Black Belt Dojo (Australia)

2009 Black Belt in full swing

2009-04-08T00:46:24+01:00

Here we are again, Melcrum's Black Belt program is in full swing, new format, new team and as usual plenty of fun. We are now in to day two of module one.. So far we have explored 'The case for internal communication' and 'Connecting internal communication with the business strategy' and right now Melissa is working through 'What Channels' keeping everyone laughing with the Deloitte film festival video.

I am just knocking glasses off the table and disrupting the Melissa's flow...yeah right!

As always we capture a group photo of our new Black Belter's what a great looking group they are too.

Good luck team... Enjoy Black Belt 2009

Maintaining engagement through change

2009-04-01T05:14:25+01:00

At today’s Melcrum Change Communication Conference, we ran an interactive session asking all attendees to consider the challenges and solutions we face in keeping employees engaged through the change process.

We talked about the change curve, and the stages employees typically move through during organisational change. They are: shock, reaction, acceptance, action and commitment.

Small groups convened to discuss the challenges and solutions (ideas) for communicating through these stages in order to support employees and move them through the curve as quickly as possible.

The verbatim outputs from each group is available below. In summary, some of the key themes to come out of the discussion were:

Shock to reaction

Challenge: the complexity of messages, what information is available to be shared and when, and how to keep things as simple and clear as possible while employees are still absorbing the news

Solutions: having a plan, engaging early, being authentic and being honest and frank

Reaction to acceptance

Challenges: getting people to listen, getting consensus, leadership doing what you need them to do, acknowledging emotions

Solutions: providing avenues for listening and feedback, communicating quick wins, holding venting sessions (saying goodbye to the past), constant reinforcement of the why and WIIFM

Acceptance to action

Challenges: developing and maintaining a common understanding of the future state, bringing everyone along for the journey, demystifying and adding more detail/facts

Solutions: providing and articulating a clear roadmap, ensuring people have a role in the change, focus on the symbols, structures, systems and routines

Action to commitment

Challenges: keeping up momentum, moving from talk to action, continuing to see the possibilities, ensuring a long-term vision throughout the organisation, managing the danger of unrealistic expectations if things don’t happen as quickly as expected

Solutions: celebrate success, share stories, make it fun and energetic, focus on the long-term vision

We had a very enjoyable time facilitating the session and hope everyone has a great final day of conference!

Cheers,
Adrian and Melissa

Shock to Reaction

telling phase: why, how, overview of future
denial, blocking, anger

Challenges

timing everything
how much do we share?
managing managers authentically
pre-involving internal comms
takes time for news to sink in
don’t focus on squeaky wheels
manage message complexity
productivity decline may impact business
facts/transparency/timing
acknowledging human emotion
lack of trust in senior management
mixed messages – media vs internal
keeping ahead of media
collective resistance

Solutions

Timing:
o get a plan
o THINK
o get key stakeholders together
o pre-position as many core messages as possible
o it may change
Authenticity:
o believe what you’re selling
o facts and data build a strong ‘why’ story
o role-play for managers who have to deliver messages
IC Role:
o get in early!
o position ourselves as partners
Messaging:
o WIIFM
o bite-sized narrative
o honest and personal
o stand up to scrutiny
o ask for commitment
stay focused, acknowledge reaction
communicate the good with the bad for credibility
use plain English
clear plans and timelines
think outside square – channels
establish credible source of info/voice (peers/leadership/CEO)
define and engage key influential stakeholders (unions)
clear facts and WIIFM and context and expectations (or, what does it mean to me?)
people assigned to listen, two-way communications (collect feedback – intranet – focus groups)
provide support/counselling – acknowledging people’s feelings
media responses ready – employees first
internal and external comms aligned
some people may need to go – with respect

