GovComms: The Future of Government Communication

Social media and the digital landscape are forever changing and growing. While small brands are in a position to adapt, monolithic corporations and government agencies find it difficult to change. The other challenge is many departments are simply change adverse, or too slow. On InTransition we look at the benefit of giving your communications department more room to move. Catherine Payne, Executive Director of Digital Communications at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning in Victoria, works towards building a strong, supportive, creative communications team and has already seen the public’s perception of her department improve in the space of 12 months. Though not an easy task, Catherine credits the success to her team. To her, all that was needed was a) for communications to be taken seriously and b) to rearrange the traditional approach to complex situations. For her this was approaching her role in a  proactive, rather than reactive manner, and by hiring people from a variety of professions – especially journalism.. Discussed this week: The ongoing debate about the value of digital communication in the public service– Proactive is better than reactive Building a strong, open team is crucial to digitalising your communications plan Hiring individuals with skills based in journalism is a major plus The need to engage your audience The short-term difficulties of implementing new communications models into our department, as well as their long term benefits Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the sheer size of the internet and the power consumers have to filter through information that appears in their social feeds it can be hard to create engagement with your audience. In the digital age there are so many options for each individual, so how do you engage them? Bouncing from our blog post looking at the importance of storytelling to capture your audience’s attention, this week on the podcast we talk to Gabrielle Dolan who has been consulting brands how to increase the ability of internal and external communications through sharing stories with your audience. Discussed in this podcast: Building a connection with your audience through storytelling to create an emotional connection, Using stories to boost engagement between yourself and the audience, Taking a story from your past to implement something for the future, It’s not the topic people tend to focus on, it’s the relatability and authenticity in your voice that will really grab people’s attention, Looking at one her past roles which turned a snake story from a women’s childhood into a speech redesigning crisis management at their work, and The importance of authentic leadership and storytelling in the modern workplace Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the InTransition Podcast we discuss government communications in the digital age with the ACT’s Chief Minister Andrew Barr. Minister Barr is a well-known presence on social media and has always been an early adapter of new technology. Unsurprisingly, as Chief Minister he operates his social media accounts personally, and is known to cut out the middle man, breaking stories online himself instead of via a journalist. This week, hear the Chief Minister on: governing in a digital age, connecting with the right audience on the right social channel, how the public’s lack of faith in an unbiased media has fostered the rise of social platforms as a news source, how he deals with internet trolls, the impact of increasing polarisation in online debate, how he organises his social media calendar and strategy, and fears Australia is heading in the same direction as the US and UK with the election of Donald Trump and rise of Jeremy Corbyn. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on InTransition we talk to Osama Saeed Bhutta, Director of Communications at Amnesty International and former Head of Communications at Al Jazeera. Osama started out as a volunteer organiser and press officer for the Stop the War movement in the UK, which later landed him a position with the Scottish National Party as a media and research officer. Fast forward a decade and a remarkable career with news organisation Al Jazeera, Osama is now the Head of Communications for Amnesty International. His role is to unite and mobilise the world against ever worsening humanitarian crises, widening gaps in wealth, education and equality and more refugees than ever before in the history of the world. “The other side make very emotionally laden arguments,” he said of the difficulty in presenting an engaging, rational opposition to many of today’s issues. “When you’re trying to get into people’s hearts, that kind of fact based approach, which has historically been the approach of NGOs, is less successful, and at the moment, we are being eaten for breakfast as a movement.” Discussed in this episode: When images work against you and disempower your audience The problem with highlighting the problem The need for positive messaging in the harshest times The importance of publicising the historical The role of the internet in uniting people and the need for people to get out from behind their keyboards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on InTransition we speak with Petra Masinova, an international communications professional with two decades of experience spanning seven countries. David explores Petra’s childhood under a communist regime and the joy she felt when travel bans were lifted and she crossed her first international border. Since then, Petra has represented her home country before the European Union and worked as the Global CEO for Newton Media, a multinational media monitoring and analysis company. Tune in to learn more about Petra’s work in international government communications and why she’s excited to be contentgroup’s new Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on InTransition we will listen to a speech made by Gavin Slater, the new CEO of the Digital Transformation Agency, held by the Institute of Public Administration Australia at the National Gallery of Australia.  