The Government media inquiry - is PR next?

Last Wednesday (14 September) the terms of reference of the Australian Government's Independent Media Inquiry were released. They left alone the issue of media ownership and instead focused on:

• The effectiveness of the current media codes of practice in Australia, particularly in light of technological change that is leading to the migration of print media to digital and online platforms;
• The impact of this technological change on the business model that has supported the investment by traditional media organisations in quality journalism and the production of news, and how such activities can be supported, and diversity enhanced, in the changed media environment;
• Ways of substantially strengthening the independence and effectiveness of the Australian Press Council, including in relation to on-line publications, and with particular reference to the handling of complaints;
• Any related issues pertaining to the ability of the media to operate according to regulations and codes of practice, and in the public interest.

 (Source: Government media release)

I actually think that this narrow and specific terms of reference should, if not set off alarm bells, at least make PR professionals prick their ears up and pay attention.

Yes, journalists are not big in the eyes of the public at the moment (the sixth least trusted profession in Australia in 2011 - but still more than politicians!), so they are an easy target for a government needing a boost to chase. But the term 'spin doctor' is not one of endearment and personally I feel that by changing the word 'media' to 'public relations' in the terms of reference a very similar and many people would say appropriate inquiry into PR could also be launched by the Government.

Public relations, the same as media, is a self-regulated, self-governed body - except with even more freedom, less restriction and less possibility of political or legal action. If the focus of the inquiry becomes one on the effectiveness of media codes of practice, it is not that long a bow to draw to bring the PR code of ethics into the same conversation.

I may be acting Chicken Little claiming the sky is falling, but I just wonder if there is enough pressure over lobbying, market deception and unethical behaviour whether the lure of another easy target to beat up might prove to hard to ignore? I would think not, but maybe it might be worth our professional bodies such as the PRIA to ensure that the industry is on the front foot and regulating ourselves so that there is no crack for the Government to slip in by.

JH

Steve Jobs: His legacy will determine his leadership

Okay, so apparently Steve Jobs is retiring as CEO of Apple. And like a famous rockers death, the obituaries and credits are coming out thick and fast.

Creative force. Revolutionary. Changed how we live.

Apple has done a fantastic job in the last decade at becoming a pop icon itself, and Jobs has a lot to take credit for. The rebirth of a computing company that actually included building good computers, although it is easy to forget that with the more mainstream products they are now famous for. The iPod, which laid the foundations to allow Apple to move from been solely a computer hardware producer and into the music industry - where the creation of iTunes is more important than any iPod nano... The iPhone which led the smartphone generation and again, allowed Apple to not just sell hardware, but then apps. And now the iPad.

I'm not an IT insider, but am led to believe tha Jobs has fingerprints over all of the afore mentioned goods. But if Steve Jobs is to truly be remembered as a great leader and not just a great inventor, then I think the headline below from the Wall Street Journal best sums it up:

 

If Jobs is to be remembered as a leader, then the succession planning and creation of an organisation culture is what will dictate his legacy. When Jobs was fired by Apple all those years ago, the wheels fell off and it took the white knight Jobs to ride in on his horse to fix it. This time around, the culture, the leadership brand of Apple needs to be assessed on its own merit. Jobs will still be involved as the Chairman but how will Apple operate on a day to day basis in this new era will reflect as much on Jobs as it does on incoming CEO, Tim Cook.

For my two cents worth, I reckon that the culture of Apple is now instilled enough that it will survive and thrive without Jobs. But time will tell when we look at what MBA students are studing in 10-15 years and see how many of them still use Apple as a case study of best practice in leadership, strategy and business planning.

JH

Online shopping in Oz: American steel 30 years later...

I'm part way through reading Jim Collins Good to Great, a book based on five years of research to determine what makes certain companies succeed compared to similar rivals. There was a paragraph I read in Chapter 2 that I felt was more than relevant for Australian businesses in light of the recent online/overseas shopping trend that it being blamed for crippling the local retail sector:

'Compare Bethlehem Steel to Nuco. Both companies operated in the steel industry and produced hard-to-differentiate products. Both companies faced the competitive challenge of cheap imported steel. Yet executives at the two companies had completely different views of the same environment.

