Internal communicators, the time is now

Ways of working as we know them have transformed since lockdown measures were introduced nearly a year ago. This has rapidly changed attitudes towards the workplace and shifted the focus on prioritising staff wellbeing. At RNID we’ve had to tailor our tone of voice to three distinct staff groups, all the while championing inclusivity and accessibility. We’ll cover some lessons we’ve learned along the way as we’ve tackled the stigma of talking about mental health at work

With changes to work life, organisational structures, job roles and processes, we’ve had to cope with an awful lot of change over the past year. Things are set to change again as we begin to unlock. How you communicate changes, big and small, can have a huge impact on how news is received. So, how good is your organisation at communicating change? In her talk, Abbi will offer her top tips.

When it comes to internal comms, our members have a lot of experience and knowledge to share – that’s why we’ve scheduled this time for you to learn from each other. Here is what we’ll be discussing:

• What tools and channels are keeping your teams connected?
• How are you measuring engagement and impact?
• Sharing fun and creative ways to engage colleagues

Offices across the UK closed their doors last March, seeing a nation of remote workers (as well as their pets, housemates and children) take to Zoom, Teams and other video platforms. As the Governments’ road map to ease lockdown unfolds, charities are beginning to look to the future and ask – what will happen if/when the office opens its doors again? In his talk, Jamie will talk about his work at the PDSA – from how they are listening to staff to inform their workplace strategy to how they are communicating future plans. Jamie will leave us with some questions to think about and his tips for communicating in these uncertain times.

After a year of virtual meetings, is there anything left to learn? Well yes, at the FSRH, they have made some changes to their internal meetings to enhance them. This practical presentation builds on their experience and will take you through the four stages involved with delivering a successful internal meeting.

Video is one of our key communication channels at Mencap – from CEO and coronavirus updates, to animations, vlogs and live video streams. Video is fantastic for accessibility, telling stories in the most human way, and turning something potentially a bit dry or hard to understand into something digestible, exciting, engaging and fun. We talk through how we use video at Mencap, from idea to production to editing, and what we’ve learnt along the way.