Behind the Bob - through times of change
In this episode of Behind the Bob, Diary of a Comms Director, Carrie-Ann Wade shares her thoughts and reflections on what you might want to consider during times of change and uncertainty.
01:31 - your role as a leader in your organisation
05:00 - intuition and empathy
05:33 - your role with your communications team
08:55 - impacts on you as an individual
10:11 - your support network
In challenging times, comms directors take on numerous roles, often providing support, advice and counsel to other leaders. In this episode, Carrie-Ann encourages you to ensure you have a strong support network in place to help you when you need it. Change impacts you too!
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Transcript
Carrie-Ann Wade: Welcome to Behind the Bob Diary of a Comms
Speaker:Director with me, Carrie-Ann Wade.
Speaker:This podcast is all about developing communications leaders of the
Speaker:future and supporting you to grow and thrive in your comms career.
Speaker:You'll hear from me about my experiences and insights, and there might even
Speaker:be a special guest or two popping up.
Speaker:So I hope you enjoy.
Speaker:Welcome to the latest episode of Behind the Bob, Diary of a Comms Director, with,
Speaker:yes, you've guessed it, me, Carrie-Ann.
Speaker:This is one of those solo episodes, so there's no guest with me today.
Speaker:I won't be having a deep and meaningful conversation with another
Speaker:amazing communications professional.
Speaker:But I will be sharing briefly some of my thoughts and reflections on a
Speaker:topic that I think is really important for us working in communications.
Speaker:And that topic this week is around change and uncertainty.
Speaker:As you will know, we live in uncertain times, and managing change and uncertainty
Speaker:is probably one of the only things we can be most certain about in our
Speaker:roles as communications directors.
Speaker:Whether that's a change in direction or strategy for the organisation we work
Speaker:for, or possibly a change in leadership, it can actually take many guises, but
Speaker:I'm sure will have similar impacts.
Speaker:As a Communications Director, it feels to me like there are a number
Speaker:of different roles we need to take when we're leading through change.
Speaker:And the first area I wanted to reflect on is what your role as a leader
Speaker:in your organisation means for you as a Director of Communications.
Speaker:While you are there to represent your function and provide sound, expert
Speaker:communications advice, you're also part of that leadership team in your
Speaker:organisation, and that can sometimes move you beyond your remit as comms lead.
Speaker:If you've listened to the previous episode I've recorded about communications leaders
Speaker:making great leaders in general, I think some of that comes into its own here.
Speaker:When your organisation is undergoing change, your board
Speaker:will look to you to support them in answering some key questions.
Speaker:Questions like, what's the likely impact of this change on our key
Speaker:internal and external stakeholders, and how do you think this will land?
Speaker:What can we do to alleviate some of the concerns and anxieties that may be
Speaker:raised through this period of change?
Speaker:And how do we bring people on the journey with us to implement the desired outcomes
Speaker:from the change that we're proposing?
Speaker:Now these questions will of course have different answers based
Speaker:on your organisation and the change that is being discussed.
Speaker:From a communications point of view we would probably all advise similar
Speaker:things and we would ask the board to consider similar questions to help
Speaker:us to develop our comms approach.
Speaker:And, of course, there will be the usual communications outputs that will be
Speaker:discussed in these conversations, such as the provision of frequently asked
Speaker:questions, briefings, face to face meetings, the list I know goes on.
Speaker:I think we all know as communications leaders how we would support and advise,
Speaker:because we are, of course, the experts.
Speaker:The bit that I think is useful for us to remind ourselves of in this
Speaker:situation is to operate beyond comms.
Speaker:We are part of the senior leadership team and as well as holding up the
Speaker:mirror to our peers in this space and helping the board to seek clarity on
Speaker:those questions, we also have a duty to role model positive leadership
Speaker:behaviours and to constructively offer some challenge into this space.
Speaker:As a leader, we might need to consider the impacts of the uncertainty and
Speaker:change on the other leaders in the organization and try to understand
Speaker:how this might play out in terms of their behaviors and contributions in
Speaker:the leadership team and discussions.
Speaker:There may well be anxieties playing out as people question values
Speaker:alignment to a potential new direction of travel, or perhaps worry about
Speaker:the impacts of a new boss on their portfolio and their deliverables.
Speaker:It might be something that's just bubbling there underneath the surface,
Speaker:or it might be playing out really loudly in conversations and discussions.
Speaker:This is a crucial time for you to consider your role as a leader alongside
Speaker:being the expert strategic communicator as you may need to facilitate and
Speaker:advise on a sensible way forward.
Speaker:I've often found myself at times of significant change being the person in
Speaker:the leadership room that asks what might be perceived to be the stupid questions.
Speaker:Not because I think they are stupid, but because sometimes it takes the
Speaker:communications leader in the room to take on that role of trying to tease
Speaker:out how people are feeling, how things are landing, and if everyone is in the
Speaker:right space to be able to take forward the proposed changes in a way that
Speaker:will be supportive and engaging for those people in the wider organisation.
Speaker:The good communication leaders that I've had the privilege to work with
Speaker:have had great intuition and empathy and have the ability to diplomatically
Speaker:feedback into their leadership teams their observations of how change
Speaker:is being perceived and managed.
Speaker:I often feel like it's my role to articulate and share what could be
Speaker:perceived as the elephant in the room and suggest that we try to address it.
Speaker:Otherwise a leadership team trying to provide assurance through an unsettling
Speaker:time will face an even bigger challenge.
Speaker:The next area I wanted to briefly explore is your role of course as a Communications
Speaker:Director with your own team.
