Productivity tool or a procrastinator’s best friend?

By Tanya Batra, Melcrum

In February last year, Thierry Breton, CEO and chairman of Atos Origin, an international IT services company employing staff across 42 countries, announced his mission to ban internal email, with the intention of becoming a "zero email" company by 2014.

Unsurprisingly his declaration caused a media stir and also received some backlash, but Breton defended his decision, saying:

"I didn’t do this for external reasons…I did it to enhance the quality of working conditions for Atos’ 80,000 employees…my first intention was to deal with this data deluge and to work with the tools the young generation are using. We are addressing a real issue of our time…we are no longer using email the way it was intended to be used"

  
His decision was also made in light of the revelation that employees were receiving over 100 emails a day, of which only 15% were useful, and also upon consideration of the fact that for the 10,000 new employees hired every year, internal email tools such as Outlook were completely unfamiliar, with Breton stating, "We have to adapt ourselves to this new generation that will become our business colleagues tomorrow."

As radical as the idea may sound...
...it perhaps isn’t when you fully consider that it’s a positive step towards what we’re all trying to achieve -  i.e. transforming the internal comms model and becoming a social business. And whether you realise it or not, most of us have already taken these steps in our implementation of digital tools.
What we haven’t done however, is fully allowed the potential of these tools to take hold and deliver the collaboration-driven business benefits they’re capable of.

So while we have the tools in place which hold the potential to increase efficiencies, reduce reliance on email and ultimately drive productivity – our failure to educate employees as to how it can be used,  failure to generate the required culture shift that encourages more "fluid" communication and a failure to engage leaders to lead by example and influence – are all pivotal reasons why "business-benefitting collaboration" is simply not happening.

 

IBM – where it all began?
While Breton’s decision was the most highly publicised, IBM’s BlueIQ team* - namely one member of the core team, Luis Suarez, knowledge manager, community builder & social software evangelist - could be considered as leading the charge, having decided back in 2008 to start living in a world without email.

 
"As a remote employee, I wanted to prove to everyone that I could keep working for the company without using email, relying almost exclusively on social software tools to communicate daily with my team members."

And in January 2011, just three years on, Suarez reported an impressive 95% reduction in inbox traffic.

Why live without email?

"Around two and a half years ago in my role of software evangelism, one of the main hurdles we were hearing from people is … they perceive this software as another set of tools on top of what they were already using…they had this feeling that, you’re asking me to spend more time online with Twitter, Facebook and whatever the internal social software applications were."

As well as wanting to demonstrate to coworkers just how dependent they were on email (despite its loss of productivity as a channel), Suarez’ decision was also triggered in 2008 when IBM’s Blue IQ team were faced with the challenge of educating an overwhelmed and reluctant salesforce to use the social tools that were available to them to provide "answers" rather than "problems" (with the potential to benefit them in completing daily tasks and increase efficiencies). The initiative was a success and transformed IBM’s salesforce into fellow social software evangelists. Not only that, the Blue IQ team continues to expand with the ultimate aim of enterprise-wide social collaboration inside and outside of IBM that drives real business results.

Enabling crucial conversations
Suarez will be sharing his story at our first-ever Digital Communication Summit in London on 27-28 March, 2012, where we’ll be addressing the role of technology in enabling crucial conversations to build an engaged and collaborative workforce, and the fundamental role communicators play in leading the transformation across culture and leadership to create a truly social business that reaps the benefits of outcome-driven collaboration.  

Joining him will be thought leaders such as Paul Miller, CEO and founder of the Intranet Benchmarking Forum and Digital Workplace Forum and Laurie Hibbs, HR director at LexisNexis UK as well as business leaders from companies including BT Conferencing, Nokia, Bupa and the adidas Group who will be sharing their powerful case studies. 

Check out the full event programme online: http://bit.ly/yipJEj

*IBM’S BlueIQ Ambassador Programme - A worldwide community of social software evangelists with a mission to energize and enable every IBM employee to use social software, both internally and externally. The BlueIQ ambassadors support the BlueIQ program’s mission to transform IBM into a showcase for the business benefits of social software adoption.

Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16055310

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/01/luis-suarez/

http://mashable.com/2010/09/03/world-without-email/

http://www.elsua.net/2012/01/13/blueiq-at-ibm-finally-goes-external/

https://www-304.ibm.com/wikis/home/wiki/BlueIQ?lang=en_US

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/offer/adoptioncouncil/

 

Seven tips to keep your employee magazine fresh and relevant

by Luke Dodd, Features Editor, Melcrum

Hi everyone,

In the February edition of SCM, we took a look at how to ensure your employee magazine remained an effective channel for sharing strategy throughout your organization – especially when surrounded by newer social technologies.

Integration emerged as a key solution, for example; consider cross-referencing between the magazine and your intranet/internal social network. Communicating your company's strategy and important messages this way can maximize engagement for employees.

Alongside integration, there are other factors to consider when looking at how to keep your magazine fresh and relevant. Here are our top tips:

1. Hold regular focus groups at all stages of magazine production
Use employee focus groups to decide initially that a magazine is right for your organization, to ensure that content is continually hitting the mark and for any other big decision you need input on. They are, after all, the people who will be reading it.

2. Keep the human element alive
Employees want to read about their counterparts across the organization, not solely about executive level activity or new processes.

3. Include employee case studies
People like to read content they can relate to and hear stories about what people are doing across the world.

4. Don't include corporate blah blah
Try and make it feel as far away from corporate as you possibly can. If content doesn't fit this ideology, don't include it.

5. Align content with strategy and business need
Although, in doing so, make sure the content doesn't become stagnant. Be creative in the ways you tie content back to business objectives.

6. Reference the external market
If there are key changes happening in your organization's sector, make sure to mention it in your magazine. Employees want to be kept informed by the company they work for.

7. Develop a good internal network and keep close to leadership
Find out what other people in the company are doing. If possible include leadership comments on future plans.

 

For further information on employee magazines, visit the links below:

How to use staff magazines to connect with your employees

Ten reasons to keep printing your in-house magazine

British Airways gets "Up To Speed" with a new employee magazine

 

Until next time,

Luke

Ten reasons why you can’t afford to miss our 10th anniversary!

By Tanya Batra, Melcrum

The 10th Annual Strategic Communication Management Summit takes place in just two weeks! And for those of you who haven’t booked your place yet - here’s ten reasons why you really can’t afford to miss out...

1. Future foresight - be in the know
We all want to know what’s around the corner. And while predicting the future is a challenging and unenviable task, having that foresight means we can plan ahead and make provisions to not just meet future challenges, but to successfully overcome them. This year our focus is on the future for internal comms, and the Summit is set around four key trends set to shape the business world over the next 3-5 years.
 
2. SCM Summit legends pack
As well as lots of new inspiring ideas, you’ll also receive an SCM Summit Legends Pack, containing a handpicked selection of case studies and opinion pieces from past Summit speakers - available exclusively for delegates.
 
3. SCM Awards
The SCM awards dinner takes place on 12 October, the evening of the first day of the Summit, so after a day of inspiring case studies, relax and enjoy a drink with fellow delegates at the champagne reception before sitting down to a three-course meal and an evening of surprises and entertainment, as we announce the winning entries. 

4. All bases covered
Our programme leaves no stone unturned. It covers up-to-the-minute issues facing communicators across industry, as well as fresh, cutting-edge approaches to recurring challenges: line manager comms, the digital workplace, measurement, employee value proposition (EVP), agile working, communicating with a global workforce, CEO comms, ROI and cost efficiency, culture and behaviour, employee engagement and intranets.

5. Trusted by many
Benefit from over 15 years of Melcrum’s research with Fortune 500 companies to share examples of best practice and emerging trends set to shape our industry. We’re the trusted source of advice for senior level communicators at Global Fortune 100 and FTSE 100 largest organisations, so you can be sure you’ll be in expert hands.  

6. Unrivalled benchmarking and networking opportunities
with fellow IC professionals from across industry facing the same challenges as you, in a practitioner-focused environment. Delegates already registered include those from RBS, Rolls Royce, Nationwide Building Society, Essex County Council, HSBC, GE Capital, Centrica, Adidas, BP, Orange and Shell, and many more. 

7. Expert-led panel discussion on “The Digital Workplace”
with senior reps from Yammer Inc., Microsoft UK and the Intranet Benchmarking Forum (IBF) who will address your questions and key challenges around the digital workplace, it’s evolution and role in IC strategy. 

