Running Comms Solo

Transcript

Machine-generated transcript. This text was produced from the final audio and checked for broad coverage and obvious errors, but it may contain mistakes. Speaker identities have not been verified.

1. 00:02

   Hello, I'm Ibukun, and I am Grace. We are the hosts of Unmuted Comms, a podcast for comms leaders by comms leaders. This is a podcast about the leadership, influence, and decisions behind great non-profit communication. We have candid conversations about what it takes to lead communications in the non-profits sector. These include things like building strong teams, advising executives, initiatives, navigating organizational dynamics and influence and making comms a more strategic force for mission and impact. Great, we're live. Hi everyone, welcome to Unmuted Conversations in Comms. Here communicators like us discuss common issues we face on the job and also nagging

2. 00:52

   questions you might not necessarily ask within official walls. I'm Ibukun and I'm here with my good friend, Grace. Hello, good afternoon, good morning. Wherever you are joining us from, thank you so much for being part of our session three on Unmuted and as Ibukun said, this place is just conversations in comms. We come in, we have a chat, it's a relaxed environment and we invite you into the thinking, into the conversation. It's good to see you again. So tell us Ibukun today, today we have an exciting topic. What are we getting into?

3. 01:30

   yeah today we're talking about running comms solo so for a lot of comms people me inclusive this is a rite of passage where early roles or your first role most likely was you handling everything you know social media um strategy events uh media internal requests so you're sort of like the everything, person. You wear multiple hats. So we also have some seniors who are also working solo.

4. 02:01

   So you have way more experience but also sort of working, we work with vendors or consultants but you're like the solo go-to person within the organization. So we're going to discuss all that today. And it's important that we mentioned that it's easy to get into the theoretical motivational part of comms. But here at Unmuted, we like to keep things very practical because at the end of the day, comms is a very practical discipline and we are asking how and we want to share those tips, we want you to talk through the real stuff, of course, and then also just understand easy to adopt strategies that we can quickly put in and get you going, what to prioritize, how to ask for help,

5. 02:56

   and the hacks that actually work. So it's going to be a conversation as we've done in the past, just giving us very practical tips on how to solve the challenges we find as a solo communicator. So Grace will be, I think you want to sort of give the lay of the land on what working solo sort of means. Yes, yes. So we categorized it into three based on what we have often come across. I'm sure there could be other variations of this and that would be nice to know if you have a different experience.

6. 03:29

   So we have the solo communicator, where you are the one representing a country office. So, you know, you are working for an organization and that organization, they've got different, represented different geographies, but then you are the one who is based in a specific geography. So oftentimes you will find you're the one that is literally maybe even setting up everything from scratch or sometimes you actually come in and find things have already been set up. So that's one way of looking at it.

7. 04:00

   And then the other one is an individual, a comms person who is leading a portfolio or program. And oftentimes you will come inand find already an ecosystem of communicators within the organization. So you find that there are many other maybe program communications or portfolio leads or there's another senior level, two, three senior levels, that kind of thing. But at the heart of but you are the one, the buck stops with you in terms of just leading that project or that program or the portfolio.

8. 04:31

   So if it's large enough, there are many checks and balances there to cater for considering that you are working alongside others. And then lastly, the one and we've come across this quite a bit in terms of the comms representative for the entire organization, especially smaller national You find oftentimes there'll be one comms person, seniority varies and kind of expected to do everything. But that is something that I have personally, you know, been part of as well as a portfolio or a program lead. So I don't know what your experience has been in those categories, Ibukun.

9. 05:16

   I've been number two. So, I've led comms for an initiative nationally as the only comms person like you just said this was it was a huge project demanded I think it was comms and advocacy work together and it was bit like jumping out of a plane without the parachute that's how it felt at the time. I've also run comms research portfolio at the global level so this is basically a distributed that team across different continents, different time zones, but all working on the same portfolio of outcomes. And then whether it's national or global, the reality is always the same across both jobs. It's high workload, constant context switching, limited budget, very little

10. 06:01

    time to think or do strategic work. But I must mention that the upside is also real. You You build range fast, you learn how organizations, especially complex organizations, large organizations work. That pressure sort of forces you to grow, especially if you're someone who's proactive, which you would be forced to look for solutions to problems and gaps. Sometimes you are thinking three steps ahead because you know, if I don't resolve this now it's going to fall back on comms in another two or three weeks.

