Career

Rework Your Network

Have you recently changed jobs or are you thinking about doing so? Then you should spend some time reworking your network.

I’m not suggesting that you abandon everyone within your network, but you may need to add some new people and switch the types of meetings you attend.

Connections: Be sure to add people to your network who can counsel you about the field in which you are working or can give you straightforward advice about how you are performing.

Publications: You should also reconsider the publications you read. It doesn’t mean you have to give them all up, but you need to spend time reading those that are relevant to your current job or the position you are striving to get. When I worked for the Federal Reserve Bank, I read The Wall Street Journal every day. I still read the occasional article online, but when I moved into law enforcement, I needed to focus on the latest trends in policing.

Conferences: When I moved from law enforcement communications to international development communications, I stopped attending conferences for public safety public information officers and began attending the InterAction Forum, which focused on organizations within the development space.

Professional Groups: You will also want to reach out to other professional groups on LinkedIn. My work for some time has included a focus on crisis communications so I am a member of a group with that focus. However, if you are changing sectors, you may want to change the groups to which you belong.

5 Things to Do to Help Orient a New Employee

When a new employee joins your team, are you prepared to help them succeed? We all know the value of introducing the person to key people. That’s a good start, but don’t forget some other crucial ways to help orient a new employee.

Introductions. Don’t overwhelm the newest member of your team on the first day. Instead, let her get to know the immediate team. Take her out to lunch so she can get to know her colleagues in a relaxed setting. Later in the week and throughout the first month (depending on the size of your organization), introduce her to employees in other areas. This will allow her to connect names, faces and functions.

Meetings. Be sure the person has been sent the invitation for key standing meetings. A new employee will acclimate more quickly when he knows about projects, issues and deadlines.

Organization chart. Include the person’s title, email, phone number and high-level area of responsibility. Even better, include a photo and details about where the person’s office is located.

Publications. What publications should the new hire read? Save the last one or two issues so the person can read them in the first week or so. He will be able to familiarize himself with some of the industry issues.

Passwords. Ensure the person has passwords to any databases or online services that you use.

 

 

Tools Of Success for the Solo Communicator

Working as a solo practitioner can be daunting given that the marketplace is crowded with lots of award-winning journalists.

That’s what Robin Farmer, a former reporter for the Richmond-Times Dispatch (Va.) discovered when she first went solo.

She realized she needed to do something to set herself apart and to ensure her success. She shared her tips during a recent Virginia Press Women conference.

The first thing she did was attend a seminar presented by SCORE, a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship. The seminar helped her determine the structure of her business and how to set up her website.

She also hired a business coach, who helped her write effective pitches.

What I really appreciated was how Robin organized her work week with each day having a specific focus.

Monday is for marketing because as Robin notes, “You have to constantly look for work.” She uses Marketing Monday to write letters of introduction and to send pitches.

On Thankful Tuesday she writes handwritten notes to sources and editors. She always includes two business cards – one for the recipient and one for the recipient to share.

Work It Wednesday is Robin’s workhorse day. She sets up her interviews and transcribes notes, for example.
Invoices are sent and contracts are finalized on Track It Thursday.

The last day of the week is Fiction Friday or Fun Friday.

5 Tips to Enter a Communications Contest

This past weekend I attended a conference where communications awards were handed out. I was fortunate to receive several.

Contests can validate your work, and the judge's comments can help you improve your work. (Photo by Cynthia Price)

Contests can validate your work, and the judge’s comments can help you improve your work. (Photo by Cynthia Price)

I enter contests to validate my work. Often communications is an overlooked area within an organization. Earning an award for your work lets the company know that you do good work and that others respect it. I find judge’s comments hugely helpful in improving my work.

So how do you go about entering a contest? The first thing to know it that you don’t have to have it all figured out up front. You can start the process and edit as you go.

Here are a few tips:

Keep a folder or list throughout the year of work of which you are proud. With so much work available online now (and most contests are electronic, too) it’s helpful to keep a list of the possible entries with the URL. Save PDFs of your work into a folder that you’ve labeled, “Contest Entries.”

Check categories and identify the ones in which you think your entry would fit. If you aren’t sure, ask the contest coordinator. Help is almost always available – by phone or email – and it will prevent you from entering your work in the wrong category, which could disqualify the entry.

Print the rules – and more importantly, read them. You want to be sure that you are entering the correct category and providing the necessary supporting documentation. You may have implemented the best public relations campaign, but if you can’t find the research you did, you won’t be successful in entering the category. You should note the deadline and build in plenty of time to complete your entries.

Spend time on the summaries. Many contests require a short summary addressing key areas on which the entry will be judged. You want to address each of those areas, providing the required supporting material.

Start early in your submission preparations. Doing so gives you additional time to think about other metrics to support your work. This is crucial for public relations entries. If you are entering in writing categories, you may remember that you wrote several articles throughout the year on one topic. Now instead of a single entry, you could enter in a theme category.

For the contest I entered this year, I set aside an afternoon to compile my entries, including the supporting material. I then made a master list with the category name and the title of my entry.

A week later, I officially entered the contest. That extra week provided me with time to find additional supporting material and to be sure I had everything I needed before I started uploading my documents to the electronic contest.

Once you have double-checked your entries, it’s time to submit them. Good luck!

 

Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

During your work day are you solely focused on today or do you think about tomorrow?

I ask the question because David R. Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, writes in How to Think Like a CEO in the summer 2013 of The Strategist that a CEO needs to focus on today and the future. In a reflection point, he asks, “If you tracked your time, then what might the mix be of time spent on today versus the future and do you have the right balance? Would your boss agree?”

While I’m not a CEO, the point resonated with me. In my role as director of communications I need to meet specific targets today. To do so, I needed to have begun planning weeks, months or years earlier, which means I must set aside time to think about what is needed. I already have a framework of what my department should be achieving in FY15. To get there, we need to be laying the groundwork now in FY14.

Even as a reporter, I had to think about tomorrow. What were key anniversaries that I needed to know about and plan to cover? If I was working a holiday, I often planned my story weeks in advance knowing that my sources most likely would be on vacation. Although I wasn’t thinking too far into the future, I certainly couldn’t only be focused on today.

Thinking about tomorrow also is important in my personal life. If I’m going on vacation and want to keep my fitness plans in place then I need to book a hotel with a gym or at least an area outside that is suited for walking. If I want to have a grand adventure, I need to save for the future.

How to you think about tomorrow and plan for it?