Why did you choose to pursue a role in communications? For example, has it always been your passion or was it pure happenstance?
I love language and have always had an interest in writing, so I think it’s an extension of that. I’ve always worked in communications, starting out in broadcast journalism, then moving into media relations for the police, before taking on senior manager roles and into local government. I really enjoy being creative with words and seeing the impact of that, whether it’s resolving a problem, influencing positive change, or explaining something that’s not clear from the outset. It’s not just about what we say, but how we say it. Since there are limitless combinations of words, phrases, formats and channels, the ones we choose can reveal what goes unsaid. And that idea fascinates me.
What personal skills or attributes do you think are most important in the communications sphere? Why these skills/attributes in particular?
Resilience and purpose: the way forward isn’t always clear, so achieving what we set out to accomplish requires tenacity
Being able to work in the grey areas: communication is predominantly an art and there’s not always a hard-and-fast formula to success
Problem solving and decision-making: being able to do so confidently can clarify the way forward
Responsible and ethical: we’re entrusted with the power to influence perceptions, and as Spider-Man fans know, with great power, there must also come great responsibility
What sort of challenges do you face in your role? Is there a particular challenge that you experienced in the past that stood out?
We’re all busy people, so it’s not always easy to get access to our colleagues to gain the insight, information and consensus we need on a way forward. As communicators, we have to work on relationships long-term, so we’re not starting from zero or relying on that access being readily available in urgent situations.
What one thing would make your working life easier?
More time, as there’s never enough of it to do everything that’s asked of us! Again, it’s why those relationships are key, so we can ideally set the purpose and priorities from the outset, agree what we will devote our time to, and how we manage expectations when we can’t dedicate as much time or resource as we would like.
How is the role of communications perceived in your organisation?
As problem-solvers with a can-do attitude, ready to pitch in and support our communities and staff. Managing and co-ordinating the communications at pace recently for Storm Eunice alongside other urgent work was a good example of this ethos coming to the fore.
What do you think the secret of success is when working in communications?
The ability to plan and work to different timescales at the same time. My team and I don’t always get the luxury to plan everything from the beginning; sometimes we have to dive into an ongoing issue, developing the mid and long-term strategies while remedying the immediate problem. This requires a good understanding of how to manage risk, prioritise and identify opportunities, and how to switch between working urgently and planning for the future. I struggle to do both at the same time, so I try to keep them apart, different days if possible!
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?
I’ve found leaders like two things when it comes to hearing about the outcomes of their investment in communications: quantitative data that empirically demonstrates the impact, and qualitative feedback from communities, customers and stakeholders that illustrates how they feel as a result of our work. The two combined can be very powerful. We can’t oversell ourselves and must be truthful about what we’re presenting, setting the context and scale of impact, and reflecting on opportunities to learn and improve.
Looking into your crystal ball, what do you think will be the next big thing in communications?
As communicators, we used to looking ahead in order to plan… however, I don’t have a crystal ball, or even a Magic8 ball, and I’m shockingly bad at predictions! That’s why I try not to get caught up in the next big thing. I do, however, think that now is the time for the communications sector to get to grips with professionalising our service and focus on the long-standing principles that underpin everything we do: insight, purpose, relationships, ethics, and impact.