11. 06:37

    right? So you get to actually build superpowers like that. You also, you know, optimization, automation. I think there was a time when I was always looking for tools to help me with project management because there were just always so much to do. You learn how to take notes. I call them superpower notes because you know those kind of notes that you're the only one who can read what you've written because you're writing so fast, you and things like that that I'm sure will get that dig into more over the course of the conversation. So I don't know if you want to also share some thoughts on around your own experience working solo.

12. 07:21

    Oh, my gosh. You've just said, you know, your comment on jumping out of a plane without a parachute. That is exactly, I resonate deeply. That's exactly the situation I found myself in. And there's a comment here from, I think it's marvelous. And yes, you're doing everything at the same time. You're literally the sole resource of this particular function. So getting there, and for me, in one instance, things had been set up. So at least there was something that I was starting from. In another, there or you're building as you go.

13. 08:00

    That was not too much in terms of mentorship or trying, or even learning from the best. I think even if it was there, I'm not sure there would have been enough time. We didn't have AI and such technology to come into these processes. So you get in there and your hands, you know, you do everything that needs to be done and a lot of asks that are resting on you and I did everything from, you know... I mean, name it. You are behind the camera, you're in front of the camera. where you are behind the script. You are writing, you are it, so it was very difficult to prioritize and sometimes especially and even set boundaries especially. I would say more than even the prioritization was setting boundaries that I found to be quite difficult because you want to keep saying yes, yes but that doesn't work too well at some point. It's really major burnout and also I found that without especially external help

14. 08:55

    you find that there's some gaps, there are a lot of inefficiencies. If the support is not going early on, you do find quite a bit of inefficiency which could have been sorted out earlier on if we had extra support brought in but that's something we'll definitely speak about in terms of how to do that and how to get buy-in because I think that's also a space where we struggle with as communicators getting the buy-ins from whoever is holding the decision key and that then becomes a limitation for us. But I agree with you, it's, I mean, the range, you pick up range very fast, very, very fast. You become a multi-skilled communicator. However, would I want to do that again? Some

15. 09:40

    factors need to be very well laid out parameters for me to do there because it's not something that I'll pick up again. But you know, that's a whole other discussion on its own. So solo in one way or another, we shall experience it along the journey of our career goal. And, you know, it's upon us then to be able to see how to manage the situation that we find ourselves and which leads us to different tips and tricks, you now, that we would need to survive without drowning, drowning and, you let's see, let's talk about actually, let't talk about the kind of help that you need to level up. And perhaps maybe, let me start with you, Ibukun about prioritization systems

16. 10:28

    before coming with the trade-offs. We know how one major theme of working solo is always overworked. There's just too much you're expected to do. But some of those tasks, if we're honest, are not that important. Like not everything can be important and urgent at the same time. So you actually need a system. and this is something that's really helped. It's been almost since the beginning of my career, something I think I just happened on it on some productivity blog or something and it just sort of stuck right and it's very easy to use it's various it's remember must do should do and nice to do so must do tasks or assignments are things that are mission critical they're usually time-based

17. 11:17

    There's a hard deadline that by this date, if we don't have this, either my job is in trouble or the organization is in trouble. So you need to, so this must be done. That is your priority, right? But then there are, should do, those are tasks that probably will make the mission critical tasks, you know, improve them, It sort of improves them, it sort of ensures, for example, you know, there are also examples here. I sort of just took the time out to draft this presentation so it's easy for everyone to sort of catch on but then there are things that you can, it doesn't have a hard target you can always push it just a bit more usually when there is a lot of work. The nice to do

18. 12:04

    ideas that you know this might actually help in some, I don't say superficial way but it helps increase the value of what the comms department is doing. You have things like redesigning the email newsletter, the templates that you use for instance maybe it's grown old or you feel we've used this for the last two years I think it needs a redesign so things like yeah it could add some value. It could increase the engagement, but it's not mission critical, right? And there's no guarantee that it's going to... If you don't do it, no one is going to penalize you, then put it that way. So it's something that is nice to do. Why these are important is because a time is going... Some comms

19. 12:50

    work in some industries are seasonal, right. There are seasons when there's a lot of requests, there's lots of urgency, and then there are times when there is just not much happening. Everything is sort of chilled, there are not much task on your desk. Those are the opportunities you have to be able to go through those seasons of what I call it. Okay, what am I nice to do? I think this is, I have some time to be to do this. Another consistent idea I've always shared during these LinkedIn webinars is that you need to know who you're working with.

