44 Team 2023

Our regular look at some of the top news, views and opinions from around the wonderful world of IC…

Trust is the word of the moment among IC professionals. Lots of interested parties were quick to give their thoughts on the Institute of Internal Communications’ latest publication, IC Index 2024: The Trust Issue.

Justine Stephenson from AQA was enthusiastic about the findings, saying: “Not only is this stuff fascinating, it’s also vital to help us improve our comms with colleagues.

“Key areas for discussion on hybrid working, using AI (of course), the link between ‘excellent’ internal comms and employee engagement, communicating change…this is definitely a report to get your hands on – and send to your executive team!”

Strategy expert Sharn Kleiss said: “Trust is great to have, but only because we assume it gets us closer to our purpose or brings us more profits. As communicators we need to be clear on what gaining trust means for your organisation and what it will enable you to do better or differently.”

While employee experience specialist Adam Pledger said: “One of my favourite take-aways? Proof that great communication and high levels of trust go hand in hand.”

Creating magic moments

Our Managing Partner, Tom Abbott loves nothing more than getting together with clients to find solutions to their biggest challenges – especially if there’s a whiteboard and marker pen involved! Earlier this month Tom spent a creative afternoon with a client working through goals, following threads, pulling on ideas and parking others. The result was three whiteboards full of notes, insights and actions – a productive and positive afternoon.

Tom said: “We’re all busy, with deadlines and priorities looming over us. Creating time to step back and develop ideas is a rare privilege, but an important one. Digital tools can help, but I really appreciate face-to-face time in a space that lets you explore ideas and problems. You get immediate feedback as people energetically engage, or perhaps step back and challenge. These are the moments that can feel like magic.”

If you need help with a whiteboarding session or just want to test some thoughts, why not get in touch?

What can we learn from TikTok?

As an IC professional, how do you make sure your channels stay current?  Are you embracing ‘TikTokification’? What’s that? Well, it’s an emphasis on bite-size, relatable, authentic and community-based content across platforms, online spaces and experiential activations.

And, helpfully, here are a few tips on connecting with employees creating TikTok-style videos or how to simply embrace what makes them effective.

Advice includes not stressing about a polished production, getting to the point quickly, and making it a conversation using the TikTok mantra ‘reply, reply, reply’.

Any thoughts on this month’s topics? Drop us a line or comment below, and we’ll be back with more IC news next month.