Reaction to Acceptance

Challenges

getting people to listen
getting people (managers) to be open to listening/feedback
rebuilding trust
honest/frank
senior management not listening (steamroller approach)
managing the rumour mill
convincing management to allow open and honest communication
getting regular information out in a timely manner – sustaining momentum
getting everyone on the same page – one size does not fit all
getting staff to participate
disinterest
lack of understanding of staff needs
dealing with unexpected reactions from staff – factors unforeseen
leadership
time/ budget/resource constraints

Solutions

celebrate positives
venting sessions (emo ball – everyone dresses in black!)
announce issues – employer ask for solutions
introduce quick wins to gain staff confidence
constantly reinforce vision and staff benefits and values
involve staff at all levels of organisation – clear feedback mechanisms
blog site for staff to ask questions
be honest and realistic
incentives to change behaviour
do your research – understand your audiences
plan ahead – comms strategy

Acceptance to Action

Challenges

challenge around role definition – change management vs change communication
is change dictated/imposed or do they own?
need to show/demonstrate action
period of confusion
risk of bounce-back – revert to previous behaviour
how do you get voices heard?
lead them towards exploring – provide management level with information
need to identify where people are – to tailor information
might leave people behind by moving into positive too quickly
managing those who are way ahead of the pack (e.g. leaders)
developing common understanding and maintaining consistent messages
managing the pace for everyone
need to give tangible evidence
getting practical – what do I need it to do?
shift from why to how
differing levels of support and required skills, common knowledge, applying them
managing expectations for everyone including boundary management, sober selling – not the silver bullet
availability of channels and appropriateness
protecting the ‘acceptors’ and continued support
trust – building and maintaining
maintaining acceptance

Solutions

communicate structure and steps – be clear provide certainty
provide room for staff to find their own actions
acknowledge emotions
provide a language for change
provide forum for questions/clarification
ongoing pulse survey to identify who and what
stay connected
tailored information
trust-promoting behaviours (say/do)
simple road map
make the first step easy and personal
demonstrate what has been done already – role modelling
ensure/encourage buy-in by action
form committees of influence/opinion leaders
change language – e.g. “no longer in transformation, we are now one business”
pulse polling – qualitative and quantitative
regular updates
take up permission to lead
reps from each group involved together in a team with a real outcome with clarity around their role
solution development component in the program to involve different groups
feedback process with actual conversation, face to face, live and active
tapping into existing forums, intranet
ongoing and management support backed up by actions
“model office” set up scenario and bring people in to experience how it works
changes to policy and procedures – core documents reflect the new state
clear scope statement and key messages that is constantly referred to
continue to bust myths and sell benefits
demonstrate with actual examples that should now be happening
issues management process
role definition and clarity, accountabilities
coaching in preparation for actions for sponsors
identify opinion leaders and champions and harnessing them
maintain active communications, momentum

Action to Commitment

Challenges

maintain momentum of change
continue to see possibilities
move from talk to action and ownership
alignment across organisation to maintain learnings
understanding long-term view throughout organisation, especially managers, that the process is about ongoing engagement
ensure action is focused on the right things in the right way
people may want to move back to the “old”
maintaining the compelling vision
lose momentum/enthusiasm
longer term benefit?
no choice – resentment and resistance
time and resource to act
unrealistic expectations – not delivering
change of staff
toxic employeee

Solutions

communicate small wins/success stories
use successful roles models in all areas of the organisation
maintain frequency and consistency of comms
encourage people to tell their own stories: on screen savers, newsletter, wikis, blogs, video
face to face meetings in teams and one on ones
celebrate wins
recognition (personal)
tangible evidence that the change is better than the old (e.g. gifts)
under promise – over deliver
make it fun/energetic – through involvement to create impact
one on one formal sessions
quiz to reinforce message (humour, interactive)
symbolic activity – shed old, put on the new
acknowledge past/old
permission to make mistakes (loosen reins)
be flexible, creative with comms of same messages
choice with the new
maintain focus of leadership team
top down team building
what’s in it for me!
clarity on benefits/opportunities
reward/recognition
leadership roadshows: progress, milestones, outcomes, results
feedback – surveys, focus groups
incentives/meaningful
celebrate success
long term vision – visual map
internal brand – project
clarity of roles
customer feedback: endorsement, vox pops, stories
doing good deeds
internal competition