20. 13:28

    in the world. You know, some people are idea factories. They always come up with new ideas. They will bombard you 24-7 with things they think you should do or you should be trying. Oh, we need to do this. Or why don't we try this? I saw so-so NGOs doing this. I think we should try that. 80% of the time, they might not even remember some of those things or some of these ideas they're sharing with you. So I always say don't go chasing, you know, ideas. Always have your prioritization system. on, always prioritize the mission critical things and then you can attend to things that will improve the mission-critical task. Okay? Then one more tip that I would add is write

21. 14:06

    everything down. I don't mean work related alone. I mean everything. Someone wants you to promote an upcoming event, write it down. Oh, I liked Grace's LinkedIn post yesterday. I should tell her that it resonated with me. Write it down, that you're going to tell her. I should ask my friend about what we discussed yesterday and follow up, write it down. Whatever it is, make sure you write it now. What it does is that it offloads all that mental load so you don't walk around constantly thinking or apprehensive that, oh, I think I'm forgetting something. If it's written down, then I don't really have, personally, I don' care because I know because it's on my to-do list, it will get done eventually, right? So you just need to have it written

22. 14:50

    If it's all written down, it becomes easier to be able to use this matrix because then you can just go through it and say, oh, mission critical, not so important, not so important. You just see the things on your list that you should get on right away, right? And identify blockers. So, um, you can even use to help you do that. But though I wouldn't recommend it because sort of defeats the points, because the point is you should have a mental model you carry around every every day that helps you categorize every task that comes to your table. So, that's just the idea behind it. So over to you, Grace. You have something you also want to share with I was even just commenting that that's such a nice traffic light system, very easy

23. 15:36

    to remember, very easily to implement and quickly as well. And that's an important one because because then it keeps you in an orderly way. And, you know, while you have that kind of priority list, then you're able to come now to the second T, which is trade-offs. Trade-offs as a solo communicator, I found this one of the hardest things to institute because, as Ibukun said, everything becomes urgent. All the requests, all the asks, everything is suddenly, it's urgent, urgent. We need this, we need this. However, when you have got, for instance, such a prioritization framework, you're able to then come in and see where in this framework is this ask? Is it

24. 16:22

    a must do? Is something that is just nice to do? And therefore, then you're now able to at the bottom of that half a trade-off where you can say, okay, I hear the operations team needs A, B, C, D. I can do that by Friday. Or if you prefer, you know, I've had your, you've got two tasks. You'd like me, for example, to help you think through the narrative that you are of the organization or you want me to help in terms of maybe shortlisting the suppliers that are going to come in for comms support. I could either do that, the first task for the narrative, I could do that by Friday, and then you do the supplier shortlisting maybe by next week, Tuesday. So pick one. I cannot

25. 17:03

    do all of them this week. Pick one. And because you now have a way that you have prioritized your tasks, you're able to have a bigger view of, okay, this is just two requests from the operations team. I've got three requests from their executive. I've go maybe another forefront programs. I've gone, you know, that one stakeholder who's got one, two, three. So already you have got the a big picture of what does that framework look like? What is on the red, what is on the yellow, what's on the green. And therefore you come back and say, you know, Friday maybe I'm working half day, I'm available between this time and this time. I can only do one to three things, choose one, choose two. So then the team is able to say okay which

26. 17:47

    is the real priority here that if you go out on Friday and come back on Monday it's going to stall things. So that really helps you to think through and be able to defend your trade-off. It's even easy to, you can even choose to actually show during your meetings for instance and show this is what I actually use to map out the deliverables and how I'm thinking through the different decisions and different deliverables so that the team can then also get a sense of okay not everything is urgent. If we really really sit and think about it and have this conversation to be quite honest These two that are fronted as agents might not be it. It reminds me sometimes, especially if you've worked on the PR agency side and you've got a client who says this thing is agent and then they go silent for like two weeks and there's nothing. You've had this sleepless night, you've done this thing, two weeks absolute silence and then come back on another morning we need this thing by 6am. It gets crazy like that but even showing this kind of priority framework you're able to say okay

27. 18:52

    This is how I'm thinking through this request and this is how my mapping them out. And I'm able now to support this team with that and this team the other. So trade-offs anchor well when there's really some thinking around it, because then the team will wonder why are you saying that you can only do this two? Well, I'm asking you for four. So that's what I would add in in terms of an additional tip in terms of building on the framework that Ibukun has prepared and shared. And something else I would also give as a tip, especially because solo working has got a lot of output, a lot volume-based work, you're literally on production mode morning to evening.

