'10 Minute Tip' by Tim Buckley - Business Communications Expert - 7am to 9:30am
Tim Buckley spent ten years as a journalist working on local, regional and national newspapers before joining AB Consultants which is now AB Communications. When Tim joined AB it was an agency producing employee communication channels including newsletters and magazines for organisations as diverse as BOC, Kodak and the Highways Agency.
Tim developed the business into a complete communication consultancy building communications strategies for organisations such as The Royal Mail, the Post Office, Rolls Royce, Roche, Rabobank, Barclays Bank, HSBC, Campbells and Hallmark.
When Tim stepped down as MD in 2013 and relinquished day-to-day management of the business he’d tripled its size. Tim then became chairman and started working in the charity sector and also as a non-executive director for a number of smaller businesses including an events company and a sustainability consultancy.
In 2015 Tim exited AB completely to focus on his charity work. He has been chief executive at Relate London Southwest, Business Director at Medical Detection Dogs and Tim is now CEO of Care of Police Survivors (COPS),a national charity that supports the families of police officers that die on duty.
About the conversation:
Communication is business – without communication there is no business
Message + dialogue = understanding + action
This is the communication balance, if you don’t create two-way communication, particularly with employees, you won’t get buy in and therefore you won’t get delivery of your goals.As a parent you know the moment you say “because I said so” you’ve actually lost the argument
Honesty, Honesty, Honesty
If the business is having a difficult time there is no point in trying to fool employees. The tell-tale signs of difficulty are there for all to see and the chances are they know about it already.Board-level or management secrets are not secret unless only one person knows!
Basically, when making decisions that affect a business you will need to discuss sensitive things with other senior managers. At that point, however small your business, the cat is out of the bag. It’s not that you can’t plan and develop ideas, it’s just that the moment you try to do it secretly everyone guesses and they normally guess right!Finally, email is NOT communication!
At best it’s broadcast and at worst it’s time-wasting, arse-covering noise.Effective employee engagement and communication is even more vital in a small team. Inclusive engagement helps build resilient, robust and empowered teams.
Small teams that are not empowered with understanding tend to duplicate work which wastes time and resources.