Black Belt in 2009

2009-03-02T06:14:29+00:00

Hi all,

The dates for Black Belt in 2009 are now available. The four day Internal Communication course will be held:

7-8 April and 4-5 May, UNSW CBD Campus, Sydney
5-6 August and 19-20 August, MBS Carlton Campus, Melbourne

In response to feedback from participants, this year, the course is not residential. We hope this makes the course more affordable for some people who have been keen to attend but have been held back by budget restrictions.

There are also a number of Masterclasses being held during 2009.

The "Making Managers Better Communicators" Masterclasses were held in Feb (and you can view my blog for an overview on what happened there).

Writing and Editing will be held in May in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Communicating Change will be held in June/July in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.

Check out Melcrum for all the details.

You can also see Adrian and I presenting at the Change Communication Conference in Melbourne in April. We'll be running a workshop and a session during the conference itself.

Hope to see you sometime this year and for all our Melcrum alumni, give us a shout to let us know how 2009 is unfolding for you!

Cheers, Melissa

Creative Communicators at Black Belt Sydney

2008-12-04T03:26:29+00:00

Well here we are in Sydney MGSM for the last of our 2008 Black Belt programs.. What a great group of Internal Communicators from Queensland, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and the land of the long white cloud (New Zealand).. Don't mention the rugby!

A sunny and warm couple of days, just to make our English counterparts jealous of course. But the hidden talents that we talked about on day one, were nothing compared to the creative talents displayed by participants during Module 2.. Play Doh rocks!

Our lovely group enjoying the sun in Sydney.

Some creative Play Doh'ers

Congratulations to our latest Black Belt graduates! it was wonderful working with you.

To all our Black Belt Graduates during 2008. Have a happy and safe Christmas and look forward to blogging again!

Our latest graduates

2008-10-28T03:55:24+00:00

What a nice little group of new graduate 'Black Belter's' Melissa Dark and I are finishing up with one of our smallest groups and 4 new graduates of the Black Belt Internal Communications program. While Melissa is presenting on Social Media, I am sitting at the back of the room setting up Twitter for the first time and updating of course the Dojo.

Here are the lovely people from the program - Congratulations new Black Belter's and my hope is to have them all go on and do their accreditation to add yet another valuable string to their bow as professional communicators

Of course quite a topic of conversation was the current climate and what this means to communicators showing their value in organisations, as well as the challenges of managing change within organisations. More on that later anyway for now if you want to Twitter me i am at acropley. Yeah boring name!

More Summit thoughts

2008-09-11T03:57:13+01:00

It's been another big morning at the Strategic Communication Management Summit in Sydney. The big theme this morning has been social media, with some fantastic case studies from Sensis and Telstra showing how they are using and managing the impact of social media on their internal and external communication strategies.

Karina Keisler from Sensis had some interesting words of wisdom. She was asked if she agreed that the decision to take on social media depended largely on your organisation's culture and readiness. Her answer? No. Conversations about your company are happening whether you're aware of it or not - and whether you're ready for it or not. Her pithy advice was "you're crazy if you're not part of it."

Lexie Whitwam from Telstra I'm sure had many people in the room green with envy over some of the employee communication channels and programs she showed. Telstra is, I guess, fortunate in that it is the provider of many of the technologies that are needed to really make the leap into a true internal Web 2.0 experience for employees. But you certainly couldn't say that they are letting that advantage go to waste. MMS video messages streamed to employees' mobile phones, guerrilla-style instant videos for store openings and employee blogs were just a few of the elements of Telstra's "inside out" comms strategy that she demonstrated. And I have to admit that her touching stories about employees helping each other through forums and discussion boards brought a little tear to my eye (but then, I am a sook).