28. 19:39

    Have a way that you set out time for yourself as a communication professional. to block time. If you're really good at morning hours, if you're really good afternoon or evening, whatever that looks like, block a time either during the week or every day because it then helps you to plan in silence. It helps you to sit with your decisions. It also helps you start putting in some strategic thinking. I think that's one of the hardest things as well as a solo communicator because you hardly have I don't have time to think of the bigger picture. It's always, I'm producing and producing and producing. But in my past roles, I had to actually block out time and that used to help me. I would

29. 20:22

    come to the office much earlier. In one of the roles I'd be in the office by 6.30. By the time everybody else starts coming in around 7.38, I've done so, so much. I've been able to prepare and lay out my day. In another role, I worked better at night. So when everything is nice and quiet, I'll just take an extra hour, around maybe 10 to 11 p.m., and for me that worked. So it's upon you to decide. By the time you're getting into the next day, you're in a most stable way. Of course there are things that come up and suddenly there's maybe a crisis or whatever is going on but it has given you time. That thinking time gives you an advantage in how you start your day and how you think about your week and how

30. 21:03

    how you prioritize, and how you set up those trade-offs, and just boundaries set where you're able to say I can only do until here and I have to let colleagues know that when I shut down my laptop at 6pm, allow me to have that up to 6pm and be able to do this other thing. So that's another tip that I would add in terms of just blocking out planning time. Back to Ibukun? I believe you had one more? Yes. Yes, I do. Just making sure that my mic is on. Okay. So another tip that helps, this one in particular should help you reduce vague or last minute requests. So you should set up a simple intake form for comms requests. A simple form. It's just a simple form, but it should be the sole channel through which people engage with the comms department.

31. 21:59

    when they have requests. It sounds simple but it's actually huge benefits, simple ideas but huge benefits. Anybody who wants to support on something should use the form. So for example if you have a project or event that is coming up and you want comms to put it in the newsletter, the monthly newsletter for example, use the the form. If you have an event coming up and you need coverage, you need promotion, use the form, it will save years of unity literally because rather than receiving calls, receiving it through teams, receiving it through Slack or WhatsApp or emails, and then it's just

32. 22:49

    you are literally being provided from every angle, right? And that also adds to the mental out depth, like I was mentioning earlier, where you feel, oh, I should check my email. Has any new request coming? I should check my Slack or I should take my Teams as any new message coming. That sort of just wears you down. It's easier if there is just one channel through which whatever it is that needs to be done comes through this channel and if that's the form then you know there's a spreadsheet that sort of tally each request. What it does is, the advantage it gives you is, apart from having everything in one place, is that a form is actually, it forces people to think about and clarify what they really want. One of the things we complain about is the fact that, you know, they don't bring us in on time or vague requests. So a form helps them find the time to sit down and then objective, who are they speaking to?

33. 23:49

    to what needs to be approved, who needs to approve what and so on. Who should comms reach out for more information? Things like that. It's very helpful. So it forces the person to think about all that. So you when creating a form, you should think about everything that will help you deliver better comms and just include it in the form. Of course, you have to be smart about it. If your form is too long, people will not use it. So there's stick to the core things you need to ensure you can deliver good comms and also let them know it's first come, first serve since you're the only one who is handling all comm requests. Those are sort of like subtle messages you share over a period of time that ensures people get to use the phone. I won't lie, it's a bit hard to change people's behavior. People are used to messaging you off the cuff or through, you know, a quick direct message

