted organizational communication function. In this Circle of Fellows, our panel of top international communication advisors explores executive communication and leadership, its importance in organizations, and how we as communication professionals build the relationships and competence of executives. They will discuss how to add business value while expanding communication competencies and coaching the people who drive today's organizations.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #80: Executive Communication appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

“Strategic” communication is differentiated from other communication by one simple concept: It is “the communication principles, strategies, and initiatives used to further an organization’s goals,” according to one communication-focused website. (It’s not a bad definition, though it fails to mention “measurable,” which is a critical element of strategic communication.) The target of an organization’s strategic communication efforts is the organization’s stakeholders, those individuals, groups, or organizations directly involved with — or indirectly affected by — the organization and its work. This includes employees, people who live in the communities where the company operates, investors, the financial community, partners, vendors, suppliers, government at all levels, and more. Communication — strategic or not — is multi-directional. (Crafting communication collateral and distributing it to an audience is not communication. It’s messaging.) As a result, effective strategic communication almost always is des

The pandemic has made us look more closely at human and corporate values and the capacity that good values, morality, and ethics can provide to overcome any crisis. ESG has firmly entered the vocabulary of investors, managers, and other stakeholders as it helps assess the risks and resilience of enterprises. The corporate world faces multi-dimensional challenges and all stakeholders are focusing intently on their Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. Businesses can be rewarded in many ways when they act in a responsible manner. Through committed ESG performance, businesses can gain legitimacy; a stellar reputation; government support; strong brand equity; increased investment from socially responsible investors; attract socially conscious consumers; entice talent and gain employee trust and loyalty. In this evolving business context, we look at what role communication needs to play. Four IABC Fellows discussed a variety of issues and challenges related to ESG communication in a panel discussi

How leaders view the communication function depends entirely on whether communication produces results that matter to them. Delivering that value doesn’t just happen. In the first Circle of Fellows broadcast of 2022, four IABC Fellows explored the various dimensions of communicating for results that matter, from knowing what’s keeping leaders awake at night, the elements of the business and strategic plans, establishing the means of assessing the results of the communication, and how to share those results with leaders.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #77: Adding Value Through Communication appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

As the new year begins, before you set your resolutions in stone, ask yourself, “How healthy is the culture of the organization where I work or the clients I serve?” And, with what you learn, consider new resolutions to make a place to work a more welcoming environment for the contributions people want to make and the ideas they want to share. IABC Fellows Alice Brink, Martha Muzychka, Lety Narvaez, and Mark Schumann took a close look at how to diagnose, develop, and deliver a culture that resonates with what matters to people, and what’s needed by organizations, where every voice is welcomed and heard. Shel Holtz moderated this discussion.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #76: How Healthy Is Your Organization’s Culture? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

As the world struggles with what’s next for the workplace in the wake of the global pandemic, take time to consider your career path as a communication professional. Neil Griffiths, Amanda Hamilton-Attwell, Mary Hills, and Brad Whitworth contributed their thoughts and experience to a Circle of Fellows focused on career assessment and planning, IABC’s Global Standard, strengths, professional development, certification, and more.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #75: Your Future in Focus appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Trust in media and business is not high, according to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer, and public relations practitioners are usually stereotyped as unethical hacks attempting to clean up the image of a person or organization that has done something bad. Yet every communication organization — IABC included — has a code of ethics that... Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #74: Communication Ethics appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

There are dramatic changes afoot among employee populations. The biggest of these are pandemic-related, including hybrid workforces and employees required to adjust to new at-work realities, including continued social distancing and other measures designed to blunt the spread of viruses. In addition, employees are leaving their jobs in record numbers, part of the “great resignation,”... Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #73: Communicating in a Changing Workforce appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

During the recent IABC World Conference, Brad Whitworth and Mark Schumann led a highly rated interactive session that examined how we use time to positively impact worlds we hope to change, lives we want to touch, and differences we need to make. Brad and Mark reprised much of that session — joined by Alice Brink and Jane Mitchell — as the five of us discussed what we are doing with our time. Here’s how Brad and Mark describe the conversation: “We fill our days fighting the realities of time. Maybe it’s time to stop the clock, take time to reflect, and recommit to what we contribute to make ours a better world.”Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #72: Time Will Tell appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Crisis communication begins long before an organization experiences a crisis. Planning to communicate in a crisis involves considerable preparation, running the gamut from ensuring contact lists are up to date to establishing an organizational culture that is prepared to swing into action when things go south. Organizations that prepare are able to identify most issues before they become crises. But every organization will experience a crisis when decisions must be made quickly and communicated deftly and frequently across multiple channels. Missteps can exacerbate the situation but a strategic approach to a crisis can help the organization recover quickly with its reputation untarnished (or, at least, ready to be rehabilitated quickly). Four crisis-tested IABC Fellows gathered on Thursday, July 15 for a conversation about crisis communication and leadership. The conversation, moderated by IABC Fellow Shel Holtz, covered the preparation and execution of crisis communication, including a look at the leadership

What does it take to ensure success, both personally and professionally, as an organizational communicator? On June 17, five IABC Fellows gathered for a live-streamed discussion that explored some surprising elements of success.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #70: Achieving Personal and Professional Success appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Internal communicators have been partnering with Human Resources for years. In larger companies, HR even has communicators of its own to handle messaging about people-related matters. Changes in the workplace have led to substantial changes in HR’s role, many of which are potential flashpoints, which now add external communicators to the mix. Consider the recent news about Basecamp, in which a decision by the company’s leaders to ban political discussion from internal forums led one-third of the company’s employees to quit. In this episode of Circle of Fellows, four IABC Fellows discussed the relationship between communications and HR in an environment in which purpose and values drive employment decisions, employees expect companies to take a stand on issues that matter to them, and employee activism is on the rise.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #69: Partnering with HR appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Return on Investment (ROI) is a term that is tossed around loosely in some circles. Strictly speaking, ROI is expressed as a percentage determined by dividing the return (or benefit) of a monetary investment by the cost of the investment. That’s not what most communicators measure, yet the industry frequently refers to the ROI of communication. Is that a number that applies to communication? Can communication contribute to an organization’s overall ROI? What are valid alternatives to ROI that company leaders will appreciate when communicators share them? Four IABC Fellows gathered at noon ET on Thursday, April 15, 2021, to discuss these and other questions.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #68: Communications and ROI appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Corporate Social Responsibility has never been hotter. With younger workers insisting on working for purposeful organizations, a surge of interest in investment funds that focus on sustainable companies, and organizations embracing comprehensive ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) initiatives, communicators have their hands full. From reporting ESG results (annual ESG reports jam-packed with data are becoming commonplace) to pitching companies’ CSR commitments, challenges abound. Simply checking off CSR boxes (donation made: check) no longer cuts it. Four IABC Fellows gathered on March 19, 2021, to discuss the state of CSR and the role communicators play in helping companies get it right and engage stakeholders appropriately.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #67: Corporate Social Responsibility appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

What does it take to be successful as an independent communication consultant? How do you transition from your current corporate role, with all the support and resources that come with it, to working on your own? How do you drum up business, manage multiple clients, and handle all the administrivia (like contracts, invoicing, accounting, and travel booking) that go along with going solo? How do you handle demanding clients?Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #66: What Does It Take to Be a Successful Independent Consultant? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.