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The Art of Project Management for the Internal Communicator Project management skills are increasingly in demand as business becomes more challenging and complex. And nothing is more key to the success of a project than effective communication. Project management is noted as a top-five competency considered most important for a successful Internal Communication (IC) practitioner.  Every project goes through specific phases of development in its project life cycle. Project management allows you to break the project down into separate phases, and the project manager must guide the project through these phases, watching for roadblocks and adapting when necessary. This course details those phases and what a project manager can expect to accomplish in each. As you progress through this two-hour course, you will be asked to apply what you have learned to a case study, develop a project status report, and test your recall of the material presented. In the course materials, you will receive tailored templates, checklists, and advice specific to internal communication. For some who have experience in project management, this course may serve as a refresher and provide you with new approaches to project management. For those new to project management – as well as leading a project – you’ll learn valuable tips and tools to apply to your everyday work projects.  For others, it will provide you with the essentials of basic project management skills so you can demonstrate your value to your organization.   Instructor: Rhonda Rathje, APR Rhonda Rathje, APR, is a seasoned veteran with over 35 years of communication experience in the telecommunications, airline, retail and automotive industries. She is a passionate communicator and storyteller who helps companies discover compelling and original ways to speak about themselves and their work. Rhonda’s expertise is in strategic planning and leadership development initiatives, as well as developing internal/external communications/engagement programs and building marketing and social media plans for various companies and clients. She is known for moving forward and making things happen. She’s a master at project management. If you want something done, ask her. And, when it comes to dotting I’s and crossing T’s, she is the master of details. Rhonda’s legacy is to leave things better than when she found them.  Rhonda holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Iowa State University, Ames, and a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson. Read more

Enhancing Organizational Reputation A strong and lasting reputation is an organization’s most important attribute. With the 24/7 newsroom and pervasive social media, good reputations built over decades can be destroyed in seconds with the simple click of a mouse. Reputation management is a core business function that influences strategic decisions about the direction of a business and how it should be communicating with stakeholders.  Enhancing Organizational Reputation will help emerging leaders in communications to prepare for their role in assisting corporations in managing how stakeholders perceive them. Using case studies, this one-hour course will introduce you to key components of issues management, stakeholder relations, and prioritization, as well as ways to pre-empt and prepare for crises wherever possible. Instructor: Audrey Wubbenhorst, MA, MBA, ICD.D Audrey Wubbenhorst is a professor and board director.  She currently teaches public relations and corporate communications at Humber College, where she has received several research grants to research and write case studies on the impact of social media on business.  Prior to joining Humber, Audrey spent over a dozen years at BMO Bank of Montreal.  She worked in a wide variety of roles, including communications, marketing, human resources, and commercial banking.  She has served on several boards, including the National Diabetes Trust (NDT), Central LHIN, Build Toronto, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, and Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter.  Audrey has an MA in Communications as well as an MBA.  She graduated with a BA (Hons) from McGill University and has a certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility from St. Michael’s College (University of Toronto).  She has also completed her ICD.D. designation with the Rotman School of Management.  Read more

Crisis Planning: Manage and Enhance Organizational Reputation Your product is recalled.  An accident happens on site.  An employee commits a crime. All of these scenarios create a crisis situation, requiring a focused, clear and consistent response.  When a business crisis occurs, how do you deal with two simultaneous issues: the crisis itself and the public’s perception of the crisis?  