34. 24:46

    or through WhatsApp, or just calling you. It might take some time for them to be able to make that adjustment. So it's something that if you're serious about it, you need to commit to it. Keep reminding them in every communication, in every email, in every presentation always make reference to it that there is a form and then every request that comes to it will be prioritized. You know so just sort of or build your sort of communications campaign, for lack of a better word, around getting people to use that form. That sort of just makes your life a bit easier. It's a battle I think it's worth fighting because once you win it the benefits are very large. So that's what I was

35. 25:29

    going to do. That's another tip that I think people should consider. Grace? Anything else? I think, you know, we've given some tips that are immediate to implement and it would be great to hear what you are all doing. And something else, this one I really fought for, I remember right from the onset, but I've carried this practice across, is requesting for a separate phone. My office phone is not my personal phone because of the constant ding, ding, thing of Teams messages and slash messages and emails. And I mean, it's nonstop. So I actually fought for that quite early on. And it's something that if you're able to do, sometimes you've been in a place too long. And so it becomes a bit hard to push that. But if you are able to and you have

36. 26:19

    a reasonable leader and they see the need for it, they would actually support you in that. So for me that has continued to be my practice. Those two lines are separated. So when I say I'm offline, online. I truly, I am offline. Otherwise then it's just a continuous, oh let me respond to this email and it's done. From there it's a rabbit hole that I cannot get out of. So yeah, that's something that as well I fought for quite earlier on. Yeah, but I see Jacqueline, thank you for joining in, has got a comment and she says an organization director friend of mine was complaining about the organization's comms person's request form and I asked to sit and I said to my friend,

37. 26:58

    and then I stole her comms person's form to make my own. Smart! That's how to do it, absolutely. And it's true, many people will see it as a layer of work but for you, it just makes you stay sane to be quite honest. And I have seen peers who actually push it so hard that if that request you know, and of course within reason does not come through the request form, it's like It's just to exist. You know, like I tell you, please put it on my calendar. If it's not on my calendar, that meeting does not exist. It's not in my power view. So I, you know, please use the form.

38. 27:35

    Behavior change is a hard one, but it's a nice one that you are able also to adapt it and use it for yourself. So those are some of the things that, you have some of our tips that we can share. And When exactly, or rather what do you do when the organization is only rewarding visible outputs? I think that's a major one that we hear quite a bit in terms of they just want the output. But the strategy, the thinking behind it, the big picture, that's not there.

39. 28:08

    What has been your experience, Ibukun? Personally, I would say it's a hard one. So it's sort of an advice I've shared before. So the idea is to always start from what do they prioritize right now? What are the things that they're going to, you know, your performance review? What's it going to measure? And then start with that. Show that you can do the job that matters to the person who's going to be reviewing you, right? First of all, start with build some sort of bank accounts of credibility that you know what you're doing, you're able to deliver because it's sort of like if you're saying in their tactics and then there's a strategy. Strategy is a bit more complex than tactics, right? So why not just start with the less complex things and show you can deliver them? Then once there is a relationship, there's some sort of track record that you can do this, then have those conversations. Begin to tell them that, oh, I think we can have better results if we start thinking about this, you know, present case studies, give them examples of peers or competitors who are

40. 29:19

    people are also doing similar things. And I think people don't like feeling left out, like oh everyone in the industry is doing this, why aren't we doing it? So you can always use those psychological things, insights to get your way. But the reality is the fact that you can't, if I talk about behaviour change, you can go in and enforce your way, you can say I think this is how we should do it unless if you came in as a consultant and that was the reason why, that was what they brought you in for. Oh we don't have a strategy we want someone to come help us build a strategy which is a bit different from this question. The question is if you are the only comms person and you are being asked to just keep delivering outputs without consideration for larger strategy I think you should first of all start with that then once you're done proving yourself that you can do this job at the tactical level

41. 30:16

    start having conversations about strategy and what strategy is going to be able to help you guys, what they are going to help the organization itself achieve comms-wise. Show them if you have a track record presented the track record also but like I said you have to go through them you have to consider like a behavioral change kind of campaign that you're sort of doing with your employer and then walk them through that process get the credibility first and then start pushing for much more, that you can do much more. But I think you have a bit more experience than me in this regard. So I'm sure Grace, do you want to add anything to that?

