As the sun finally decided to shine this month, it was time again for us to enjoy the city from the incredible 40th floor views of the Duck and Waffle at the latest instalment of our IC Leaders’ Breakfast. With the Shard glistening behind us, we couldn’t wait to find out what the best and brightest in comms were dealing with and what they hoped to learn from each other.
This time, we were also lucky enough to be joined by our lovely clients from Arriva Rail London, Robyn Ashley and Toni-Ann Davis, to chat through exactly what went into our award-winning work. As well-versed as we are with the strategic review, it was interesting to see which themes emerged and resonated with our guests, more specifically how much reframing comms’ channels was a consistent challenge across multiple sectors. This came as a blend of streamlining but also recognising when to integrate face-to-face conversations to impart the most information.
Taking the case study as presented, I also noticed how important direct and manageable comms’ structure and copy can be. Most notably was the breakdown of line manager imperatives that were delivered in three categories: what did they need to know, what did they need to action, and what needed to trickle down to their teams. Simple methodologies such as this can still capture big-picture visions and even necessitate them.
As mountains of hash browns, sausages, and scrambled eggs were served up, the conversation took a few different turns, building on the idea of putting structures in place that actively seek how colleagues want to be engaged with. One particular point was how the right kinds of systems will enable agility and that empowering individuals to make comms work for them.
Frontline activation is constantly changing and it was heartening to see a major takeaway from our session was building strategies fit for the specific needs of any organisation. Building in key data-backed and well-vetted information about an organisation will always serve you well and the rest comes from a keen focused analysis of the reality of the day-to-day, before building out.