This course prepares you to communicate your message during a crisis to the media and to your key targeted audiences. Instructor: Jay Sullivan  Jay Sullivan is the Managing Partner at Exec|Comm, and leads the firm’s Law Firm Group. He is an award-winning author and columnist, as well as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law Center and Fordham University School of Law. His book, Simply Said: Communicating Better at Work and Beyond, was released by John Wiley & Sons in 2016, and has since been translated into Chinese, Korean, and Russian. As a contributing writer for Forbes.com, Jay brings relevant and timely advice on enhancing one’s communication skills to the business community. Jay joined Exec|Comm after nine years as a practicing attorney. He received his J.D. from Fordham University in 1989. That year, Jay was named among the first class of Skadden Fellows by the Skadden Foundation. For two years he acted as in-house legal counsel at Covenant House, a crisis shelter for runaway and homeless teenagers. He then practiced corporate law for seven years on behalf of Lloyds of London. After graduating from Boston College in 1984, Jay spent two years in the Jesuit International Volunteer Corps teaching English. His book about that experience, Raising Gentle Men: Lives at the Orphanage Edge, was named the 2014 Best Book by a Small Publisher by the Catholic Press Association. Jay sits on the Board of Directors of Dot Foods, Inc., the nation’s largest food redistributor. He and his wife, Mary, live in Pleasantville, New York, where they raised their four children. Jay plays squash weekly (and weakly, but with great enthusiasm). About Exec|Comm Exec|Comm, LLC helps professionals all over the world communicate more effectively by teaching them to focus less on themselves and more on others. When professionals master both technical competence and communication skills, they maximize their impact and influence. For almost 40 years, Exec|Comm has developed professionals and leaders across the globe through classroom training and one-on-one coaching.  For help with your message, to organize training for your team, or to request a speaker for your event, you’ll find valuable resources at www.exec-comm.com.   Read more

The IABC Model for Communication Excellence: How to apply the strategic planning process Every effective communication campaign starts with a plan. With IABC’s Model for Communication Excellence course, you will learn how to use the IABC work plan template to develop and improve your communication plans. Your instructors in this course are five award-winning communicators representing every facet of business communications who are here to guide you through the process with tips and insights along the way. This communication model can be applied to the planning process for almost any communication campaign.  Work smarter with the IABC Model for Communication Excellence! Your instructors: Cindy Schmieg, ABC, SCMP, IABC Fellow, is an award-winning strategic communicator and educator. With 30+ years of senior corporate, agency, and consulting experience in multiple industries, Cindy now teaches online in the communication master’s degree program at Southern New Hampshire University. She was recognized as an IABC Fellow in 2017 and has held leadership positions within IABC, including the 2012 Career Road Map Committee, 2018 Gold Quill Awards Chair, and 2013-2016 member of the International Executive Board.  Neil Griffiths, ABC, Chart.PR, IABC Fellow, is senior manager for global communication and global inclusion lead at ERM, the world’s largest sustainability consultancy. With a focus on corporate communication and inclusion, Neil has worked in communication management for 15+ years across public, private, and nonprofit organizations. Neil has held numerous leadership positions within IABC, including being a member of the inaugural Global Communication Certification Council. Neil chaired the 2018 IABC World Conference in Montreal and is past chair of IABC’s EMENA region. He has received the IABC Regional Leader of the Year and the Rae Hamlin Award for services to professional certification. In 2019, Neil was named an IABC Fellow. Together with co-author Deborah Hinton, Neil has published two studies on the current and future state of the communication profession and advocates for channeling your best communication self regardless of where and how you work.  Neil has been using a strategic communication management approach that aligns with IABC’s Global Standard and accepted good practice for more than a decade, applying this across internal and external projects. Mari Lee, ABC, uses the power of communication to positively influence change in individuals, companies, and communities, achieving business results and social impact. Mari has won more than 30 international awards using the IABC model for communication excellence as a base for her work as a communication professional, receiving the IABC Gold Quill Award of Excellence and the Gold Quill Best of the Best Award on four occasions. Mari uses her experience and foundation in development communication to facilitate critical conversations about what needs to happen, focusing on the people in the process rather than simply broadcasting messages. Research and measuring impact are at the heart of the strategic communication science that Mari has developed into an artful skillset. Mari works with a dynamic team of fellow-communicators in DevCom, the communication consultancy she founded in 2005.​ Dr. Amanda Hamilton-Attwell, ABC, CPRP, IABC Fellow, is the founder and CEO of Business DNA. Amanda is as passionate about the communication profession today as she was when she entered it more than 30 years ago as a newly qualified journalist. Since then, she has filled communication roles in newsrooms, lecture halls, factories, and many mines. Over the years, she served as a mentor for numerous young and more experienced communication professionals, as giving back to the profession is one of her values.  