LONDON — There seems to be quite a bit of excitement out there about Google Wave.  Here’s a blog I was sent to earlier today.  Look how many comments there are in a few hours.

There’s a lovely short video here too that will show you what Google Wave is all about.

To me it looks quite [...]]]>

LONDON — There seems to be quite a bit of excitement out there about Google Wave.  Here’s a blog I was sent to earlier today.  Look how many comments there are in a few hours.

There’s a lovely short video here too that will show you what Google Wave is all about.

To me it looks quite similar to the demo I saw in August of Microsoft’s OneNote.  A lovely guy from Pfizer explained to a group of us how it’s should change their project processes.  And I find both quite compelling.  Here’s a video about it too.

In many respects I am dying to try both out. 

In many other ways I suspect that I won’t and I can’t.  My brain is already programmed to using email and other software.  I recognise that this is better.  I even suspect that in a few years or month I will be using it.  But I can’t get excited now.

The Google Wave video says “email was invented more than 40 years ago, Google Wave is what we would do if we invented it now.”  Well, I was invented 40 years ago and I don’t think I have out-stayed my welcome yet. 

In fact, I am still quite keen on writing letters.  You know, start at the top and work down from left to right on a piece of nice paper?  I like that too and people are still doing it (although not in Britain with a Royal Mail strike).

/df

LONDON — It started as an idle comment on Twitter.  Either Rach or Lee started it.  Well, actually Wedge started it…  Maybe I should start again.

Anyone interested in social media and communications will know that Wikipedia, while fantastic on the marriage of Britney Spears, is not so great on topics like Internal Communications.

In fact, the [...]]]>

LONDON — It started as an idle comment on Twitter.  Either Rach or Lee started it.  Well, actually Wedge started it…  Maybe I should start again.

Anyone interested in social media and communications will know that Wikipedia, while fantastic on the marriage of Britney Spears, is not so great on topics like Internal Communications.

In fact, the patchwork of an Internal Comms page was started by Wedge many years ago, but he takes no responsibility now.  Acknowledging that it’s a mess.

Earlier this summer we fell into some idle conversation about fixing it.  Social Media superstar Rachel Allen, former CIPR head Lee Smith, communications dean Liam Fitzpatrick, tech-god Wedge and I.  Soon Twitter’s only permanent resident, and Virgin Media Internal Communications head, Abi Signorelli was also involved.

We pledged to get together in one afternoon and “fix it”.

Tomorrow afternoon (Thursday 20 August) from 3 pm to 5 pm BST (10 to 12 EST) etc. we will gather and try to take a crack at it.  We hope that others will join in online.

A few people have had to drop out for reasons ranging from travel to ‘real work’, but we will persist.  Some others have already written their sections and all that remains is to post them.

You know, it may not work.  Wikipedia works in mysterious way.  They may dump us out entirely.  But we will soon see.

I hope you’ll come by and have a look.  Write a bit… Or even simply follow us on Twitter at CommsFlashMob.

/df

ANOTHER TAXI IN KL — I am on my way to the airport.  The circus is leaving town.  In another 24 hours of lounges and airplanes I will be home.

It’s been a hugely rewarding experience.  I have spent the last two days locked in a room with internal communications people from Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, [...]]]>

ANOTHER TAXI IN KL — I am on my way to the airport.  The circus is leaving town.  In another 24 hours of lounges and airplanes I will be home.

It’s been a hugely rewarding experience.  I have spent the last two days locked in a room with internal communications people from Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Indonesia.  They came from different parts of their organisation: HR, Marketing, Brand, Corporate Comms.  Some were PR people, some external affairs.  One represented a bank that had just been through a 5-way merger.  (No sense making things simple!)

There was a fellow from Brunei with amazing stories — but I’ll have to keep those to myself.

I threw everything I had at them.  Before the course I took Paul through the materials and he said “that’s pretty much everything we know.” But my south-east Asian friends were unbowed.  They are a force to be reckoned with.

I pointed them towards Melcrum and Simply and Ragan.  I urged them to join IABC and even CIPR and CiB.  I suggested some books and blogs and social media channels and I am sure they will get involved in all of them.

Today, on the morning of the second day we talked about multicultural communications and I was certain that I was unworthy.  These were people who have been through more in their lives than I could do if I live three more times.

At one point I put up a chart from 2001 that mentioned some of their countries, and they said “2001!  That’s old news.  It’s totally changed since then.” And they are right.

Personally, I haven’t changed that much since 2001.

There’s more to come from this session.  But these are first impressions.

I want to go back.  I want to work in these countries more.  Soon!

/df

THE BREAKFAST TABLE AT 6AM — My young son is reading his school book aloud.  To practice.  I am pretending to listen.