8. Macleod and Clarke
As IC rises to the top of the national agenda, we’re keeping you at the forefront. David MacLeod and Nita Clarke, two names truly synonymous with the words employee engagement after their hugely influential report to government in 2009, will present a keynote session on day one, providing exclusive first-hand insight to their next steps, the launch of a new government sponsored employee engagement taskforce.

9. Diverse, refreshing and inspiring 30+ speaker line-up
With over 30 speakers, this year features our largest speaker line-up to date. Over just two days, you’ll hear from top-level communicators from a broad range of organisations who’ll provide in-depth insight into the work they’re doing. You’ll hear case studies from senior leaders at Nationwide Building Society, Ericsson, NHS Blood and Transplant, eBay Europe, first direct, Harrods, TUI UK & Ireland, Tata Global Beverages, Chartered Management Institute and many more.

10. And our final reason?
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the UK Strategic Communication Management Summit, and to celebrate, we’ve gone all out to make this event as exciting, inspiring and valuable as possible. It’s more than just a conference, it’s an annual meeting of the best minds and leaders in IC - make sure you don’t miss out. 
 
Full programme and booking information available at:
http://melcrum.com/scmsummit_2011/index.html

Intranets remain top of the agenda for IC practitioners

By Tanya Batra, Melcrum

We recently asked our audience of internal comms practitioners what their biggest investment or achievement has been over the last 12 months, and while results varied, a clear front-runner was corporate intranet development, with one in four communicators having invested substantially in building and redesigning their corporate intranet.  

For me this comes as no surprise - working at Melcrum means I often hear inspiring stories from a wide cross-section of IC practitioners on a range of topics. This includes the way intranets are being used to transform IC; from the way leaders are communicating with their staff, and how employees across the globe are connecting with one another, to the way teams are tapping into internal intelligence where they would previously have turned to external suppliers.

It’s important that such great work continues to be recognised, and for this reason we’re hosting the Strategic Communication Management Awards 2011.

If you’ve been busy building an intranet that’s bringing about real organisational benefits, launched new employee collaboration tools, implemented a new social media strategy or have any other examples of delivering tangible results through use of technology - enter our excellence in technology award category and find out how you stack up against the best in the industry.

And in an effort to inspire you and get you thinking about where you’ve made the biggest impact, we’d like to share a powerful case study with you from Mark Morrell, intranet manager at BT Group, who heads up a team in Group Communications, on how they’ve successfully transformed their intranet into an “online environment” for staff instead of just a website surrounded by other applications.

There are seven categories to choose from so if you think you’re more of a rising star or leader of the year – there’s a category to suit everyone. But with a fast approaching deadline of 24 May, we’d suggest you get started soon.

And to set you off in the right direction, we’ve compiled a list of ten top tips to writing a winning entry!

Best of luck! Also, look out for next week’s give away on revisiting strategies and making an impact.

Get the recognition you deserve by entering the SCM Awards 2011

Mike Berry, Head of Content, Melcrum

Has your team achieved something special this year? Have you made a positive impact on the business and feel you deserve recognition? Do you think your boss is an influential leader or is someone in your team a rising star?

Melcrum is proud to announce the launch of the Strategic Communication Management Awards 2011, in association with Towers Watson. The SCM Awards are for individuals, teams and organizations that have positively impacted business results through strategic internal communication.

Against a backdrop of ongoing economic turmoil, the explosion of mass communication and an increasingly diverse and global workforce, the past decade has seen a number of unprecedented challenges thrown at internal communicators.

But despite this, the IC function has emerged more robust than ever before.

Judged by a panel of communication experts, and backed by Melcrum’s 15 years experience and research in the IC sector, these awards represent a powerful voice for the communication profession.

So why enter?
•    Receive recognition from your industry and peers.
•    Reward your team by demonstrating how proud you are of their work.
•    Benchmark your comms initiatives with the best of the best.
•    Analyze what's going well and evaluate the impact of your comms efforts.
•    Elevate the status of the internal comms function within your organization.
•    Boost your CV with an industry-recognized award.

Categories for entry are: Business Impact, Team of the Year, Excellence in Technology, Excellence in Employee Engagement, Rising Star and SCM Lifetime Achievement.

The shortlist will not only identify your team as at the top of their game, but help drive best practice in the sector as a whole. The winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony in London on 12 October.

So enter and put yourself forward for this prestigious European award today!