'Bethlehem Steel's CEO summed up the company's problems in 1983 as blaming imports: "Our first, second and third problems are imports". Ken Iverson [Nucor CEO] and his crew considered the same challenge from imports a blessing, a stroke of good fortune (Aren't we lucky; steel is heavy, and they have to ship it all the way across the ocean, giving us a huge advantage!).

Iverson saw the first, second and third problems facing the American steel industry not to be imports, but management. He even went so far as to speak publicly against government protection against imports, telling a stunned gathering of fellow steel executives in 1977 that the real problems facing the American steel industry lay in the fact that management had failed to keep pace with innovation'.

The problem facing the American steel industry in the 1970-80's sound almost identical to the online shopping claims made by Australian retailers of today. The question is, which Australian companies will put their hands up and innovate rather than play victim to circumstance?

Nucor can be proof that the right management and innovation can lead to a successful business - it is one of the biggest steel producers in the US today. Bethlehem Steel on the other hand filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after years of decline.

JH

My favourite communication iPad apps

I received an iPad for work pretty early on in the piece, but I must admit I was a slow adaptor to integrating it into my life as a work tool. I always found it a nifty gadget to have around the home, but I couldn't find a niche for it in my day to day work. Until about three months ago when I committed to exploring its potential more as a business tool. And to do that required findng the right apps.

In no particular order, here are the six apps that I believe maximise the benefit an iPad can offer to a communication pro. I wouldn't say I can't do my job without them, but they do help.

Must have apps: The logos of my six favourite communication iPad apps

1. Evernote
Evernote is a simple, free note taking system that I now use to record meeting minutes and actions, conversations, interviews and general thoughts that come to me at 2.13am when I should be fast asleep. Best thing about it is the integration and synchronisation with an Evernote account, allowing you to access the same notes on any computer with internet access simply through their website. Growing more on me every day.
 
2. Flipboard

When Flipboard first launched it was definitely the flavour of the month. Opinion has cooled slightly since but I still find a great way to review my social media streams. The international news content is good as well, however lacks any real Australian content. Still worth having as a more user friendly way to review what others are saying in the SM world.


3. Dropbox and 4. Readdledocs

I've linked these two together as I believe to get the most out of one, you shoul also have the other. Dropbox acts as a cloud for you to store documents on and view from anywhere with internet access. It's free and gives you 1gb of storage straight up. The only downside is that to view documents offline you have to synch each document individually. Enter Readdledocs, a paid app ($5.99), but allows you to access your Dropbox account and synch your whole account in one go. Much better!

5. Tweetdeck

I find Tweetdeck the best social media coordinating tool. Sure it has some flaws, but much better and easier to use than the Twitter iPad app.

6. Kindle for iPad

Okay, so not purely a communication pro tool, but definitely worth having on the iPad. My reading has increased dramatically since installing this app. It means those minutes waiting for a meeting to start or client to arrive can be put to use reading a few more pages. My biggest frustration is not knowing how many 'real' pages I've read, but overall I'm a convert to the e-book.

I'm sure this list is far from definitive, but it is what I use so far and have found helpful. What are your suggestions?

JH 
 

Tour de France: a communication analogy?

Australia is in celebration today with the overnight accomplishment of Cadel Evans becoming the first Aussie to win the gruelling Tour de France cycling race.

I've been a follower of Le Tour for almost a decade now and admire it for its physical feats as well as the strategic and tactical requirements to do well in the race. To a casual observer, as I was when I started, it can be confusing as to why cyclists don't go hard all the time, that they race in big packs, work for certain members of a team at the individuals expense and why they don't race for a win on the last day due to a gentleman's agreement.