42. 30:57

    I actually want to, I want to act to it and to tie it also into another point. So one, you know, how, what to do when you're just, I'm going to respond to that in terms of the organization just wants to see or reward the visible outputs. And then I'm also going to tie it into how to actually, you know, ask for that help. I know this is something that we had wanted to touch on a bit later, but I'll bump it up just a bit in terms of a short strip that you can use because when you are asking for help, you as the comms person know I really am out of, you know, rage and I need additional help, I need someone to walk alongside me or that kind of things. So here you are, and you know that outputs is what the organization is listening

43. 31:45

    to. There's nothing else. They're literally all they're asking for is number of newsletters, number of likes, those kinds of things, number of events supported. Keep track. Always, always keep track as always. And I mean always keep track. We call them volume metrics. Have them there. They are important. They still serve our purpose. So have those volume metrics then. and those are the same metrics that when now you need to ask for help, you'll be able to come in order to get buy-in from leadership, for example, because you want additional capacity resources or whatever that looks like.

44. 32:21

    You're coming in and then you're able to now ask and say, all right, these are the outputs that we've been able to do. And it's great. They are tracking in terms of what we've being able to achieve and that kind of thing. However, when you come in and I'll say, but then they are good as they are. They make us, you know, in terms of I need to be able to protect time or protect the support that I need and that kind of thing. So you're able to now come and say, all right, good as there are, we would need to improve performance and it would be great to work at full production capacity and something like that.

45. 33:03

    So how can I then, you know, just with a bit of investment, then you can imagine how much more that I can do. And of course, you're a bit of investment. You know what that is. You have put a figure to it or you've put a time and location to it, or you have put something to it that you're able to come and say, okay, this is what I need because when they come and ask you, all right, so what is the kind of investment you're looking for? You can articulate what that looks like. So easy to say communications measure by volume, it's great. It works in its own way, but if we keep doing that, we have got risks and the risk is that we are not going to be, you know, either it's our audience growth, or the risk on reputation,

46. 33:46

    it could be that, you now, we are just not optimizing for impact. We are not measuring enough so that we can optimize for impact and perhaps I know that in this organization, on the most important thing right now is having that long-term effectiveness in influence or whatever that looks like. So then a modest investment in capacity would then allow me to shift from being just reactionary and that kind of reactive delivery to strategic contribution. So then that is a script that then you're able to utilize where you are presenting in the language of the leadership in terms of these are the outputs, but then also now introducing what is the risk factor in terms of what are we losing out? What are we missing out on by not

47. 34:27

    having that expanded long-term thinking in terms of our comms or not having long- term, you know, additional capacity in that kind of work that we are doing. So that way then you start getting that conversation and I would say you may probably get no the first time thinking, keep at it. Don't give up and you do not necessarily have to put your investment at, you know, you're asking for something huge at the onset. It can start at a lower level.

48. 35:01

    You know, maybe you are asking for additional small budget maybe to track, to put more into your tracking system maybe on social media. You're using a platform that you'd like to tap into so that it can give you better range in terms of what it is that it's measuring or it could be that you are wanting to purchase again a platform maybe for media and engagement. So it can start as something really small. And the minute, once you get that approval, then come back and show what you have done with that investment that you requested for. Show the impact of that.

49. 35:36

    Then by the time now you're coming to ask for more, there's already something that can be seen that, oh, this is the impact so far. As opposed to you asked for this kind of investment, you asked maybe for even a social media intern, or you asked a writer, whatever that looks like, but I do not see what you've done with that. So be proactive enough to be able to always come back. Whether or not it has been asked for, you just come back and show this is what I've done, this is What I Asked For, this is What i've Done, and we're continuing to have that longer vision. So now the second layer of your ask, you've already prepared for it, you come and implement, and it keeps growing and growing in

50. 36:13

    So I know that there are different times and when you feel, oh my goodness, I need help. I do need additional support and perhaps Ibukun what does that look like for many communicators? For when to ask for help. I think timing is important. I think that's sort of what you're asking for. Timing is very important. You need to time the request. From my experience, for example within the non-profit space if there's the organization is currently pushing for a new grant you want to bring up the conversation at that time because so it can go in the budget basically you know how within the nonprofit space every dollar is accounted for it's usually in the proposal and if it's not in the proposed office not line item