For more information and entry details, please visit: www.melcrum.com/scmawards

 

SharePoint: Creating the connection

By Tanya Batra, Melcrum

Investing time and money in intranet tools and features without creating a connection as to how this investment can help employees do their job better, rarely amounts to little more than an expensive bill for a poorly used portal.

And for communicators, the frustration often stems from a poor connection with the IT function. Communicators often complain that much of the intranet functionality created by IT is done so with little understanding of what the day-to-day internal communication requirements may be.

Across our portfolio of case studies, we’ve repeatedly seen that the most successful intranets are those that:

1. evolve in response to a comprehensive understanding of end-user requirements and experiences;
2. are managed effectively and;
3. are the result of a partnership between the IT and internal comms function.

At our upcoming User Forum: SharePoint for internal communicators, Didier Thomas, change & communication manager at Siemens will be sharing his SharePoint challenge.

Having previously worked in internal communication before moving to IT, and now acting as an interface between the two, Thomas is particularly well placed as a presenter. He’ll discuss how his team managed the imposition of a decrease in corporate travel by successfully positioning SharePoint as a solution to 28,000 employees, and encouraging them to use “virtual workspaces” as an alternative.  

Also on hand will be Greg Kerchhoff, SharePoint project manager, who will cover the practical steps taken by the BBC towards generating better SharePoint launch and adoption strategies. He will explain how this led to the creation of SharePoint collaboration tools that were right for the organization, and team sites that were successfully adopted by business units. 

Our keynote speaker, Richard Dennison, principal business partner at BT plc, will be discussing how the social media features of SharePoint are driving a transformation program in this global firm. Other case studies on the day will come from organizations including Standard Chartered Bank, Aviva plc and Maersk Line.
 
In the meantime, take a look back at how BT first implemented a range of social media functionality, such as BTpedia wiki, resulting in real organizational benefits. This feature-length case study, “How social media fits into BT's business”, by Mark Morrell, intranet manager, BT, is available for download, for the next five days. To download your free article and view the full event program, visit the website. 

   
We hope to see you in London on 8th February!

Highlights from Melcrum's SCM Summit Australia

Katrina Andrews, Director, Melcrum Asia-Pacific

This year’s 7th Annual Strategic Communication Management Summit in Sydney, drew together a crowd of over 120 communicators, based throughout Australia and Asia, including Japan and China. Compared to last year, in the midst of the global financial crisis, there was an air of optimism in the room. If I was to sum up in one sentence the general attitude of the audience it would be: "We’re through the worst of it. Let’s reignite, reinvent and most importantly re-engage."

There were case studies of communication triumph against adversity, with Andrew Huckel, group internal communications manager, Bankwest, coaching us through the internal comms challenges faced when a parent company collapses (HBOS) and a subsequent acquisition takes place (by Commonwealth Bank of Australia).

Most interesting was to hear how their senior leadership played an integral part in keeping their employees informed and internal brand consistent. Huckel told the audience that in the midst of the crisis, he was having twice daily meetings with the MD.

Olivia Wirth, head of corporate communications, Qantas, delivered an outstanding presentation on how she and her team harnessed and learned from Qantas' 13 individual unions – a communication prospect that would make most of us shudder.

Communicating within such an iconic Australian brand like Qantas brought up a whole set of challenges, including the mainstream media being named the primary source for organizational information for employees. Quite simply, Qantas “hadn’t invested in internal communication” -  a challenge both Wirth and the executive team set out to change by introducing "we will tell you first" –  a new governing internal communication principle.

Spurred on by the belief that if you haven’t got your top 100 engaged, you're not going to get the rest of the business engaged, the team set out to develop a new senior leadership communication project. Plus, executed a brand review process targeting individual staff across the organization with a set of questions focused on:

• What do you think our values are?
• How do you think that relates to your behavior?
• And reflecting the nature of the Qantas brand: What is the "Australian way"?

At the completion of Olivia’s presentation, I really was left convinced that this was a company  on its way to delivering world-class communications.

