Managing and Leading Strategic Communication: Public Relations, Marketing and Internal Communication

INTRODUCTION

Professionals have a strategic role in leading communications with stakeholders both inside and outside their organizations. It is they who ensure stakeholders understand their vision of the future and who motivate and coordinate the behaviors that lead to transformation.

Module 1: Leading Communications

• Relational leadership: influencing and inspiring through relationships
• Building trust & credibility: integrity, likeability & perceived expertise
• Guiding stakeholder communications: interpreting strategic issues and providing strategic guidance
• Inspiring, influencing, and persuading through storytelling
• Focus on the triple bottom line: economic, environmental, and social performance

Module 2: Communication during change

• Ethos and desire: communicating compelling visions that change corporate culture
• Walk the walk, talk the talk: the leader’s role during change
• Commitment from senior managers: creating a coalition of committed communicators
• Transparent communications and reputation risk management

Module 3: Focusing Communication Efforts

• Aligning communications strategy with business objectives
• Structuring communications to support a high-performance culture
• Delivering real benefits from communications: engaged audiences, effective organization, improved productivity
• Managing resources efficiently: people, technology, and budgets

Module 4: Engaging Employees

• Engaging and empowering employees: effective communications within organizations
• Turning managers into effective communicators: capabilities, core competencies and performance
• Engaging hard to reach employees: call centers, remote offices, field engineers, salespeople
• Helping new employees settle in and feel part of the organization

Module 5: Brand Management

• Corporate identity, image and reputation, vision, mission, and values
• Building competitive advantage and business through branding
• Sharing the investment story: Investor relations and financial PR
• The leader’s communication role during crises
• Developing a personal action plan