It is because of this need for strategy and tactics that I think the cycling in the Tour de France has extraordinary similarities to the role of corporate communications. Everyone applauds and recognises the achievement when the success is evident, such as Australia is with Cadel winning this year, but very few people would understand the hard work behind the scenes, the training and the tactical and strategic decisions made to get that point.

Like the tour, there are times where different approaches are needed, you might choose to break away from the pack, attack a stage or require a speedy sprint (a media launch or proactive campaign). Other times you might simply wish to shadow your competitor, avoid any crashes and simply minimise damage on the clock (issues management, working to keeping an issue out of the media all together or building relatonships through internal communications). The work of a team all aligned for one aim or cause means success can be shared by all - the same is required by the best communication teams.

The tour is raced over 21 stages and more than 86 hours of saddle time, yet most of Australia today will only recognise the efforts put in by Cadel in the last stage or two. And that is fine, you don't need to be a purist to enjoy the achievement. But those with an understanding will recognise that sometimes to achieve you need to vary your tactics for the conditions, go flat out when needed and perform to your strengths.

I can only hope that as my career in communications continues I can one day say I achieved my yellow jersey...

JH

Carbon price from a communication perspective

Interesting, so much focus on the communication....is the prob people aren't listening, cos PM has definitely been out there.... (@latikambourke)

I honestly don't think that Julia can explain this more clearly. People just aren't listening. They don't want to (@peterjhinton)

Some say it's too difficult to understand (inc word "carbon"). Others say JG talks down to them & she thinks they're dumb (@bonitamersiades)

After day two of the carbon price campaign, a common theme emerging in discussion, on Q and A and certainly among the twittersphere (see above) is that the message is just not coming across from the government and been accepted by the community.

The sample above shows what might be one of the problems - the fact that the government is out there selling the message, wearing out the ‘soles of shoes’ and doing interview after interview, but the message is not resonating with the public. The danger of this is that the attitude is taken that the PM and government are communicating, but it is the public’s fault for not listening.

Now at this stage, my research only goes as far as the people of Twitter (although @latikambourke is a good political insider), but if this view is ever held by Government then they might as well give up. Because if you are saying something and people aren’t listening, then you’re not communicating – just talking! It’s your fault not theirs.

As the instigator of the communication it is your responsibility to ensure that they engage in the conversation and provide feedback that indicates an understanding. If that understanding is not evident, then you need to either change your message or change the way that you are saying it so that you can give them another shot.

The basic communication model to the right demonstrates the principles needed for successful communication. The Government could do much worse than remember this as it tries to sell the message.

Of equal importance, and missing from the diagram, is the impact of interference in the reception of the message. This will stem from pre-conceived thoughts and ideas, influences and in this case, the Opposition.

The sales pitch for the carbon price is going to be five weeks of message massage and opportunity for real engagement. It will not be an easy sell for the Government because the Opposition has the much easier task of tapping into the basic of communication principles, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and using self-interest and fear/safety to sell their message and undermine the Government. In order for the Government to have any chance, they need to be rock solid on message, talk in everyday language and be able to answer each and every question with confidence and clarity. To have any doubt or uncertainty on questions will simply play into the Opposition’s hands.

We are only on day two of plenty, but one thing is clear about this carbon price – communication will play a big part in deciding the acceptance of this issue, and potentially of the Government in two years.

JH

Crouching Tiger, hidden spokesperson?

Tiger's media response is questionable at best (Photo:Fairfax)

Travel plans for thousands of Australian holiday makers were thrown into chaos on the first day of school holidays over the weekend as Tiger Airways was grounded by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

The grounding, on the basis of repeated safety breaches, is pretty much the biggest crisis an airline could face outside of an actual crash. Yet the crisis management response from Tiger seems to be at best in the same mould as their discount flight model – basic. 

In my opinion the crisis management has been more like their safety procedures – inept and dangerous.