Some of the other key takeaways from the Summit included

• Melcrum’s Rebecca Richmond’s presentation on moving from a cascade to a dialogue approach to communication. When thinking about manager communication, help them to set the scene i.e. create the infrastructure. Bill Quirke’s model for structuring a meeting is a great tool to help manager’s foster dialogue within your organization
  
  
• Athena Wiliams-Atwood, AMP New Zealand, encouraged all communicators to adapt a sales approach to convince senior leaders of the importance of engagement, perhaps by reading Spin Selling – a book on how to pitch your ideas, or – even more radical – attending a sales training course!
  
  
• Insights and learnings from one of the year's biggest stories: the multiple outages that hit Telecom's XT mobile network. Also, a great example of how to harness a charismatic CEO can be seen through their use of video.
  

Plus, great further presentations from Ericsson, IBM & ABT, Luxottica, Raytheon, AMP Australia and Integral Energy. All up, great speakers with great networking – I’m already looking forward to 2011!

Turning SharePoint stress into SharePoint success

By Nishwa Ashraf, Editorial Assistant, Melcrum

When the word “SharePoint” is uttered, what’s the first thing that pops into your head?

Is it: Collaboration? Microsoft? Content management?

Or how about: Confusing? Clunky? Lacks intuition?

Despite the fact that 40% of corporate intranets are now SharePoint based, and an increasing number of IT departments are keen to migrate to it as a communication platform for their company, it seems the same enthusiasm for the technology isn’t felt by many communicators.

For those who are new to SharePoint, simply wrapping your head around the prospect of how a new platform works, how it will be used, and the role you will play will certainly be amongst some of the questions on your mind. Then there’s the issue of what version to use, license fee bands and add-ons.

And for those already familiar with the platform, ending up with a multitude of team sites may be just one of the many challenges you have faced.

But if SharePoint does fail, it could be due to a governance issue, according to Sam Marshall, director of ClearBox Consulting and Melcrum’s trainer for the SharePoint for Internal Communicator’s course.

To ensure maximum value is derived, clarifying the business requirements, as well as the technical and functional needs is the first step towards successful execution of SharePoint.

Here are 10 questions you may want to address before diving headfirst into the implementation process:

1. What are the specific roles of the communication and IT departments?
2. Who “owns” the site?
3. Who will be administrator?
4. Who will manage content and how?
5. Has the balance between user-generated and corporate content been defined?
6. What are the metrics for content creation?
7. How will cross-functional content be managed and monitored?
8. Have policies on when to use and when not to use SharePoint been created?
9. What are the levels of moderation for different areas of the site?
10. Has a strategy been created to help employees adopt SharePoint?

These were just some of the many questions, Marshall covered at yesterday's SharePoint for Internal Communicator's course. If you’re cursing at the thought that you’ve missed out on an opportunity to know the ins and outs of the platform, worry not – we’ve still got a few places left for the next course on 9th September, so if you’re interested get booking!

So, is your company looking towards or using Sharepoint? I’d love to hear your stories.

