Managing office romances - December 2011

Knowledge @ Australian School of Business

"Managing Office Romance: Is There a Policy for Mixing Business With Pleasure?"

Freelance business writer: Chris Sheedy

Editor: Deborah Tarrant

1900 words

Office romances are often seen by management as off-limits, too hot to handle – better to ignore them and hope they work out rather than implement policies and guidelines around such a private and personal matter. But a badly-managed or unmanaged relationship can negatively affect everybody around the couple through issues such as favouritism, conflicts of interest, pillow talk, lack of trust and even legal and occupational health and safety issues for the organisation. In this story, several experts come together to give their advice on managing this very sensitive subject.

Read more:

http://knowledge.asb.unsw.edu.au/article.cfm?articleid=1527 

When customer focus is bad for business - Dec 2011

Knowledge @ Australian School of Business

"Beyond Specialisation: How Businesses Benefit When Opposites Attract"

Freelance business writer: Chris Sheedy

Editor: Deborah Tarrant

2200 words

The notion that people within a business cannot excel at everything typically prompts organisations to pursue particular orientations. They may be "customer focused" or put "employees first". Some are "adaptable" while others are "systems driven". However, new research from the Australian School of Business is challenging traditional business logic by revealing that ambidextrous organisations – those that adopt a more flexible approach and embrace the opposites – are more successful in terms of business performance, customer loyalty and staff engagement. Ambidexterity means more than being adaptable, it is about seeing value in the opposites, then striving to achieve them.

Read more:

http://knowledge.asb.unsw.edu.au/article.cfm?articleId=1522

Good customer service - November 2011

Knowledge @ Australian School of Business

"Do You Really Want Fries With That? How to Find a Customer Service Perfect Match"

Freelance business writer: Chris Sheedy

Editor: Deborah Tarrant

2000 words

The attitudes and styles of customer service reps may present a perfect match for some customers, and just get up others' noses. New research from the Australian School of Business pinpoints three different perceptions of good customer service among frontline employees. Each is right in certain circumstances, but can be damaging when misplaced. With more customer touch points in today's organisations, the trick is in recruiting sales and service personnel to suit and then ensuring a one-size-fits-all approach to training does not impinge their beneficial attributes.

Read more:

http://knowledge.asb.unsw.edu.au/article.cfm?articleId=1515

Journalism vs PR ... or not

Here's a blog I was asked to write by Louise Convy at Convy Media Relations. The topic was 'What I love and loathe about PR professionals'. Click through at the end for the full piece...

Can I Call A PR Person A Tool?
Blogger: Chris Sheedy


I’m a journalist and I love PR people. There, I said it.

PR people are a part of my team, so much so that I wouldn’t be able to do the work that I do, or make the living that I do as a successful freelance writer, if they didn’t exist. It is so terribly predictable and dull to read about journalists and PR people not getting along, being at odds with each other’s goals, not understanding each other’s roles. But guess what? Journalists like to think they don’t get along with anyone – advertisers, marketers, sub-editors, legals, agents, publicists – you name it, journos hate them.

But the journalists who are not constantly complaining about the shortcomings of those around them are actually busy producing great content. One of the most powerful tools in their tool belt is the PR person.

We all know how it feels to ring a business to set up an interview only to be frozen out of that business once the receptionist hears the word ‘journalist’. The media frightens the uninitiated. When non-media people hear the word ‘journalist’ they think of Today Tonight. They think of A Current Affair. They think of Rupert Murdoch and phone tapping and Wendi Deng’s awesome right hook. And they run a mile.    Read more
 

Dealing with social media risk – November 2011

GRC Professional

"Removing The Risk From Social Media"
Freelance business writer: Chris Sheedy
Editor: Roslyn Atkinson
1700 words

Social media has fast moved from an outlier to a business essential, but it’s not without risk for corporates. How then, does a business exploit the medium’s massive opportunities and at the same time manage its potential risks?

  

  

An annual report that matters - October 2011

"Ronald McDonald House Charities: Annual Report"
Professional writer: Chris Sheedy

One of the great joys of running a successful business, large or small, is having the ability to choose clients. Here is a client The Hard Word chose and has proudly worked alongside for several years.

Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), boiled down to its most basic ingredient, provides near-hospital accommodation for families of seriously ill children. In reality, of course, it does so much more. It provides essential support for families when they need it most. The charity's staff are a shoulder to cry on and a friendly face to consult with. The charity's guests are suffering what is unquestionably the single most emotionally painful experience that life can ever throw at anybody - a threat to their child's wellbeing. If their child pulls through then RMHC provides a Learning Program to help them catch up with schooling, and RMHC even offers Family Retreats to give the mums, dads and kids valuable time together to finally relax.

It was a great honour to be asked, as freelance professional writers, to pen this annual report which contains many stories of families that have come through a terrible experience. We should all have a chosen charity with whom we share our spare time and our talents. For The Hard Word, that organisation is Ronald McDonald House Charities.

To find out how you can help, please visit http://www.rmhc.org.au/help.

Get internal communications right - September 2011

Knowledge @ Australian School of Business

"Internal Communications: Choosing the Right Way to Share Inside Info"
Freelance writer: Chris Sheedy
Editor: Deborah Tarrant
2300 words

Indicators of good internal communication are also the markers of organisational health. Think staff turnover, morale, sick leave, organisational reputation, performance in the market. But companies tend to spend big on outward-facing marketing and PR, while connecting with staff via desultory emails or boring intranets. Finding the right way to strike up in-house conversations can tap collective mind power and reduce the dreaded email overload, claim experts. A strategic plan is required, though. Experts warn about the risks of mixing messages so everything on the inside seems rosy, while outside all looks bleak.

Read more:
http://knowledge.asb.unsw.edu.au/article.cfm?articleId=1479