Mr Slater spent the last seven years at the National Australia Bank (NAB) focused on driving a widespread digital transformation agenda and leading initiatives to overhaul NAB's technology. Mr Slater is known for driving transformational change and responding to digital disruption having 30 years’ experience working in the private Financial Services sector. In this speech, he discusses: Challenges in improving the government’s service delivery; The Senate probe into the government’s $10bn IT spend; and His vision for the future, including more transparency and website consolidation. Content communication is a strategic, measurable, and accountable business process that relies on the creation, curation, and distribution of useful, relevant, and consistent content. The purpose is to engage and inform a specific audience in order to achieve a desired citizen and/or stakeholder action. That is the practise and the process of content communication. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on InTransition we speak with Alison Wright, Assistant Director of the National Gallery of Australia and all-round strategic marketing and communications guru. Join us in this funny and frank account of her career and lessons learned as Alison delves into how she’s navigated turbulent times at the NGA, and why her straight-shooting style works. "I think that we deploy enormous filters [in our professional lives], I see it every day, and I've seen it all throughout my career. I do not do is deploy those filters... I'm simply not interested in the filter because it's cutting out a lot of time, but also, it doesn't enable a truth telling environment.” Alison’s career spans 20 years, from working as a journalist in regional Australia to leading the ABC’s Sydney newsroom, embracing PR in China and starting as the Head of Communication at the peak of an international scandal at the NGA. Alison talks managing the message, why permission to fail is a must, the switch from journalism to “the dark side” and her perpetual fear of being like everyone else. Also in this episode: When to cut the BS and get to the point; When complete transparency is the best way to work with the media; The one thing all public servants should remember to make themselves a better worker; and Why the best time to step into a communications role may be when they’re “knee-deep in it”. What is content communication? It is a strategic, measurable, and accountable business process that relies on the creation, curation, and distribution of useful, relevant, and consistent content. The purpose is to engage and inform a specific audience in order to achieve a desired citizen and/or stakeholder action. That is the practise and the process of content communication. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the InTransition Podcast David talks to a ‘legend of the communications business’ Angela Sinickas who has been the in the field since 1974. Labelled as a pioneer of organisational communications measurement and measuring effectiveness Angela is quite renowned amongst publications such as Harvard Business Review, the Journal of Communication Management and Communication World. Now the CEO of Sinickas Communications she is a consultant for brands all around the world including Barclays, CISCO, Ergon, Verizon and ING Bank with a reputation for making a promise and sticking to it. Discussed in this podcast: The importance of measurement in communications Her history in the field – from journalism to avoid maths to pioneering data analysis for communications Turning communication into numbers Problems faced in the field and tips to counteract them How to stay afloat in a fast-growing industry Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week for the InTransition Podcast we're delving into the archives and revisiting our interview with David Rawlings, a social media professional starting his online career in 1996. With his background knowledge in the field, David P and David R discuss challenges facing the government in getting started with content marketing and the endless opportunities the government has to publish engaging content upholding the responsibility of explaining policy and programs to the public. Discussed in this edition: Using skills learnt in one area communications (PR or journalism) and applying it to another (social media) Governments learning social media engagement comes from quality and consistency, not one or the other How to keep things interesting and curating information to cater for your audience Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on InTransition David speaks with Kanchan Dutt, Director of Media, Digital and Design Communications at the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Originally from the UK and with a background in journalism, Kanchan has been in the Australian public service for around a decade now, moving from the ACT government and community services into the federal statistics agency. As a self-described "dutiful public servant", Kanchan's experience has equipped him with insights he shares with David in this episode of InTransition, such as: * The growing importance of story telling; * Why meeting people face-to-face is the key to communication success; * How to effectively reach reporters and relay the story you want told; and * That ABS census debacle.   Tune in for the whole chat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.