Three days on since the announcement by CASA, Tiger Airways have not hosted one single media conference. Their CEO, Tony Davis, has conducted a minimal number of interview by telephone and he has remained based overseas. Local managing director, Crawford Rix, based in Melbourne, has also remained silent and ‘could not be contacted’ by media seeking comment.

In my role as Public Affairs Manager last week I had a number of issues breaking at the same time. Now while certainly not of the Tiger scope, they involved people’s lives, health and in one case, death. I took the approach that I have always maintained during a pressure time: put your hand up when done wrong and state the facts and clear the record when allegations are false.

Credibility and reputations are a two way street – you can’t only be available to talk when the going is good and pretend the media don’t exist if they say nasty things about you. I’ve always found that through honesty, it means when you tell the media something is inaccurate or downright wrong, they are quicker to respond to correct it, or at least let you get your side out there.

In my opinion, Tiger Airways may need to relaunch itself as Ostrich Airways – because the longer they keep this head in the sand approach to crisis communications the higher the chance they will remain flightless.

Thoughts? Are Tiger better to stay quiet on the situation for fear that any comment will make the matter worse or should they come out and explain what actions they are taken?

JH

Too big to fail or to ignorant to collaborate?

'To criticize the firm's direction was to be branded a traitor and tossed out the door.'
 

I'm currently reading Andrew Sorkin's 'Too Big to Fail: The inside story of how Wall Street and Washington fought to save the financial syste, - and themselves'. It's a fast paced, insiders view of how Lehman Bros collapsed and the GFC escalated.

The sentence at the top of this post is from early in the book and provides a crucial diagnosis of  how the culture in firms such as Lehman's were a direct contributing factor, if not the main cause of the financial crisis. It reminds me of a saying regarding management teams - if I have eight people in a room all saying the same thing, I have seven people too many – essentially showing how Lehman’s chose the one voice, dedication to the corporate line and aversion to conflict over any different points of views.

In the communication world I think this mindset has the potential to be challenged like never before. The focus on social media and collaboration tools is done in the hope of better discussion, to challenge the status quo and promote idea sharing. The benefits are clear for every one to see - but in order to do that there needs to be an acceptance of risk, criticism, discussion and debate.

Are collaboration and social media concepts that in many cases will never truly be adopted, or used to their true capacity in some firms because of the belief that to have a different opinion is to be disloyal or be branded a trouble maker?

The lesson learnt from Lehman’s was that these differing and conflicting thoughts and opinions were shared among the employees with email trails demonstrating the true, yet publicly unsaid, internal criticism of the organisation.  The failure of the management to embrace the opportunity, warts and all, means that social media and collaboration tools could not play any part in averting the final outcome for Lehman.

It will be interesting to see what lessons other businesses, especially investment firms, learn and whether social media/collaboration tools can be embraced to discuss a healthy dose of conflict.

JH

Is 'it's not fair' a suitable argument?

I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon creeping into the media and issues management for specific bodies. I’ve now seen two very recent examples where a proposed change is fought against on the basis that it will harm an industry and employment.

The Australian Hotels Association is claiming that the pub and club industry will be ‘wiped out’ because of proposed pokies reform by Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie. More recently, the ban on live exports of cattle to Indonesia is being protested against because it will ‘destroy farmers’.

Let me make it clear I have great sympathy with farmers and love going to my local RSL, but I can’t help but see one huge flaw in their objection – is keeping a business running a good enough reason to continue injustice? If this was the case would there have been the burning desire to get rid of slavery or fight apartheid? The decision to stop slavery certainly had a real impact on the way Americans operated their businesses and on their standard of living. But it was the right thing to do.

I don’t doubt that the live export ban could be better managed and compensation is deserved, and potentially the same for pokies reform. But if we are all agreement that the practice itself is wrong, then the fact that some people will suffer in the short term to improve long term standards is not really a suitable defense

JH.

Parliamentary ejections: are they still acceptable behaviour?

I've been watching Victorian and Federal parliament question time sittings with interest this week (get a life, I hear ya) and am amazed that the standard of behaviour continues to be seen as acceptable by our apparent leaders.

