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Ask yourself: Do I need to be engaging?
Over the past few years, I have seen a trend: engagement for engagement’s sake, or, as I like to call it, fake engagement. Across many government departments, engagement is required for every significant policy or program, for each grant, or it is driven by executives who want to say they have engaged with the community. Progressively, I have seen smart, capable communication professionals add a “survey” or “stakeholder workshop” to their plans even though they know it’s not the right approach. We are being bullied into engaging even when we know it’s a terrible idea—trust me, I get it. We end up in this position as well! Before planning engagement,…
Why I chose communications: My journey and what I hope to learn
As Elm’s newest intern, when Mel asked me to write a blog about why I initially wanted to join the communications industry, I found myself reflecting back to Year 12 and the moment I was facing my UAC choices. Where…
The collaboration conundrum. Why does it have to be so hard?
We facilitate workshops and planning days for large and small groups from the public and private sectors. We’ve done many of them over the last few years, and it’s one of my favourite parts of this job because I get…
- Australian Government, Blog post, Communication, Communications professional, Leadership, Professional development
The growing demand for communication services
We are hearing that communication teams are being asked to deliver more than ever. Everyone is being squeezed. Recruitment freezers are popping up across government, and budgets are tight (or non-existent). Teams are increasingly expected to provide expertise across a…
The dark days of 2024 and the team that got me through
Some years are harder than others. You know, the ones where you crawl to the end, counting down until the year is just over. 2024 has been one of those years for me, both personally and professionally. For many reasons,…
Thank you, Elm
As many of you know, I joined Elm Communications as an intern almost two years ago. What started as an internship soon turned into a part-time role as I finished university, and then a full-time role for my first year…
My five favourite professional development resources from 2024
As the year draws to a close, my Instagram feed is flooded with “Top 10 Favourites for 2024” posts. While it’s a little unsettling how fast time has flown, it also reminds me to reflect on my highlights from the…
- Australian Government, Communication, Communications professional, Culture, Leadership, Team performance
Clarity in purpose for communication teams
Commnication teams need a clear purpose to enable them to demonstrate the value they create for an organisation
Motivated reasoning and elections – how clever communications can help
Heads up: Political nerd post coming in hot! Years ago when I was thinking about what to focus my psych honours thesis on, I was reading a book called The Political Brain, by Drew Westen. (Strong recommend btw if you…
How to beat the social media algorithms
Post at least once a day. Only post three times a week. Make sure to put links in the caption. Put links in the comments. Post in the afternoon. Post in the morning. Use five hashtags. Use twenty-five hashtags. Short-form…
Taking an audience perspective
How often do you get so caught up in doing the doing and forget who you are doing it for? No matter how long you have worked in communications, we all fall into this trap at one point or another.…
