The more you plan, the more you can! OK a little wanky but its simplicity is the essence of planning. Failing to plan is merely poor business practice, whether it is for communications, product development, television shows or even a simple footy match. An athlete would never assume to win a gold medal without a nutrition and training plan, so why would it be different for anything else?
There are numerous examples where lack of planning results in bad business decisions. One recent example is Starbucks’ failure to research the strong coffee culture in Australia. Their failure to plan resulted in the closure of 61 Australian stores. Tragically, the Victorian bushfires earlier this year resulted in the worst natural disaster in this country’s history. A recent Royal Commission found major flaws in planning by the CFA, where evacuation procedures were not implemented in time (or at all) to save many lives.
At the c word we always start the planning process with an idea session … this is something we’ll be covering in a future blog. I can feel your excitement brewing already.
Image by ThelmageGroup
When we kick off our planning session, here are some tips we keep in mind:
1. Schedule time to plan. It can be as simple as setting time aside to prepare a daily to-do list or spending a few hours with your team to brainstorm ideas and plans of action. And remember, stick to it!
2. Plan on paper so you can capture all your ideas and thoughts. Whether they are silly or grandiose (and sometimes our ideas can be completely wacky), you can always revisit them at another more appropriate time.
3. Remember when writing your plan, use dot points rather than a thesis. It should be simple step-by-step instructions so that any one in your business can implement it.
4. Establish up front what resources you have. It’s no good developing a killer plan that you don’t have the support or resources to implement.
5. It’s the perfect time to ask yourself why you’re doing certain things. Now you can outline goals, objective and targets.
6. Set time frames for your actions. You can then list your actions & to-do’s sequentially to get to your desired outcome.
7. Anticipate problems and create contingency plans. Be prepared for everything!
Another cliché to remember is “Failing to plan, is planning to fail!” Yes we may sound like a personal development coach at a ‘How-To-Improve-Your-Life-&-Have-Millions-of-Twitter-Followers” seminar but on the plus side – it’s just a succinct tip you haven’t had to sit through a team-building activity to get to.
So the c word can help with all kinds of communication and strategic planning. But even we’re a little under prepared for zombie invasion. Do you have a zombie plan? Watch video below to learn more:
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend planned. Celebrate it!
This week started with a bang!! A climate change inspired bang!! the c word crew and housemouse-keteer Nancy Bugeja were invited along to the launch of Safe Climate Australia. Along with 1000-odd other Melbournians, we braved the chill at dawn and headed over to Docklands for the breakfast launch. Safe Climate Australia is a non-government organisation which plans to mobilise all the scientific, technological, economic and political expertise to tackle the problem of climate change. So how does one mobilise Melbournians out of bed on a cold Monday morning?? Well … with a keynote speaker that no-one can resist; former Vice present of the United States Al Gore.
The battle between Stephen Conroy and the rest of Australia continues… *sigh* The Federal Government has dug its heels in about introducing an internet filter to combat child pornography and other adult content deemed inappropriate. I must say I am really proud that we may be joining the likes of China and Iran… Yay government censorship!!
GetUp have launched a fantastic campaign to target politicians, their staff and decision makers returning to Canberra for next week’s Parliamentary sitting. GetUp aim to show the ad on all Qantas domestic flights to Canberra. Depending on the level of donations, they also plan to run the ad during Sunday’s Meet the Press.
Check out the ad and lend your support behind this great cause.
Also check out the parody site but in particular the search page. I did a search of chicken and the results made me giggle. Really must commend the GetUp team – their campaigns are always well thought out & well executed. Very impressive guys!
Well if you don’t spend your weekend fighting the powers that be… enjoy, stay safe & have a little dance.
We’re going to be fence sitters again this week and not comment about the Gordon Ramsey vs Tracey Grimshaw battle. We will however draw parallels with another moment in Australian history, when Frank Sinatra called our female journalist ‘hookers’.
Now if you don’t know the story about Ole Blue Eyes, here it is:
The Unions reacted quickly and demanded an apology. Sinatra’s silence was greeted by transport workers, waiters and journalists striking in retaliation.
So let’s compare the playing fields, shall we??
In the red corner, we have the big, bad ‘Celebrity’ oooohhhhhh
In the blue corner… The great & mighty ‘Media’ aahhhhhhhh
What’s interesting is how the media have bandied together once again. Some may argue it’s tall-poppy-syndrome. After all, Australians do ♥ that! Or simply, righting a wrong. Poor Trace! (he really did say some horribly inappropriate things) So what happened next all those years ago?
Australia had a highly unionised work force so when the call to arms came…*chants* “the workers united, shall never be the defeated”… not even by Ole Blue Eyes.”
How things have changed? Back in 1974, our former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, then head of the ACTU had to come to the defence of the honour of the country’s female journalists. How ironic that the hero of the story had a wild reputation himself… (hehehe we all ♥ PM Bob Hawke).
Three decades later and Grimshaw didn’t need no man to fight her battle. She successfully managed to take down a male ‘whinging Pom’ on her own? Not only that, she also pitted Channel 9′s A Current Affair against Channel 9′s Hell’s Kitchen… and won (Channel 9 V Channel 9 … fishy or not?). Either way, as a ‘journalist’ (being ACA we’re a little hard pressed to use that word seriously) it’s also an interesting observation that Ms Grimshaw became the headline story for her own program. Post Modernists are having a field day with this (yes BB, we’re referring to you).
I’m sure some overseas readers may be giggling at the goings-on of the Australian media. Well… so are we. Should we be grateful that it’s a slow news week? It has been quite funny to see this story pop up on my Perez Hilton feed and international media outlets. I wonder if they’ll make an awful movie about it
The controversy surrounding The Chaser this week has been the focus of much discussion on the radio airwaves, TV screens, online and even at the c word.
