Media Training Masterclasses

An Armchair view of the Archbishop!

2008-02-15T18:29:00.002Z

It may be my natural cynicism, but as I sit in my chair and watch the news, I am ever more amazed at the sloppy journalism that I witness almost every day.

Only a few nights ago, the Archbishop of Canterbury was in trouble for having dared to open a discussion on whether aspects of Sharia law should be incorporated into English and Welsh law to ensure that our laws reflect the beliefs of the multicultural nation we have become.

But on the BBC news, the storied varied from what was actually said to in the headlines of one report that he had.... "called for the introduction of Sharia law in Britain."

That headline was untrue and was a blatant sensationalism of the facts in order to get a reaction from the audience.

20 years ago before Margaret Thatcher's 1990 Broadcasting Act introduced competition into broadcasting, sweeping away effective regulation of broadcasting standards and slashing programme budgets, the need for accuracy was paramount.

Sadly that is no longer the case. It seems that politicians who for their own political purposes, threw the editorial standards baby out with the bathwater, are left with a system in which accuracy no longer matters.

These days it's all about ratings and one suspects that such an approach has much potential for inflaming anger and reaction on the streets.

If and when it happens, politicians have only themselves to blame.

Business Opportunities in the East

2008-01-10T18:28:00.000Z

The financial news headlines are gloomy - but analysis shows that the stories are mainly around business in Western Europe and the USA. In India, Tata have just launched their new 2500 five seat car for the people - and expect demand to raise production to 1 million a year. What an opportunity that is!

At Media Training Masterclasses, throughout 2007, we have been working steadily to build our expertise in effective communication in a diverse range of business situations to help our clients make the most of the opportunities and effectively deal with real world business issues, as they arise.

As a result we have a new range of specialist communication coaching and courses that include negotiation and facilitation skills as well as cross cultural communications for specific markets.

In particular we are looking forward to developing new business contacts in the Far East. We began last year and have carefully selected partners who are experts in cross-cultural communication issues.

It is an exciting area of business and many of our existing clients have recognized the opportunities and are now well placed to capitalize on their investments of time and money. Do not underestimate the time element. It is all about relationships and they take far more time to develop than in the west.

Once trust has been established, the partnerships work well, but they are in it for the long term. It is well worth considering who your business is putting alongside the key players as a lack of cultural awareness can lead to significant breakdown in communications between both parties and the real benefits will remain elusive.

This year we will be delivering in-depth knowledge and understanding about the style and culture of business communications for business partners in the USA, Western Europe, China and India. We will be working to help executives and their teams on both sides of East and West to understand each other and communicate more effectively.

This builds on the experience we gained during 2007 in Russia and Eastern Europe where we helped senior executives develop effective communication when dealing with negotiations, industrial & commercial developments and sales opportunities.

With multi-lingual trainers, local experts and delivery partners with global experience it promises to be a fascinating year. Contact info@media-training-masterclasses.co.uk to find out more.

Some thoughts on the news...

2007-10-29T18:19:00.001Z

2007 had more than its fair share of disasters, locally, nationally and globally.

From a credit crisis that needed the central banks to intervene, amidst warnings of a global recession looming, to more local stories such as the hotel fire in Cornwall, the Virgin train crash in Northern England, a host of plane crashes, outbreaks of foot and mouth and blue tongue virus in the UK, to extensive flooding across much of the UK Midlands.

For the London police force, inquest findings of poor control-room command and communication that led to the shooting of an innocent Brazilian on the London Tube did nothing for their reputation.

It was a year that offered many lessons in communications for senior executives.

Preparing for a presentation on crisis media planning, it was fascinating to note that the headlines of 2007 are justification enough for ensuring that all organisations create a tried and tested crisis media plan and develop a bank of spokespeople who know what to say, how to say it and importantly, when to say it.

How often in our busy schedules do we look at what has, could and might happen and ask, “Could it happen to us and our organisation?”…. And if it did, “Do we have a response system that can protect the reputation and image of the organisation, into which we have invested so much time, money and effort?”

Providing executive coaching, we can and do ask these questions – and we have ceased to be amazed by the range of responses. This summer’s floods saw organisations that had put their IT and telephone systems in their basement, “for security”, have little defence against the sort of flash flooding we saw in the UK in 2007. They were put it out of action within minutes, as were mobile phone networks that became overloaded.

No communication means staff need alternative systems to cope. IT backup systems require detailed planning and secure alternative accommodation. It can be expensive, but simple command and control systems can be planned and set up easily by the communications team in alternative premises - but only work well if they are thought about, planned and tested in advance!

Power losses left many employees and managers looking at blank PC screens. They had no idea how to set up emergency contact systems to ensure that they could use the media to let customers, suppliers and their staff know what was happening and provide alternative ways to contact them or get updates on the situation.

Losing water and power supplies, in some cases for several weeks, made the impact of the floods that much worse for those who hadn’t planned their communications, supply, service and manufacturing systems to provide alternative options. And of those that had, very few had staff trained to operate the systems in practice. They will be counting the cost for some considerable time to come.

To find out how we can help with crisis media communication, management and training, please contact us at info@media-training-masterclasses.co.uk or telephone +44 1386 859 664