communications

HOW TO HAVE MEANINGFUL, EVERYDAY CONVERSATIONS AROUND DISTRESSING EVENTS

HOW TO HAVE MEANINGFUL, EVERYDAY CONVERSATIONS AROUND DISTRESSING EVENTS

Fires, floods, a pandemic, wars and economic stress – humans everywhere are living through or witnessing a multitude of distressing events at once. It’s a time to connect with and support each other, even if we fear emotionally charged topics or feel uncertain how to approach them. Here are nine skills you can use in everyday conversations with family, friends and colleagues to help you and them process these events, bear heavy emotions and move forward together.

BRAVE NEW COMMS: INSPIRATIONAL CASE STUDIES

BRAVE NEW COMMS: INSPIRATIONAL CASE STUDIES

The rise of social media has transformed how we communicate with each other and how organisations communicate with their customers and communities. This rapidly changing landscape can be unforgiving to those who play it safe, and, often, government is seen to be lagging behind the private sector.

Effective communication is a key component of every engagement process.  So, today we’re providing some communication inspiration - exploring some examples of bold, creative public sector campaigns that cut through the clutter.

#MonthlyMyth: Glossy, simple content = informed participants

#MonthlyMyth: Glossy, simple content = informed participants

When you’re preparing information inputs for a community engagement process, organisations can spend a lot of time producing glossy brochures and simplified, summarised content.  It’s easy to get lost in all the posters and paragraphs and lose sight of what’s important - what you’re really saying about the issue or decision at hand.

Getting the balance right can be challenging.  So, in this post we’ll not only address this months myth, we’ll also give you 6 simple tips for providing the right information at the right level of detail.

#MonthlyMyth: Build it (online) and they will come

#MonthlyMyth: Build it (online) and they will come

Online tools are an important part of the modern engagement landscape.  They offer a broad range of benefits from ease and flexibility of access to handy data analysis options.   They can be absolutely worth the investment, and are integral parts of most successful, contemporary engagement processes. 

However, it's a mistake to think that a great online platform or tool alone will solve all your engagement problems or attract high levels of participation - no matter how much you spent on building it or how long you spent on perfecting it. 

This monthly myth touches on a mistake that is pretty easy to make and can catch organisations out, leaving them without much of a return on what can be a significant investment.

#MonthlyMyth: Tight communication reins = risk minimisation

#MonthlyMyth: Tight communication reins = risk minimisation

Many organisations try to minimise risk by 'holding the reins tight' when it comes to communicating with their communities and stakeholders around engagement processes and major projects/decisions. 

This so-called 'risk averse' approach tends to include carefully constructing tightly worded (yet often very uninformative) key messages and strictly withholding any information deemed potentially inflammatory or uncomfortable - even when inextricably relevant to the issue at hand.

There's also approval processes applied to the release of any information, which can slow down communication activities - sometimes to a considerable extent - depending on how rigid or intricate these processes are. 

While organisations tend to feel comfortable with this well-worn approach, the promise of 'safety' through control is generally just an illusion.