The morning began with an interesting discussion on the use of storytelling within Astra Zeneca, and I'd certainly like to hear more about how the company used stories and anecdotes to bring a leadership development program to life.

That's it for now - must go soak up a bit more of that sunshine before heading back into the conference room for more....

Summit Update

2008-09-10T05:59:51+01:00

Hello from the Melcrum Strategic Communication Management Summit in sunny Sydney. Having just partaken in a lovely lunch harbourside at Darling Harbour, my poor Melburnian skin is still smarting from sitting in the sunshine!

But, on to more important matters...

Its still early in the summit but a couple of themes are emerging. There has definitely been a strong focus on engagement. It seems that engagement is still the topic de jour for internal communicators especially and is showing no signs of waning or becoming one of 'those' fads. In fact, if anything, the talk is getting sharper, more scientific and there is now irrefutable evidence to back the business case for engagement initiatives.

Which brings me to the second and, I think, all-pervasive theme. Not sure if it's just the current global financial climate (or just the gloomy predictions of Australian financial analysists) but there seemes to be an ever-stronger need for internal communication to prove its viability. Exactly how does it contribute to the bottom line? How can internal communication and employee engagement provide better customer satisfaction, loyalty and higher shareholder returns?

Jim Shaffer, one of the Summit's keynote speakers, made the point that too many communicators don't know enough about the business drivers of the organisations we work for and therefore find it difficult to connect the dots for their leadership. (And that's something we bang on about quite a bit at Black Belt.)

Jim presented an interesting case study that proved how internal communication is blurring the lines between HR, organisation development, strategy, leadership and communication. Chatting with an HR colleague afterwards we both commented on the fact that working relationships between HR and IC is not just nice to have, but pretty much compulsory if you're going to achieve the kind of strategic change that leads to real business results.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts on the so far. More to come...

Black Belt - Sydney August 2008

2008-08-29T05:49:12+01:00

Well the latest new recruits to Black Belt Australia are currently in the last session of the last day of our MGSM program.

Hmmmm and the smarties have just stumped Melissa and I with a stunning presentation of the Globex change strategy... What a great idea to break down the pilot of the Call Centre in India, to being a 4th centre rather than an excercise of potential outsorcing and reduction in staff... Great example of 'breaking down a big change, into small manageable pieces'

Well done...

For your sins.. Here is your lovely photo's on the WWW. Thanks for the fun team!

Black Belt by the sea

2008-06-04T06:20:29+01:00

Well hi all,
Here we are at Mt Eliza, enjoying a fun filled module 2 of the Black Belt Program. A great bunch of participants, with a diverse range of talents.. Let me add it is amazing how much trivia some retain, as we found out at our over-dinner game of 'Scene It'. It was very hard to drag ourselves away from the screen as we finished the game and just kept playing film clip after film clip... We just could not go to bed until we had a movie question we could all answer. Not competitive at all....!

Now let me share a mug shot of this beautiful group of Internal comms professionals.. and I will update you soon on some of the discussion points that came up during the program.

Congratulations to our newest group of Black Belt graduates.. Hope to see you on the blog soon.

Innovative ways to get your message across

2008-05-26T06:52:40+01:00

Well, we’re under way with our third group of Aussie Black Belters completing module 1 of the course in Mount Eiza last week. We had a yet another wonderful group of people and some amazing discussions and conversations about all sort of challenges for internal comms professionals.

One of the great little items we came across to share was this fantastic Deloitte Film Festival behind-the-scenes film on You Tube. It's a great take on an employment branding campaign that used a really different approach - getting their own employees to talk about the organisation and what it's like to work there by making short films. You can watch all the winning films on You Tube too. One of them, The Green Dot, has been watched more than 15,000 times. I don't know about you, but not only do I love the idea I think the execution is amazing.

I also think the Green Dot hero can teach internal communicators a thing or two about telling others what they do for a living. (Cape optional, of course!)