She has participated as an evaluator in both local and international IABC awards programs for many years. Amanda served in many local and global leadership roles in the IABC, among others, as chair of the IABC Africa Region and on the IABC Executive Board as trustee of the IABC Research Foundation. She was the 2014 IABC Gold Quill Award Chair and instrumental in the new Quill entry and evaluation process. The role she treasured most was being the Co-chair of the IABC Career Road Map Committee that developed the Global Standard, the Principles of the Communication Profession, and the Career Road Map. Amanda received the IABC Chairman’s Award in 2014, and in 2015 she was named IABC Fellow. She has published several articles on women in leadership, entrepreneurship, and corporate communication. Zora Artis, GAICD, SCMP, FAMI, CPM, is the CEO and founder of Artis Advisory in Melbourne, Australia. Artis Advisory is a strategic advisory practice focused on helping clients succeed, whether it’s solving a business problem or leveraging opportunities through better organizational alignment, engagement, and communication. Zora has almost three decades of experience in business, marketing, communication, advertising, and branding. Zora is a certified company director with the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a certified Strategic Communication Management Professional, a Fellow and Certified Practising Marketer of the Australian Marketing Institute, and she holds master's degrees in commerce and marketing. She is the current chair of IABC Asia Pacific Region board and a past director on the IABC International Executive Board (2016-2019). She’s the recipient of several IABC Gold Quill Awards and the IABC Chairman’s Award in 2015. Zora has served as a Gold Quill Awards Blue Ribbon Panel evaluator and a judge of the Australian Marketing Institute Awards.  Zora has recently researched and published two white papers. The first, "Strategic Alignment: How communicators can change the face of leadership," was a first-of-its-kind study with Wayne Aspland focused on alignment in organizations with a communication and leadership lens. The second, "Going Beyond Engagement: The business value of internal communications for the C-suite," is a deep dive into the value of internal communication in a time of rapid business, technological and political disruption. Read more

The Communication Audit course is part of the Communications Measurement category of IABC Academy learning modules. These courses foster communicators’ understanding and skill development in the use of clear qualitative and quantitative measures to measure the impact of communication strategies and activities against business needs, goals and objectives. A communication audit it is a highly useful – and necessary – tool for understanding gaps in understanding within an organization. This course will provide you with the knowledge to develop and execute a comprehensive, strategic communication audit to help you manage change and achieve results that tie directly to organizational strategy. This expert instructor provided all of the content and learning activities you will encounter in this course.  As this is an asynchronous course, it is designed to be a self-paced, independent-study program.  If you require guidance or assistance, the Academy team will be happy to help.  Use the "Questions" tab to post a new question. About the Instructor Gayle Goodman, MBA, ABC is president and CEO of Pro-Activation, a Dallas, Texas-based brand activation firm comprised of a network of independent, senior-level consultants with a shared passion: to help clients deliver a clear message in a noisy world. Gayle is a communications strategist and visionary who has made her passion for solving puzzles the cornerstone of her work. Her 20 years of experience cross multiple disciplines, from corporate communications and investor relations to marketing and PR. With a blend of communications savvy and a master’s degree in business, Gayle is armed to help clients with the toughest messaging and business challenges. She has worked with organizations ranging from small and startup businesses to large enterprises to help build and refine communications strategies and implement programs to achieve significant growth. Prior to moving into consulting in 2008, Gayle was recruited to join residential services firm Efficient Attic Systems to serve as vice president of marketing. Her charge was to establish a formal marketing department and help grow the company organically into new markets nationwide. During her tenure, she streamlined the marketing function, thereby increasing lead generation and driving down cost-per-acquisition by improving the performance of off-line/traditional advertising mediums. She also introduced new lead generation channels, with a focus on online channels. Previously, Gayle served in a number of marketing and communications roles for Centex Corporation over an 11-year career. In addition to leading Pro-Activation, Gayle serves as an executive advisor to its sister firm – ExperiPro – which is an insights-driven marketing and brand strategy firm. Gayle earned her MBA in marketing from the University of Dallas where she now teaches for the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business as an adjunct instructor. She holds a B.S. in journalism from Texas Christian University and is IABC Accredited (ABC). Read more