What does a communication consultant do? Summary Communication consultants: Diagnose problems; Recommend solutions; Facilitate interventions; and Evaluate outcomes Everyone wants to be a consultant. I study communication because I want to solve communication-related problems. Often I am concerned with the status of research that is not applied. Practical application of evidence-based research should be a natural inclination, not a rarity. I consult so that I can help apply research to complex corporate problems. I will be doing a five-part series (today represents Part 1) on communication consultants. To guide my series, I found four primary tasks of communication consultants: Communication
Summary: Teaching and Training Generation Z Use digital platforms to engage Gen Z Encourage Gen Z to be creative In my role, I am just starting to see the trickle in of Gen Z and my current students would, I’m sure, align more with the Millennial distinction instead of Gen Z. But, K-12 teachers have been instructing Gen Z for years. So, we can at least look at those trends and determine what teaching and training should look like for this generation. If you are not familiar with Tim Elmore (Growing Leaders) I would encourage you to visit his site. His work on reaching generations is encouraging and insightful. Elmore has a lot of good ideas but I believe three are primary: Teach and Train wi
Summary: Teaching and Training Millennials Rise above the traditional training model Create flexible training opportunities Focus on skills Every time I start to write a post on Millennials I always smile. I cannot login to Twitter without having a Millennial-focused post on my immediate news feed. We care so deeply about Millennials because they are “counter-corporate” but there is nothing new under the sun. Millennials are different, Gen X is different, Boomers were different, etc. etc. etc. The cycle continues. But, for all of this interest, we do recognize that Millennials are unique in that their attributes, desires, and skillset are an interesting combination. Also, because Boomers are
Summary: Teaching and Training Generation X Create clear outcomes Establish efficient training mechanisms Clearly communicate the end goal of a training initiative I am, technically, a Millennial-but I have a Gen X mindset-especially in the workplace. In a previous post I said: “Work smarter not harder has established an internal desire for output but [Xers] struggle to respect (and trust) authority. Xers want efficiency in the workplace, access to leaders and information, and they want to know why they are completing a task or a job.” If you have been following this blog series from the beginning, you are starting to see how each generation connects and also you are probably starting to dia
Summary: Teaching and Training Baby Boomers Help Boomers think about an innovative and creative legacy I need more hobbies :-) I appreciate the Boomers. In some ways, I (a reluctant Millennial) am very “Boomer-esque”. I have workaholic tendencies, I tend to struggle to remove my identity from my profession, and I like, and respect, the top-down structure of organizations. I believe it helps establish consistency and accountability. I’m also professionally competitive and I genuinely do not know what to do with my leisure time—the cynic in me says “What leisure time…?”—and my wife says I need more hobbies. Like other older Millennials my parents are young Boomers and I believe that had a grea
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![Communication During COVID and Crisis [Part 6/6]: What's next?](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/36b396_80cfefbb0dbe406fb09ec98d7e3f869e~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_38,h_21,fp_0.50_0.50/36b396_80cfefbb0dbe406fb09ec98d7e3f869e~mv2.png)
