On Monday, May 13, join me and my colleague, Anne Marie Downey, for an engaging full-day workshop – Strategic Consulting Skills for the Communications Professional. We’ll share recognized business practices demonstrated through theory, lived experiences, and interactive exercises. You’ll walk away with practical knowledge and tools to help better position you as a key business partner in your organization or with external clients.
In our 60+ combined years in the profession, we have found that communications competence and strategic thinking alone are not enough to elevate communicators as a business partner. Communicators must also come to the table as strategic consultants, ready and able to see and respond to issues and challenges from the broadest perspective, not just the communications lens. We must be able to explore business needs, sort complex issues, influence perspectives, recommend change and plan for and manage resistance. In the workshop we explore a range of high-value skills with an emphasis on asking powerful questions, which are core to how effectively we influence and lead.
Our shared passion for, and experience with, elevating our profession, led us to develop this strategic consulting skills workshop designed specifically for communicators. And we’re thrilled to report that it’s hitting the mark!
A few comments from recent participants include:
“Great workshop – I would highly recommend it to anyone!”
“I loved this workshop, very energizing. Also gives me a framework/policy of what my role is about, what I say, what I do, when I go back. Thank you so much!”
“I learned so much – this was excellent!”
“Great workshop. Real-life examples of dealing with clients was extremely helpful. The materials were concise and laid out in a clear manner.”
About the Presenters
Anne Marie Downey
Anne Marie Downey works with organizations to sort complex issues and tackle communications challenges. For 30 years she has led, facilitated, counseled, coached and educated communicators and organization leaders in a wide range of sectors. Before starting Downey Norris & Associates in 1998, she was the Vice President of Corporate Communications and Organizational Performance for the Workers’ Compensation Board Alberta, and Director of Communications for the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Executive Director of its Foundation. Anne Marie has designed and facilitated hundreds of workshops and meetings on a variety of subjects for private, government and not-for-profit organizations, and taught Media Relations and Mass Communications at Grant MacEwan College for seven years.
Colleen Foster, ABC
Colleen is a strategic, results-oriented senior professional with more than 20 years of experience in communications and change management, including 11 years in senior leadership roles supporting executive teams to deliver business results. She is passionate about change management and change leadership. Prior to starting her own consulting practice in 2015, Colleen was Director of Communications and Change Management at ATCO Electric and Senior Manager Communications and Change Management at ATCO I-Tek. She has developed and delivered successful change management strategies for several major transformation initiatives that included significant organization and business change.