Speaker:Those same anxieties and concerns may well be playing out for your team
Speaker:members when things feel uncertain or the organisation is undergoing change.
Speaker:When your whole team has a role in communicating that change to the wider
Speaker:organisation, and perhaps even to external stakeholders, it's even more important to
Speaker:be curious and understand their needs in order to be able to do this effectively.
Speaker:Ask your team the following questions.
Speaker:How are you feeling about the changes?
Speaker:What do you need from me to support you at this time?
Speaker:And what do you need from the organisation in terms of support?
Speaker:We can have these conversations as a wider comms team, or as a smaller sub
Speaker:team if you have them in yours, for example in your comms management team.
Speaker:And of course, you can have these conversations with individuals,
Speaker:remembering that people will want to engage with you in different ways.
Speaker:Some of the asks I've heard from my teams on occasions when we've been dealing with
Speaker:change are for really practical things to help us do our comms job effectively.
Speaker:For example, I've heard people ask for really clear key messaging.
Speaker:They've asked who's going to be signing the comms off and who's going to be
Speaker:fronting key meetings, for example.
Speaker:But many of the asks from team members have been about things like how will this
Speaker:change impact what I do going forward?
Speaker:What will be different for me?
Speaker:What will stay the same?
Speaker:And will our team have new priorities and how might that affect my job?
Speaker:It's natural for people to be anxious and to have these types of questions.
Speaker:Some of the team will see change as an opportunity to do things
Speaker:differently, maybe to try new ideas and be more innovative.
Speaker:While others will see change as a potential threat to the
Speaker:status quo and something that makes them feel uncomfortable.
Speaker:It's important to make the space and time to work through this with
Speaker:your team, especially given the role of comms in change management.
Speaker:It's also important, and I will say there's a caveat for this, and
Speaker:probably most of this conversation, that caveat being that I've made
Speaker:an assumption you're operating in a culture that's open and transparent
Speaker:and where people feel safe to share.
Speaker:But as I was saying, it's important that you are honest and upfront.
Speaker:If you don't know what the impacts of the change might be for your
Speaker:team, or you don't have clarity, then be honest about that.
Speaker:And commit to sharing what you can, as and when you're able to do so.
Speaker:I mean, these are all principles of good communications, I know.
Speaker:I do think there's a misconception, however, that when you work in comms, you
Speaker:know everything before anyone else does.
Speaker:And sadly, in my own experience, that is not always the case.
Speaker:Uh, perhaps I should even say that's not often the case.
Speaker:Of course there will be times when we have information, as we are
Speaker:part of the leadership team, that we're not at liberty to share.
Speaker:And that's okay.
Speaker:As long as we're being open and transparent about the things that
Speaker:we can share, listening to people's concerns, and finding ways to respond to
Speaker:them either individually or as a team.
Speaker:And of course, coming from a genuine place to really want to help people work
Speaker:through that change and uncertainty.
Speaker:Finally, I wanted to reflect on how change and uncertainty
Speaker:impacts on you individually.
Speaker:It's really easy for communications directors to feel the need to just
Speaker:get on with things, but my own experience has taught me it's important
Speaker:to create the time and to seek the support you need to process and work
Speaker:through those changes for yourself.
Speaker:As comms directors, we are often in the privileged position where we are
Speaker:trusted advisors to our leadership teams, confidants to other leaders in
Speaker:our organisations, sounding boards for people to test out ideas, and sometimes
Speaker:even a therapist, as well as, of course, being a professional communicator.
Speaker:While this signals that others trust us and we have built strong
Speaker:relationships, don't underestimate the toll that absorbing the emotions
Speaker:and feelings of others can take on you during times of stress and
Speaker:uncertainty in your organization.
Speaker:It's really important to carve out the time and space to reflect on
Speaker:how you feel about the changes.
Speaker:Ask yourself some of those same questions that you would ask others in your team.
Speaker:What impacts might the change have for you personally, are there
Speaker:opportunities, and equally are there things that you feel concerned about?
Speaker:Having a strong support network here is crucial.
Speaker:Whether that looks like a handful of trusted peers or colleagues, maybe some
Speaker:of your close friends, or perhaps more formal arrangements through a coach or
Speaker:a mentor, being able to talk through the impacts of change and how you might
Speaker:choose to manage it will really help you.
Speaker:At many points throughout my career as a comms leader, I've needed to sense
Speaker:check things, test out my thoughts, download some of my own stresses,
Speaker:and to create some head space to consider my next steps in working
Speaker:through change, both professionally and personally, as the comms lead for
Speaker:the organisation, as the leader for my team, and of course for myself.
Speaker:Having some hugely trusted people in my network to do that with, as well
Speaker:as my coach when I needed to, and my mentors, has genuinely helped me.
Speaker:Whether that has been reframing my thinking, checking on values
Speaker:alignment, or considering what impact I feel I can have as a leader,
Speaker:it's all been hugely beneficial.
Speaker:So I'll end this episode by saying, at those points when we face change and
Speaker:uncertainty, don't forget that people will be looking to you to provide
Speaker:that expert communications advice.
Speaker:Don't forget that people will also be looking to you as a leader to role model
Speaker:good behaviours and provide assurance and reassurance where you're able to.
Speaker:But most importantly, I would say at any time of change or uncertainty,
Speaker:don't forget to look after yourself.
Speaker:Thank you for listening to this episode of Behind the Bob.
Speaker:I'd love for you to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform
Speaker:and leave a rating or a review.
Speaker:You can also engage with me over on the socials.
Speaker:You can find me on Instagram and on Twitter at @catspjs_uk.
Speaker:Catch up soon.
