Even if you don\u2019t work in the public sector, you can\u2019t fail to have noticed reports about squeezes on finances, belts being tightened and people fearing for their jobs. For those of us who have been in the public sector for more years than we care to remember, it is a cycle we\u2019ve been through before. The forthcoming general election only serves to put the public sector under the spotlight \u2013 with the usual focus on anything that may vaguely come under the heading of spin doctor. The saddest aspect of this part of the cycle is the way the focus can change from the job in hand, which many in the public sector do exceedingly diligently, to tactics for keeping your job and all the stresses and strains that brings to an individual. There you are, trying to do your best for your organisation and the public you serve and suddenly there are question marks about what you do and its value. You hear words such as \u2018return on investment\u2019 and \u2018measurable results\u2019 or even \u2018soft, fluffy waste of time\u2019 spoken pointedly by the same people who\u2019ll demand you respond immediately to their request for media coverage, production of a leaflet, or \u2018prettying up\u2019 a PowerPoint presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Providing evidence of communications effectiveness is always subjective, unless you\u2019re measuring column centimetres; so how do you respond when these questions are raised especially in relation to your own job? The starting point has always to be that you do not have to justify your role or your appointment to anyone except your line manager. In the NHS, where I have worked for many years, Directors of Commissioning, Medical Directors and Directors of Finance are not questioned about why they have a job, as I\u2019ve seen happen with communications leads. They may be challenged about how they do it, but not about their existence within the organisation. You have been appointed, presumably by the chief executive or an executive director, possibly with input from lay members or councillors. If you want to not only survive, but thrive, be confident, bullish even. You and your team, if you are fortunate enough to have one, are the communications experts in your organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having said that, you do need to be clear about what you are doing and why. Strategies must have clear and measurable objectives along with an accountability framework. It\u2019s not unreasonable for you to challenge requests from others who demand news coverage or a glossy brochure with questions on how they contribute to delivery of the organisation\u2019s overall strategic plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even in good times, stress levels are significant for communications professionals. Many confess such stress and deadline-driven pressure gives them quite a buzz, especially those who\u2019ve worked as journalists. But this is a different kind of stress that comes from others devaluing your work and by implication you personally, so it is important for you to have access to someone you respect and who you trust to listen to your concerns and give honest feedback. Find a mentor, someone outside your organisation in a senior position preferably not in communications or marketing, because you want them to give honest and constructive advice and feedback based on what they hear, not on their knowledge of communications. And while you\u2019re at it, seek out a coach, who will help you to understand yourself and what you really want to do with your career and the rest of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something about communications professionals that makes us reluctant to allow ourselves time to stop, think, reflect, relax and have fun. Again and again I see people exhausted both mentally and physically, running around, Blackberry in one hand, mobile phone in the other, so busy they don\u2019t have time to think. Yet when I suggest they just pause for thought, they can\u2019t, saying there\u2019s too much to do, and they are the only ones who can do it. A good friend of mine, who once witnessed me doing that took me to one side and said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018You know you are indispensible when you can put your hand into a bucket of water and leave an impression<\/p><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
If you spend all your time doing the doing with no space for reflection, you risk of running out of ideas and drying up your creativity. People who spend all their time at work and never play can be very dull, finding little new to contribute when innovative ideas are needed to meet a challenging agenda with reduced resources. Do yourself a favour, take all your holiday entitlement, try your hand at a new hobby, the rest and new perspective they give you will help you in your job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s next for you?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Working in communications is never just a job, it\u2019s a career, maybe even a vocation, so you have to feel it\u2019s worth all the time and effort you invest both for your organisation and yourself. But what next? Where will you be next year at this time, the year after, the year after that? You may not know, but you ought to have an idea where you want to be. Do you want to be where you are right now? In your boss\u2019s job? In your boss\u2019s boss\u2019s job? Or travelling the world in search of adventure? Maybe bringing up your family? All of these are valid, you just need to be clear what you want. Make a plan, it will be something you can look to, revise, or even ignore as the tough times come in the public sector over the next couple of years. If you know where you want to be, you\u2019re more likely to be energised and enthusiastic about the job in hand and that\u2019s a sure way of not just surviving, but thriving in public sector communications<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anne Akers is an independent consultant. She has held director-level communications and strategic planning roles in the NHS and private sector.