Welcome to the 9th Annual Strategic Internal Communications Conference. In this fast-paced forum you'll get to know your fellow peers, their biggest internal communications challenges, and a few fun facts.

The evolving workplace means organizations need to focus on people more than ever. Technology is guiding this change by offering content and communication opportunities, as these new capabilities arise communicators need to evolve with them.

This session is designed to help you understand why the shift is happening and how you can evolve your communication practices.

During the first year of the pandemic alone, McDonald’s USA held more than 100 webcasts and sent more than 200 company-wide emails.

Learn more about McDonald’s “secret sauce” for

• Pivoting traditional face-to-face meetings to virtual connection points
• Keeping virtual meetings and presentations engaging and motivating
• Turning an unprecedented time into unprecedented results

Covid-19 has made more leaders and organizations see the value in internal communications (IC). At the same time, an increased volume of IC resulted in a flood of information in many companies. To further organize the IC ecosystem at Poole College, in late 2020, the communications team surveyed employees on the most effective channels for IC, topic awareness and leadership communication resulted in optimizing an IC system.

In this case study session, you'll learn about:

• Designing and planning the IC survey
• Providing strategic and tactical recommendations on organizing IC (channels, messages, audiences)
• Creating an internal communication framework and matrix

As if the Pandemic wasn’t challenging enough, Berkshire Hathaway launched a new internal digital community, an inaugural Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion program, and new engagement strategies.  I’ll bet most of us can relate.

You will learn:

• Strategies that make changes obvious
• Programs with little effort, but big impact
• Empowering employees to have influential voices
• Digital Demo: VideoAsk for Communicators

Recent data suggests that employees who trust their managers, teammates, and leaders have a much higher capacity to absorb organizational change. One way to establish trust is to be more transparent about previously undocumented work expectations. This conversation focuses on documenting the unwritten rules and expectations we have for our teams. We will share the importance of designing a team charter and recommended elements that will establish agreed-upon expectations. This process will help increase morale and rapport and reduce stress and anxiety across your team.

You will learn how to:

• Gain insights based on survey results from peers on their experiences with health and the workplace.
• Learn practical recommendations for designing a team workplace charter.
• Discover how a team workplace charter empowers employees and managers to partner in decisions impacting their work/life balance effectively.

Have you found yourself asking where to start with DEI or the role a communicator plays? We have assembled a panel of communicators who can answer your questions and provide tips on the challenges you’re facing within your organization.

*This is the final session on the virtual agenda

We’ll kick things off today by asking you to share your biggest ‘ah ha’ moments so far and any
burning questions for today’s speakers.

When moving to a remote-first or hybrid work environment, do we try to recreate the office culture, or help define a new, remote culture? What strategies can we employ to create a positive and engaging remote work experience when so many employees are missing social connections, tired of the same routine, and suffering from ‘Zoom fatigue’?

During this session, you will learn how to:

• Rethink internal communications practices and channels—A look at why communicating to a remote audience needs a different approach
• Implement leadership and peer-to-peer visibility programs—What programs can we adopt to replace the ‘water cooler’ conversation and improve leadership visibility
• Create a unique format for video meetings—Methods to improve participation and engagement in meetings

Details Coming Soon!

Career development. Individual Development Plans. Training. Whatever you call it, sometimes you can feel like you’ve exhausted your opportunities to grow. This is when you get creative and find something where you can learn in a safe space, meet other communicators, and give back to the profession at the same time.

• Identifying opportunities to learn new skills—or refine the ones you have. This might be
  with a professional association
• Make a development plan that incorporates your outside opportunity
• Document your journey to show your manager the value—and to celebrate your
  success
• Use that growth to find the next role that is right for you

Creating a work environment where people feel supported, appreciated, and motivated isn’t rocket science, but it does take work. And it starts at the top of your organization.

During this presentation, learn what leaders can both do and say to create and sustain a highly engaged workforce. Also hear how three basic principles of effective communication can empower leaders to accomplish this:

• Mission: Tie the work people do to the reason (and purpose) your organization exists
• Message: Ensure leaders’ external messages are consistent with the organization’s internal value system
• Media: Use modern forms of technology to maximize opportunities to make authentic connections with staff

These tools and tips will help you create a workplace where people love coming to work and perform at their best.

As MidPen navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, it was important to remain consistent with quarterly All-Staff updates—but the team quickly discovered that the “Zoom webinar/senior leadership-only presentation” wasn’t a very engaging tactic. MidPen’s mission to provide affordable housing in the Bay Area is considered “essential work,” and there are amazing stories happening in all areas of the business. So the challenge–and mission for internal communications–was to figure out how to incorporate more voices and bring those stories to life during All-Staff meetings to make the experience more engaging and inspiring for the 500+ MidPenners.

You will hear lessons-learned with practical tactics you can take back to your organization, including:

• Creating videos to show at All-Staff events to address the lack of face-to-face interactions and bring employee stories to life, as well as remind folks of why their work is truly essential
• Providing optional “Zoom rooms” after each All-Staff meeting so people can share thoughts and feedback on our various topics
• Conducting a pulse survey after each All-Staff event to constantly solicit ideas and get important feedback (and the results have definitely shown an increase in employee interest!)

You’ll take in a lot of information during the event but may still have some final questions.  In this lightning round, you'll have the opportunity to ask a panel of communications professionals all your burning Remote, Hybrid, Frontline & Dispersed Workforce questions. You’ll want to have your notebook and pen ready for this session!

This rapid fire panel topics will include:

• Managing Blended Teams
• Mobile App Engagement
• Email Communication
• Communications Technology Automation