Why did you choose to pursue a role in communications? For example, has it always been your passion or was it pure happenstance?
When I left school I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do, but knew that I loved language (and books!) and was good at writing clearly. After I graduated from my degree in English Literature I still didn't know what my 'career' would look like, but I was lucky enough to get a paid internship with a local tech start-up, sponsored by my university. This eventually led to a permanent role with the company as a Digital Content Writer, where I learned a huge amount about SEO and marketing. Because it was a small start-up, everyone had to pitch in with different tasks so I got to learn about some of the tech and digital side of things too - and eventually started to develop the role with more of a communications focus. After a few years there, I decided I wanted to put my skills to use for a more meaningful cause so moved into charity sector communications roles. So it's been a mixture of luck and lots of learning on the job!
What personal skills or attributes do you think are most important in the communications sphere? Why these skills/attributes in particular?
I think there's an assumption that comms people need to be really outgoing, but actually most comms people I know (myself included!) are quite introverted and much prefer communicating through the keyboard to speaking in public! Good organisational skills, planning and the ability to learn new things quickly are more important; the world of communications is always changing, so you need to be able to keep up to date with the latest developments and be comfortable working at a fast pace.
What sort of challenges do you face in your role? Is there a particular challenge that you experienced in the past that stood out?
In the past I've felt a bit of imposter syndrome because I don't have any formal PR or communications qualifications - but through meeting other comms professionals I've learned that learning on the job is actually very common, particularly in the charity sector. I try to do as much training and L&D as I can to make sure there are no gaps in my skills, but the biggest challenge there is finding the time!
What one thing would make your working life easier?
More time! I find it's difficult to come up with creative new ideas when you're rushing from one thing to another. Having said that, I've found that since I've been working from home (I'm now permanently home-based having started a remote role during the pandemic) my time management has improved a lot, and I've got more of the quiet thinking time that I just didn't have in an office.
How is the role of communications perceived in your organisation?
We're a very small charity so I'm a one-woman comms team. Luckily everyone else is really receptive to the need for both comms and digital to be fully embedded in all our work - which means I'm very busy! In the past I've worked in other organisations where, although we had a bigger comms team, the expertise of the team and the potential for comms work to add real value wasn't always appreciated.
What do you think the secret of success is when working in communications?
Proper planning, measuring success or failure - and then actually acting on it! Unfortunately, these things are the first to be dropped when you're in a small team and working to one tight deadline after another. It's also really important as a comms person or team to be clear about the boundaries of your role, as well as what you can offer - otherwise you could be stuck formatting documents and sending logos forever!
At React & Share, we’re obsessed with helping our clients measure and report their efforts - what measurements do you think comms teams should be presenting to internal stakeholders?
Senior management and other stakeholders usually want to see the topline numbers; how many website visits, how many retweets etc. But I think it's important to also go a bit deeper with them and demonstrate the importance of genuine engagement, to help them understand the long term value of what you're doing. Although it might take a bit more time, it's worth it to encourage a culture of meaningful engagement with your audiences - rather than just wanting to see a line on a graph going up each month.
Looking into your crystal ball, what do you think will be the next big thing in communications?
The fact that anyone can now have a platform to reach potentially thousands of people has already changed things a huge amount. Whether you're a commercial brand or a charity, your audience is now able to join the conversation with you in ways that weren't possible even five years ago - for better or for worse! In the charity communications world, I hope that this is going to create opportunities for people with lived experience of the issues we're working on to speak and be heard in meaningful ways. I'd like to see a move away from charities simply 'using' people's stories in their comms materials, towards actually involving those people in the creation of authentic campaigns that give them a voice and drive change.