In Canberra on Wednesday we had six pollies ejected from question time, including one who was out for 24 hours. This led the Speaker, Harry Jenkins, to allude that 'Those outside expect better from all of us, from all of us. And I'm conscious that that includes myself.'. I say he is on the money - we do and should expect better. I stated in a tweet at the time that if six players were sin binned during the State of Origin rugby league match there would be outcry. Yet some how it is seen as part of the theatrics, the drama of politics.

Again today, four politicians were ejected from the Victorian parliament. But again this seems to be seen as normal behaviour. My far from scientific evidence reveals two tweets throughout the day about the Spring St ejections. By comparison the suspension of Geelong football player was mentioned in 105 tweets. Why is it that we as a community seem to be outraged when  footballer is suspended but don't bat an eyelid when the people paid to represent us act out of line and essentially behave in a manner that would not be tolerated in any other workplace or schoolyard?

Maybe I'm the one out of touch and this sort of drama is needed to ensure that there is at least something colourful to fill the required token quota of political coverage on the nightly news, but I will say with certainty that the Mr Jenkins was definitely speaking for me yesterday - I do expect better.

JH

Holiday ponderings and workplace innovation

So the blog has been a little quiet lately - because I was on holidays in beautiful Phuket, Thailand!

While the sun, sand and cocktails where absolutely beautiful, the relaxed nature of the trip did give me time to think about work, life and communication as a whole.

One thing I found over the course of the holiday was the way I interacted and dealt with the locals changed over time. I very quickly adopted some of their mannerisms, their expressions and even occasionally caught myself having a modified accent.

The same speedy acceptance was found with cuisine, trying foods and delicacies that in Australia I would have never dared venture into, and even trying new activities like para-sailing.

It made me wonder why is that when holidays do we adopt the local practices and are willing to change and try new things, but we revert back to our comfort zones and stayed ways because 'that's how it's always been done'?

It was with this thinking that I've made the resolution to keep the holiday line of thought going in my workplace, and spreading the enthusiasm to the rest of my team. For each new idea, change of practice or question asked about old practices and why we do it that way and if we can do better I will present a small cocktail umbrella to that colleague - the cocktail umbrella is a definite icon of tropical holidays! Each umbrella will have a number written on it and each quarter a number will be drawn from a hat and the person who's cocktail umbrella matches that number will win a prize.

Let the holiday love begin at work....

JH

One degree of (doggy) separation

Absolutely nothing to do with communications today, but a great example of how small the world really is. I was up at the off lead dog park with my 2yo lab Holly the other morning before work when another Labrador, 1yo Molly, and owner arrived.

Molly (L) and Holly (R) playing like long lost sisters...

I'd not met either before and started chatting to the owner while our dogs started playing like crazy with each other, chasing each other, wrestling, jumping around, all in all having a great time.

Any way, the other guy (Nick) asked me where I'd got my dog from and it turns out we both got our labs from the same breeder. Not only was that in itself enough, after some further discussion and testing of the memory banks, we realised they had the same mum and dad - Holly and Molly were in fact sisters, albeit Holly was 15 months older!

Sisterly love: Holly and Molly hugging/wrestling

They had a lot of the same mannerisms and both had the defining gold 'racing stripe' down the back. Holly had a little bit of excess baggage but insists she is just big boned...

It just goes to show how small the world is. Needless to say Holly and Molly have now got regular play dates scheduled.

JH

How can middle managers improve all user emails?

It's common knowledge that for internal communications to be successful you need the buy in from the CEO and executive and have them willing to share information.

But what about the middle managers and their role in disseminating messages from above? They either receive information direct and may want to keep the knowledge as power, or they receive it the same time as everyone else in an 'all user email' and feel undermined and as if they have no need to take ownership of the message.