51. 37:05

    and it won't be granted. So to increase your chances, you need to also time it. I think that's one thing that I would say that is pretty helpful because they might even want to give you the support you might have pitched very brilliantly but then there's just, it's not just in the budget and then you're stranded so I think that's also something to consider. Absolutely. And when you've done the work as a solo comms practitioner for a while, when you start identifying their gaps, say for example your strength maybe is in writing, is in digital, is in videography, photography but you realize I have a gap here in media engagement and sometimes there's just not enough time to get in and say I'm going to go and learn

52. 37:53

    this thing. I mean, you're a team of one. And you can now see that maybe media engagement is really key for your organization, but you're just not being able to hit the targets that are there. That in itself is an opportunity to ask for help and really put that case forward. When you are as well just feeling burnout, completely burnout is real. Burnout is real in this sector and it is something that sometimes how we present it. You know, we might look like it's one of those things that, oh no, but you know all of us are busy, all of us are tired, you know why is it that you're the only one? No, no, no. Advocate for yourself. Advocate for yourself. Get the language that you need to, I mean try it on somebody external before you actually bring

53. 38:41

    in someone that you trust that is, but do need to be able to advocate for yourself when that burnout is real and additional capacity is something that you really need at that particular point. and also something else is you may find that sometimes you do not have a very clear in road with maybe the leadership, there's a lot of resistance. Look for somebody who has got the ear of the decision maker, let them be your ally. Let them help you to advocate for some of the things that you need, whether it's additional support, whether whether it is time to rest, whatever that looks like. Get to know who is the one that has their ears. Who's the decision maker usually takes a moment and would listen to them? Let them be part and parcel of the relationships that you really build because some of the decisions or conversations that perhaps you find this one, the leader will just not, I mean, I'll be shut down. They will not listen to me or I'm just, I'm not feeling confident enough maybe to go and present it to them.

54. 39:41

    then you have got other allies within the organization who can go before you. That's also something that many of us often overlook but it's a strategic way to just maneuver organizational politics and get things done so win-win, win-win for everybody. And so we then come to the point of, you know, yes, I've gone just very briefly in terms of what a pitch would look like. But then also maybe we deep dive a bit with you Ibukun telling us what is a good pitch? What does that sound like in terms of, I know leaders respond to risk, they respond to speed, consistency, stakeholder satisfaction and other key objectives that they have. So what would you term as a good pitch?

55. 40:28

    So I'll say, first of all, everything you said earlier about asking for help, it applies here, right? It's very spot on. Use things that are becoming obvious, the gaps, use them to make your pitch. And this matters because from my experience, leaders really respond to complaints about. From my own personal experience, leaders already respond to complaints about workload. You have to frame it within things that they care about like risk for example instead of simply saying oh I'm overwhelmed she said something like right now we're exposed and the reason is because i'm doing x y and z and i don't have any bandwidth for a b and c. Doing a b C and C will cover that risk very well. Not doing it exposes us, something like that. So you're still making the case that the work is a lot but then you're framing it in something that they can appreciate and it's very important to them. It's just the same comms framework where you're speaking the language of the people you're trying to speak with so you need to frame the request within frameworks like delay, missed opportunities, reputational exposure and so on

56. 41:42

    So, you also need to understand the people you're working with. Depending on the leaders, some leaders are kind, they are empathetic. Once you mention burnout, for instance, they will give you a listening year, they'll set up a meeting and they will actually listen to you, not just performing listening but actual listening. But that doesn't still mean you should base the entire request on burnout alone. from my experience, I think tying the request to organizational goals, it's, you know, they're short-term goals, they are long-term goal. It strengthens it so you're not just relying on someone's goodwill. You know, you're also, so the person, yes, the person wants to help you but the person also has a justification organization-wide that, oh, this is the smart thing to do, right? I think that's sort of, you always want to hedge your bets.