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Even if you don\u2019t work in the public sector, you can\u2019t fail to have noticed reports about squeezes on finances, belts being tightened and people fearing for their jobs. For those of us who have been in the public sector for more years than we care to remember, it is a cycle we\u2019ve been through before. The forthcoming general election only serves to put the public sector under the spotlight \u2013 with the usual focus on anything that may vaguely come under the heading of spin doctor. The saddest aspect of this part of the cycle is the way the focus can change from the job in hand, which many in the public sector do exceedingly diligently, to tactics for keeping your job and all the stresses and strains that brings to an individual. There you are, trying to do your best for your organisation and the public you serve and suddenly there are question marks about what you do and its value. You hear words such as \u2018return on investment\u2019 and \u2018measurable results\u2019 or even \u2018soft, fluffy waste of time\u2019 spoken pointedly by the same people who\u2019ll demand you respond immediately to their request for media coverage, production of a leaflet, or \u2018prettying up\u2019 a PowerPoint presentation. You don\u2019t have to justify your job Providing evidence of communications effectiveness is always subjective, unless you\u2019re measuring column centimetres; so how do you respond when these questions are raised especially in relation to your own job? The starting point has always to be that you do not have to justify your role or your appointment to anyone except your line manager. In the NHS, where I have worked for many years, Directors of Commissioning, Medical Directors and Directors of Finance are not questioned about why they have a job, as I\u2019ve seen happen with communications leads. They may be challenged about how they do it, but not about their existence within the organisation. You have been appointed, presumably by the chief executive or an executive director, possibly with input from lay members or councillors. If you want to not only survive, but thrive, be confident, bullish even. You and your team, if you are fortunate enough to have one, are the communications experts in your organisation. Having said that, you do need to be clear about what you are doing and why. Strategies must have clear and measurable objectives along with an accountability framework. It\u2019s not unreasonable for you to challenge requests from others who demand news coverage or a glossy brochure with questions on how they contribute to delivery of the organisation\u2019s overall strategic plan. Find a mentor and a coach Even in good times, stress levels are significant for communications professionals. Many confess such stress and deadline-driven pressure gives them quite a buzz, especially those who\u2019ve worked as journalists. But this is a different kind of stress that comes from others devaluing your work and by implication you personally, so it is important for you to have access to someone you respect and who you trust to listen to your concerns and give honest feedback. Find a mentor, someone outside your organisation in a senior position preferably not in communications or marketing, because you want them to give honest and constructive advice and feedback based on what they hear, not on their knowledge of communications. And while you\u2019re at it, seek out a coach, who will help you to understand yourself and what you really want to do with your career and the rest of your life. You know you\u2019re indispensible when\u2026\u2026 There\u2019s something about communications professionals that makes us reluctant to allow ourselves time to stop, think, reflect, relax and have fun. Again and again I see people exhausted both mentally and physically, running around, Blackberry in one hand, mobile phone in the other, so busy they don\u2019t have time to think. Yet when I suggest they just pause for thought, they can\u2019t, saying there\u2019s too much to do, and they are the only ones who can do it. A good friend of mine, who once witnessed me doing that took me to one side and said: \u2018You know you are indispensible when you can put your hand into a bucket of water and leave an impression If you spend all your time doing the doing with no space for reflection, you risk of running out of ideas and drying up your creativity. People who spend all their time at work and never play can be very dull, finding little new to contribute when innovative ideas are needed to meet a challenging agenda with reduced resources. Do yourself a favour, take all your holiday entitlement, try your hand at a new hobby, the rest and new perspective they give you will help you in your job. What\u2019s next for you? Working in communications is never just a job, it\u2019s a career, maybe even a vocation, so you have to feel it\u2019s worth all the time and effort you invest both for your organisation and yourself. But what next? Where will you be next year at this time, the year after, the year after that? You may not know, but you ought to have an idea where you want to be. Do you want to be where you are right now? In your boss\u2019s job? In your boss\u2019s boss\u2019s job? Or travelling the world in search of adventure? Maybe bringing up your family? All of these are valid, you just need to be clear what you want. Make a plan, it will be something you can look to, revise, or even ignore as the tough times come in the public sector over the next couple of years. If you know where you want to be, you\u2019re more likely to be energised and enthusiastic about the job in hand and that\u2019s a sure way of not just surviving, but thriving in public sector communications Anne Akers is an independent consultant. She has held director-level communications and strategic planning roles in the NHS and private sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anne"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"ashe-slider-full-thumbnail":false,"ashe-full-thumbnail":false,"ashe-list-thumbnail":false,"ashe-grid-thumbnail":false,"ashe-single-navigation":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/author\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Even if you don\u2019t work in the public sector, you can\u2019t fail to have noticed reports about squeezes on finances, belts being tightened and people fearing for their jobs. For those of us who have been in the public sector for more years than we care to remember, it is a cycle we\u2019ve been through…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7165,"href":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions\/7165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oleana.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}