 

Middle managers are the crucial link to ensure all user emails have any hope of success

For all user emails from the CEO to have any hope of real success though, it is the line managers and direct supervisors of employees who are the crucial link. If managers don't take the time to read the email themselves and interpret what it might mean for their team or department, then the email from the CEO might as well as been sky writing for the impact it will have with the individual employees. 

 

If you look at just about any employee satisfaction or internal communication survey the source that employees trust the most for delivering a key message is their direct manager, often in face to face communication. If the CEO has sent an all user email, the impact of that communication is already diminished by the sheer fact that, if your organisation is any larger than say 100 people, there is no way the CEO will be able to talk to every one directly and know their personal situations. 

 

Only middle managers can interpret that information, assess what it means for their team and check with higher management if necessary. Middle managers are the lynch-pin to ensuring that all user emails are able to become specific enough to be relevant for each team or department.

 

So should all user emails come with instructions for employees to ask their manager what this means for you? And do middle managers need to be instructed to interpret this information and say 'this is what we know, and this is what I think it means for us...'? 

As communicators and managers, do people grasp too strongly to the belief that 'knowledge is power' and something not to be shared lightly? It's as if knowledge is a physical entity and if I give my knowledge to you, it might mean I am left with nothing. Sadly knowledge isn't something commonly viewed as improved by sharing. 

 

JH

Internal comms in a real disaster

Photo Credit: Salvatore Vuono

Sitting here in the relative comfort of Melbourne it's hard to imagine the devastation flowing through Queensland following the record floods. With a surface area flooded the size of France and Germany combined, more than 40 towns isolated or flooded, a rising death toll and an estimated $5 billion damage bill, it is a crisis of mammoth proportions.

For the agencies involved in responding to the emergency, it is easy to get caught up in the here and now and overlook the menial yet important tasks - like internal communications.

Without been there I can't speak for what exactly is unfolding in Queensland, but from my experience in major emergencies there are a number of internal communication challenges:

• Staff are spread over diverse location, making face to face communication to large numbers hard
• Employees spend the majority of their time in the field, nowhere near a computer making electronic communications (intranet, email, etc) essentially useless
• Staff are not only responding to the crisis and dealing with the emergency workload, but it is highly likely that they will be directly affected themselves, either with personal loss or property damage, or that of friends or family. The need for communications to also act as a support network becomes vital and to remind staff that it is okay to feel affected emotionally and personally. 
• A crisis like the floods has lasted for three weeks so far. It becomes very hard to sustain the necessary communication staffing levels and overcome the associated fatigue and burnout for such a prolonged period of time.

I've found that in a crisis more than ever for internal communications it is all about getting it back to basics. Find out where staff are going to be, how can you improve information flow to them and how you can make their lives easier.

In the past, like during the 2009 Victorian heatwave and Black Saturday bush fires, I set up 24hour phone hot lines for staff to ask any questions or to make requests for welfare, sent managers out to wait in hospital emergency bays with bottles of water because it was the one spot I knew paramedics would go and used external media to communicate essentially internal messages because every one was listening in for radio updates. It requires innovation and a rethink on standard communications, but it is the least that can be done when dealing with a crisis.

As I say, I don't know what is happening in Queensland yet, but I'm certainly thinking of them at this time and hoping that the crisis passes soon and their communication systems are working seamlessly.

JH

Lesson #1: All about me

Hi, and welcome to my blog. Another blog I hear you say, what do I have to offer you that's so different from everyone else out there? What can I say that hasn't been said, done, plagiarized and shot down the fibre to disperse across the little thing called the internet?

Well, at this stage I don't know - but I am determined to find out and if you want to join the journey with me then I'd be stoked. Hopefully along the way we can both learn something.

First thing for you to learn is very self indulgent of me - lesson one is all about me! I'm currently a second year MBA student working in corporate communications for an ambulance service. My blogs will share my learnings, experiences and thoughts on internal communications, social media, issues management and strategic communications.

Thanks for coming this far, I promise to you now that the next posts will be less about me and more about the world we communicate in.

JH