57. 42:32

    Then like you also said about scaling, starting small budget is tight so make sure maybe you can say we can start with just a part-time person or vendor or consultant and then before we then test out how that works establish workflows and then you now move to someone who is full time staff but it's always important. to, you know, sort of. So that's sort of how I'm thinking about it. Yeah. I think that's one way that I always approach it. But then what matters to them and just what matters to them, that's where you want to anchor or plant your flat. Absolutely. And to add to that we've said previously in these conversations a communicator has to see themselves as a solution

58. 43:25

    What's it called? You're giving solutions. You are a solution provider. So whatever they ask, whatever the activity, however you're approaching these conversations, at the heart of it, you must be looking at it from I am presenting an issue, but what is the solution? So that it's not that you've presented an issue and then you've left it on the table for whoever you're speaking to, to be the one to come up with a solution. No. Getting there knowing this is a challenge and here's the opportunity that we have and how we can think about it. And here's a solution that I'm thinking about. That way they'll be able to query your solution and maybe either accept it or, you

59. 44:03

    know, come in, meet in the middle or even reject it. From that rejection, you'll be able to go back and say, okay, let me keep refining this ask. Let me keep prefining this ask. The same way we keep going back to ask, I need stories. I need this content. I Let us not shy away from keeping on going into your leadership space because then the more you ask, the more the chances and probabilities of getting what it is that you need. But being a solutions-based individual so that they can also see okay this person has actually really thought through this issue and then we can come to a solution on things.

60. 44:45

    So I don't know if there are any, because we're coming, definitely coming to the, almost to the end of our time for discussing this. I don' t know if they're any final thoughts that you'd want to bring in Ibukun? No, I think it's such a very interesting conversation. We could probably keep going for another maybe 30 minutes, but if there's one takeaway so far, I'd say it's that, you know, solo comms is not about doing everything.

61. 45:15

    in, you want to build systems that helps you deliver without burning out. I think that's the major thing that I want to leave everyone with and there are ways to do that which I hope you were able to pick one or two from this conversation. So over to you, do you have any parting thoughts before we close for the month? And perhaps it's to recap in terms of, you know, just a quick recap of what we've talked about and prioritizing your lanes and your tradeoffs. That is important. And Ibukun did share the framework. And then building templates. You do need to work with templates. That's so important as we've seen as well and had from Jacqueline.

62. 46:04

    have templates, help people to use them, make them use them. That makes your work easier and it reduces all the back and forth and all the miscommunication that takes place. And having a weekly, a kind of operating rhythm where you're blocking off time to think, blocking off time to build, blocking of time to actually ask why. I think every communication professional should start at why before anything else. Why is this thing being asked for in this week? Why is this thing being asked for, you know, in this day. So everybody else might have just come at you that we need a press release, but blocking off time helps you to step back and ask, but why do we really need a

63. 46:44

    press release? Is that the best way? And if it's a press released we need, do we have the angle for it? So always stepping back to be able to draft. Why, why, why? Then asking for help with the capacity and a case. So you're not just getting in there with vibes, you are actually building a case of why I need extra support. I need it because, as I said, we expose this risk, it's a reputation issue, it's stakeholder management issue. It's all these different things tied to the output of the organization, sorry, the objectives of the organization and what is important for the organization at that time. Have your ask as a staggered ask? Sometimes you're

64. 47:25

    actually, it's very hard to just come in with a huge laundry list of things to do and get it immediately. So look at what is most critical for you at that particular time where you sat and thought, huh, I need external help here. What is that critical point? Start with that ask so that then you're able to bring in vendors and other kind of support for your work. So start at that point, then build slowly, and then always remember to come back to show results. Show the results from the ask that you got, if it was approved, show what you've been able to achieve and that it actually changed or impacted whatever it is that you had put forth on the table. Maybe it was a reputational risk that was averted. So show

65. 48:12

    that is what actually did that, what you're supposed to do. And even if there are some other unintended consequences which were positive or even negative, just bring them to the table because then that continues to build on that conversation. And then document, write down, write down. Let's get into the practice of writing down things over and beyond what is your daily tasks. There are many other things that come up that we easily ignore. And you're trying to remember, oh my goodness, what was that? Just write down everything and also including what you're tracking. Because even for you personally, it's good to see your growth. So like we said, solo comms, you will grow. It comes with a role. Whether or not you want to, you

66. 48:55

    will grow, you'll gain a lot of scope, a lot of reach and you'll be exposed to other disciplines of communications that you didn't necessarily even have, you know, were not aware of and that can really, really build you by making sure that you're also trying to show, oh this is how I'm growing in this role and I'm not just going round in circles but it's actually even in whatever is looking like an intense portfolio and being able to grow as a communication professional. So that's a bit of the recap that we had from today. So over to you Ibukun to sign us off. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Omitted Conversations in Comms. We'll see you in the next one.