In this fast-paced opening session, you'll get to know your fellow government peers, discuss your biggest internal communications and employee engagement challenges, and learn a few fun facts before we kick things off.

The workplace quickly changed as a result of the worldwide pandemic – and it’s not likely to return to the pre-COVID form for everyone. As internal employee communicators, this means that words, phrases, tools and processes that had been created, tested and refined may not work for everyone in this new and evolving structure.

Learn how a government communications team is adapting its approach to serve all workers in all environments, including:

• Changing our language, titles and phrases to be inclusive of all types of workers
• Helping managers learn how to inform and communicate with all staff to ensure everyone receives equal information
• Addressing the evolving culture and helping employees and leaders avoid creating unintentional bias toward those who are working in less traditional ways

More than 20 years ago, management guru, Peter Drucker, was credited with uttering the phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Arguably, this quip is even more relevant in 2021. As government communicators, we can, and should, play a vital role in leading cultural transformation efforts within our agencies. As an added benefit, leading such efforts can serve to expand your sphere of influence and increase the relevance of the communications function within our agencies.

During this highly interactive and discussion-based session, we will examine best practices for building culture and employee engagement, while expanding the role of the communications function, and our reputation, within the agency. Emphasis will be placed on applying the lessons learned to YOUR situation and we will allow ample time for sharing tips and tricks.

• Learn three simple strategies for impacting culture and employee engagement within your agency, while also enhancing your credibility as a communications professional
• Gain tools, lessons learned, and practical tips for implementing the approach in your organization
• Have the opportunity to discuss and share best practices and tactics with the facilitator and other attendees

If you want to deliver relevant, targeted content that helps your employees contribute to the success of your Agency, you've got to understand how to measure your communications. In a government setting, this is challenging...to say the least. You don't always have access to the most new, modern communication tools that have metrics built in, and you don't always have a team large enough to take the time to carry out extensive audience research.

In this practical session packed with ideas and strategies you can use right away, communication expert Cindy Crescenzo, will give you the tools and ideas you need to gather the insights that will fuel an effective communication strategy– despite your unique challenges as a government communicator.

You'll learn:

• How to figure out what to measure when you have a laundry list of programs and policies to communicate about
• The most effective strategies to get quantitative data without having access to metrics linked to your channels
• Easy ways to get insights into how your audiences feel about the content you're providing and the channels they have access to
• The latest resources available within O365 that can help shed light on what's working and what's not
• The best approach to crafting questions that deliver information you can ACT on

During the early stages of the pandemic when teleworking became the new normal, communication professionals had to quickly develop innovative methods and strategies to keep employees informed and engaged. With more than 100 million Americans now vaccinated, federal, state, and local governments are beginning to reopen, and non-essential employees are returning to the office. How does internal communications look post COVID-19?

Hear the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management’s plan to strengthen employee engagement and outreach, including ways to help you:

• Ensure you understand how employees prefer to receive information
• Fuse methods and tactics used prior to the pandemic with new processes
• Adoption of technology

Do you have more internal communications challenges than you have time to solve? Learn how to run a Lightning Decision Jam with your team, so you can quickly ideate and prioritize solutions to your most pressing challenges.

All you need for this session is a pen and the willingness to be open and creatively expeditious when Kevin says "Go!"