Happy 40th IABC! 40 things I learned at World Congress 2010

By James Bennett, Head of Content, Melcrum

1. The breakdown of trust in leaders is at its lowest ever point and will deteriorate further. But now’s the time to swap dancing partners. Research has shown that middle and line managers are the most trusted people within organizations and it up to us to get on their side and work with them as effectively as possible to leverage that trust.
2. Social media was discussed in almost every conversation and session I had and attended. But talking simply isn’t enough. The feeling from the profession is that communicators are using the tools, but they don’t seem to be using them to reach a constructive end goal and with the overall company strategy in mind.
3. Employee volunteering works. Fact. It improves communication, morale and motivation, personal fulfillment and those companies that actively engage in volunteering are more profitable, experience reduced absenteeism and are winning the war for talent. Two-thirds of Gen Y employees at Deloitte, for example, said they would rather work for a company that encourages volunteering.
4. In the post-recession age we live and work in, always plan for the unthinkable.
5. Communication is a company’s most powerful ally in a crisis… just ask BP.
6. Empower your employees by allowing them to become product ambassadors. Let them get their hands dirty.
7. Accept the risks of allowing employees to express themselves freely and instead focus on the end goal and the rewards.
8. Have courage part one – don’t be afraid to get fired.
9. Have courage part two – don’t be afraid to tell the CEO he’s a terrible presenter and he “lip smacks” when on video.
10. Leaders are like tofu: clearly part of the meal, perhaps even the main source of nutrition, but the spice is provided by everyone around them.
11. Make it a habit – make engagement part of employees' everyday routines for it to pay dividends.
12. Follow the example of the Me to We philosophy and movement and create a culture of empathy, community, meaning and legacy.
13. Memorise and use this quote: “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”
    Mother Theresa
14. Content in context is king and data is his queen.
15. Successful leaders should always lead with their ace and play the communication card.
16. Every leader has his blind spot – and it’s up to you to spot them.
17. All communicators are sales people.
18. Information is useless – your audience wants knowledge.
19. Get stuck in traffic – find opportunities to do nothing and when you do, do nothing but think.
20. Read your writing aloud – strive to thrill yourself with what you write.
21. Writing is like a window – it should allow your readers to see what would otherwise be invisible.
22. Make your writing transparent – help your readers see your ideas, not your words.
23. Outsource the gaps in your skill set.
24. Communication can release the best potent asset, the human asset.
25. Communication is the path to survival, recovery and growth and a company’s constant companion.
26. Communication is a leader’s lifeline to results.
27. Communicate the future – write a fake news article showing your employees what the future looks like and how you can all work together to achieve greatness.
28. Only 19% of global employees are looking to leave their current roles, but the engagement gap is widening – Towers Watson 2010 Workforce Study.
29. Employees don’t know where to turn in 2010. In a global study when Towers Watson asked people whether they would like a job for life with one company, follow their opportunities as they come along or only work for two or three employers during their careers, the data was split exactly three ways.
30. Employees are reliant on their managers and leaders but not confident in what they are doing for them.
31. Embrace uncertainty.
32. The recession has ended the “deal” between employer and employee.
33. The “new deal” is about knowing and enabling your workforce, customising their experience and planning for the future.
34. The “new deal” will take courage, innovation and discipline – leaders will play a vital role.
35. The Art of Innovation – Polarize people over issues they care about.
36. Never stop learning and continuously seek knowledge.
37. Act like an agency – make your "clients", a.k.a your employees, the stars.
38. Always seek to add value.
39. As a conference organizer always provide a reliable Wi-Fi connection… although IABC never fear, even Steve Jobs had issues at the launch of the iPhone 4.
40. Canadians say “eh”. Rather a lot.

Time we got back to basics?

By Nishwa Ashraf, Editorial Assistant, Melcrum

Facebook, instant messenger, intranets, mobile alerts, Twitter, MySpace and FaceSpace - these are just some of the channels businesses are using to reach employees. Okay, the last one  doesn’t exist.

With such a wide array of technology at our fingertips, you’d think communicating with employees and delivering key messages couldn’t be easier. But is it any surprise it can actually make things more complicated?

Don’t get me wrong, technology has many fantastic benefits: For disparate colleagues web meetings can bridge the geographical gap, internal microblog applications such as Yammer are useful for announcing low priority messages and keeping colleagues informed on day-to-day work-related issues, training videos and campaigns can reach a global workforce through the intranet, and let’s not forget that for Gen Y entering the workforce technology is second nature. 

But let’s be honest, is it really improving communications in your company or are you just jumping onto the latest bandwagon? 

You may be a social media maestro, but how skilled are you at delivering face-to face messages to frontline employees, without the safety of your computer screen shielding you?  In the same vein, you may be a seasoned face-to-face communicator but are you savvy enough to deal with the technology demands of a new generation of employees?

To be an effective communicator, lies in the title itself. Finding the right way to communicate is the most important thing, whether it’s through social media channels or town hall meetings, because you can roll out a marching band to drum through your message, but if it doesn’t produce results, then it doesn’t mean a thing. 

In some instances, using the best channels to achieve your aim and to suit the message does not always require a song and dance. For example, if your company wants to reduce waste by encouraging employees to switch off power points before they leave the office, then a roadshow is not required. Why not take a leaf out of Aggregate Industries “Green Dot project” and apply a green sticker on light switches as a reminder. Simple, cheap, and more importantly, more effective.

If any of this sounds familiar, then perhaps it’s time to equip yourself with the skills and core competencies needed to produce and deliver exceptional communications. With more than 1,000 graduates in its alumni, the Black Belt Programme builds on extensive research to equip communicators with the key skills and knowledge they need to excel in their roles and impact organizational performance. 

So, are you a technophobe or tech-junkie? And do you need to be a master of one or a jack of all trades to survive and succeed in today's cut throat business world? Let me know your thoughts.