“What!?” he says suddenly.  “Rescue a cat from a tree?  Firemen don’t do that, do they?”

I sense disappointment.

“Yes,” I reply.  “But only for old ladies in cartoons and movies.”

“OK,” he says, as if I [...]]]>

THE BREAKFAST TABLE AT 6AM — My young son is reading his school book aloud.  To practice.  I am pretending to listen.

“What!?” he says suddenly.  “Rescue a cat from a tree?  Firemen don’t do that, do they?”

I sense disappointment.

“Yes,” I reply.  “But only for old ladies in cartoons and movies.”

“OK,” he says, as if I had given him a good answer.

So, how many cats have you rescued today?  How many things have you done that weren’t really what you were meant to be doing?

Here are a few things that communication people are asked to do that may not be the best use of their time…

• Dress up someone’s PowerPoint presentation
• Organise non-business focused events
• Go to meetings where you are not required
• Write other people’s emails
• Proof-read

What have I missed?  From today, how about not answering the call to get the cat from the tree?

Communication is an essential service.  Helping your organisation achieve its business goals is a full time job.  Let’s focus on that.

/df

P.S. No animals were or will be hurt in implementing this plan.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE — It’s easy to forget what the world is really like when the newspapers are running dizzying and depressing tales every day.

However, it is true that most sizable businesses in the world do not have a solid, consistent or dependable system of internal communications.

(Now you may know that we are slowly trying to move [...]]]>

KNIGHTSBRIDGE — It’s easy to forget what the world is really like when the newspapers are running dizzying and depressing tales every day.

However, it is true that most sizable businesses in the world do not have a solid, consistent or dependable system of internal communications.

(Now you may know that we are slowly trying to move the conversation towards “organisational communications” rather than “internal” because it is more literally correct.)

Good internal communications involves a few basic things:

- clear, simple business messages
- a plan and the ability to deliver strategy
- leaders, managers, bosses who know how and what to communicate… and do it!
- the ability to manage change and support business objectives
- channels that buttress the business and communication objectives
- a network of communicators

And more. 

Our view is that it is much, much more than a newsletter, or CEO blog.  In fact, many of the companies with really excellent organisational communications don’t need either!

/df

TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD — They’re all in a mess today.  Citigroup was once my poster-child for what a global business could be.  Now they’re borrowing more than the GDP of Oman.

Standard Chartered has long been a favourite because they bank neatly in places that need neat banking – India, Africa, Asia.  But they’re in trouble too.

And [...]]]>

TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD — They’re all in a mess today.  Citigroup was once my poster-child for what a global business could be.  Now they’re borrowing more than the GDP of Oman.

Standard Chartered has long been a favourite because they bank neatly in places that need neat banking – India, Africa, Asia.  But they’re in trouble too.

And Barclays are allowed to enjoy 15 minutes of the old hubris that we expect of our banks, as they get a bail-out from just along the coast in Qatar.

Even LloydsTSB and HBoS are all over the papers.  How much did those weekend full page ads targeting shareholders cost?  (Here I naively thought that companies had mailing lists for their shareholders…)

And then there’s HSBC’s Chairman calling for a better values approach to banking.  Which sounds great.  Here we’d thought banking was just about “value”.  Nonetheless it does seem like Mr Green is preaching to the life boats from the highest piece of dry land.

Why do I like these banks so much?  Why am I so positive about their future?

Clever banks, with good internal communications, can change everything virtually over-night.  Banks do not have assembly line to reassemble.  They do not have products to go through R&D.  They don’t have to find new holes in the ground or wait for the sun to shine.  They just ‘do’ things.

With a capacity for change management and good internal communications — and strong values — they can do anything they like.  In an instant.

And the clever ones will.

Sadly, I suppose, of all the banks I have worked with, the Nationwide Building Society is probably the best at this…

Hmm.  Maybe there’s…  Nah.

/df

TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD — It’s 9 am on Monday, 8 September and we are pleased to be able to tell you about Able and How.

This is a new kind of consultancy.  We focus on strategic organisational communications.  We help organisations better deliver their corporate strategy, through communications.

We’re not [...]]]>

Only the latest of technology... and fashion

TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD — It’s 9 am on Monday, 8 September and we are pleased to be able to tell you about Able and How.

This is a new kind of consultancy.  We focus on strategic organisational communications.  We help organisations better deliver their corporate strategy, through communications.

We’re not an ad firm.  We are not a PR company or web designers.  We are not experts in brand design or the world’s best speechwriters.

We do know a lot about how companies work though.  And more particularly how people make them more successful.

Thank you for coming by and saying hello.

Would you please leave us a message below?

We’d like to tell our moms that you were here.

/df