We watched as the twitterverse discussed the merits and demerits of the skit in question and also watched the various apologies and responses. Although we’ve seen the skit, we don’t have much to say that hasn’t already been said already (fence sitter hehehe).
However it leads us to think about another c word: crisis. And how best to handle yourself and your brand in a crisis. We think The Chaser’s response is a perfect example of what NOT to do in a crisis particularly when apologising. If we comb through their apology (and quite frankly it takes a little combing to get there) we are first presented with a justification. Have a look for yourself… btw this apology was issued shortly before noon by the show’s producer Julian Morrow and Director of ABC TV Kim Dalton:
“The Chaser’s War on Everything is a satirical program aimed at provoking debate and providing social commentary on topical issues, current affairs and public life in general. The sketch in last night’s show called ‘Making A Realistic Wish Foundation” was a satirical sketch and black comedy.
“The ABC and The Chaser did not intend to hurt those who have been affected by the terminal illness of a child. We acknowledge the distress this segment has caused and we apologise to anyone we have upset. As a result, ABC TV will edit the segment out of tonight’s repeat screening on ABC2 and online.”
In order for an apology to be truly apologetic and not simply a token gesture it really must start with “we are sorry” or words to that affect. If you look closely at the Chaser’s apology they start off by talking about their show and building a case for the merits of what they have done and then only in the second paragraph do they launch into an apology. ABC and the Chaser took the “I’m sorry but…” approach which never really sounds like a sincere apology, does it?
Another problem was they they took far too long to issue this statement. With breakfast radio & morning radio in a frenzy, the team & ABC seemed to ignore attempts for interviews and responses. What they should have done, is issue an apology first thing in the morning to be pro-active, be part of the debate and and to prevent the snowball from escalating. Silence only fuels speculation and further frenzy.
Any public relations student or practitioner can tell you about the 2 polar examples used to demonstrate crisis management. See Wikipedia summaries below:
Please note we’re not suggesting that the Exxon oil spill is by any means in the same league as the Chaser incident, but it merely demonstrates a lack of strategy being in place for dealing with issues that arise.
So what can you do to better handle bad publicity and crisis?
✔ Be prepared
✔ Respond quickly
✔ Break a bad story first so you can maintain some control over it
✔ Keep media & key stakeholders informed
✔ If you’re in the wrong, own up to it & apologise
✔ Make amends & explain how you are planning to improve
✔ Speak with one voice, make sure other employees are not sending mixed messages
✔ After the story settles, try to follow up after a period of time, with a positive PR story
Just briefly before we speed off to enjoy the long weekend here in Melbourne … another C word in the news has been China and its dealing with the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Twenty years on it still saddens me to no end. Our thoughts are with Tiananmen mothers who struggle to have their children’s death recognised & also those still living in exile or in prison for the efforts to topple corruption. Its a sad day indeed when many Chinese don’t even know about this terrible moment in their country’s history.
I won’t leave you on a somber note though. Instead a lesson on how to say your sorry… take it away Elton.
It’s been an interesting week for youth in the media. We’ve had 2 very different cases that have prompted heated discussion for very different reasons.
First, the chk-chk-bang chick whose name we shall not mention – her catch phrase is surely her most endearing characteristic. If the rumours are anything to go by Channel 9 head honcho’s obviously saw more in her after her ACA interview – they’ve supposedly offered her a job. What bad deed did we do to deserve you Australian television?
On the other hand Chk-chk-bang did raise some serious issues about the state of journalism.
With speed of delivery becoming a more important part of reporting, there is bound to be some loss of journalistic integrity. In some situations journalists are relying on tools such as wikipedia & twitter as their one & only source. This lack of fact checking from reliable sources isn’t good news as one social experiment showed.
A final year sociology student Shane Fitzgerald placed a fabricated quote on Wikipedia when the French composer Maurice Jarre passed away. The quote appeared in obituaries and articles in British, Indian and Australian newspapers. The hoax remained uncovered for weeks until Fitzgerald emailed the newspapers to advise of the hoax. Many newspapers retracted the quote however it remained in tact on many other websites and newspapers.
Citizen journalism is more ubiquitous than ever with tools such as the Internet, mobile phones, digital cameras and blogs giving everyone a voice. As a result, we have witnessed the Mumbai bombings unfold via Twitter, heard first hand accounts of a plane landing on the Hudson River almost immediately and even watched amateur footage of the recent Victorian bush fires.
Reporting carries a degree of responsibility and as citizen journalists we need to produce factual content that can be verified by other sources. Obviously we would hope that honesty and courtesy are present in eye witness accounts – but as we’ve discovered this week this isn’t always the case.
While many of us had a laugh is it right that a liar may walk away with a career. And would we be so welcoming if she did this at the stabbing of good Samaritan Luke Mitchell? Should we tolerate it? Should the police tolerate this? Obviously the police wasted time tracking down Chk-chk-bang to discovered she fabricated the entire affair. I guess we shall watch with bated breath as the story continues to unfold – or not.
I’m sure someone who takes the responsibility of journalism very highly is the new editor of The Monthly. We learnt this week that The Monthly will be edited by 23 year old super genius Ben Naparstek. He doesn’t like being called a ‘wonder-kid’ or ‘boy genius’. And a quick fact check of his age reveals yes he certainly is an adult. But that doesn’t make the news any less jaw-dropping! I look forward to seeing the direction of The Monthly particularly the role of the editorial board. The most recent editor, Sally Warhaft resigned after continual disputes with the editorial board. The final straw being about who should write the introduction for last month’s cover. This is definitely a ‘watch this space’ topic.
So the under-25s certainly hit the news this week. I wonder who we’ll be talking about next week.
