Dennis Kaiser

In the role of communications leader, it is smart to adopt an advisory stance with C-level executives when developing communications strategies. Listening first is a key ingredient of the process. Focus on providing the best advice and information you can give them, which helps create an open dialogue that allows company leaders an opportunity to more fully understand all aspects and figure out the best approach. It is good to remember that there are many ways to accomplish goals. It is wise to take the time to consider more than the path you believe is the right one. That will require patience and an open mind. In my experience, that approach comes off less defensive and common ground is more easily found.

I’m a huge fan of celebrating wins. Taking a moment to commemorate even the smallest accomplishments and recognize the people who made it happen is really important. First, it acknowledges that we are continuing to make progress toward bigger goals and helps build momentum. Celebrating a larger win with those involved creates positive vibes that are authentic and hard to manufacture otherwise. Celebrating successes appropriately tends to spread across entire companies, and can motivate teams or give all employees a sense of pride about where they work. Lastly, calling attention to wins can underscore the value of embarking on the endeavor to begin with.

The plan really comes to life for me when I strip away the distractions-whether thinking about the call I just completed, the 23 message notifications or the seven other tasks I planned to tackle by the end of the day. When I simply focus on one thing at a time, I can see a clear path and easily identify each step that must be completed before the next one can be taken. Trying to do them all at once tends to lead to paralysis. Often when we don’t separate each part, they can all get jumbled up, especially when trying to get projects done quickly to meet a deadline or because there’s several projects or people pulling us in different directions. Getting there is much easier if you don’t try to multitask. Singular focus is my secret sauce.

Admitting that I’m stressed is the first key step for me. Doing that somehow relieves the pressure. Face it, communications jobs are packed full of stress-filled days. That may be why we take on the roles we do in the first place. We thrive in the challenges and take personal satisfaction when that stress becomes another accomplishment.

I always encourage writers to “borrow another set of eyeballs” to quickly review copy. Many times they will catch simple mistakes (like a missing period, wrong word tense, etc.) or an awkwardly phrased sentence that doesn’t make sense to them. If one person doesn’t understand it, then it is likely there will be others. In my experience as a journalist and PR writer, it is better to clarify those sections before sharing a piece with a larger audience, even if what I wrote made perfect sense to me. It will help avoid confusion and questions later.

The first step for me, even after 33 years doing PR, is always taking a deep breath and getting a clear head. Producing great work under tight deadlines isn’t difficult if you know where you going. Each project is different so calibrating a plan that is tailored to the task helps shape the journey. Clarity comes when you see where you need to get to - and answer the question - What does success look like for this project? It is then easy to see the steps you need to take to achieve that goal based on the information you have, the available resources and the time window.