Ten mistakes to avoid when you're in a new comms role

Many comms pros are celebrating new roles on LinkedIn recently. It’s so great to hear the excitement of fellow communicators beginning new positions – congratulations!

These Do’s and Don’t’s when you’re new to a comms role might be timely for you.

And if you’re in a new role that isn’t comms, they may help you too.

What would you add to the list to support colleagues in new roles?

WEEK 1

1.Don’t point out everything you see wrong with the communications team you’ve joined

Instead, be respectful of the team and leaders who came before you. There may be good reasons why things were done in the way they were and being generous about that will help you build understanding and trust – a good foundation for making any necessary changes over time.

2.Don’t begin every sentence with, ‘in my last company, we used to…’

You may unintentionally alienate people. Instead, be curious about why the team work in the way they do. Taking the time to ask questions will give you useful information that can bolster your new communications plans.

3.Don’t try and change everything overnight by ‘doing, doing, doing.’

It can be tempting to prove your worth by taking lots of actions or making changes early on – ‘hey, look, you made the right hire!’ Instead, have the confidence to, ‘listen, listen, listen.’

Listening can feel like it’s taking too much of your time especially in a role that’s so often rewarded for deliverables. But investing time listening to new stakeholders - including your comms colleagues - ?will allow you to be more discerning about what actions you need to take now, and what can wait until later.

The listening time has the added advantage of helping you build your network as you start out.

MONTH 1

4.Don’t say ‘yes’ or ‘no' to requests too quickly

Sometimes in our comms roles we say yes to please a senior stakeholder, or we say no because we don’t believe what we’ve been asked to do is the role of comms. Instead of answering fast and regretting it later, give yourself time to understand the context of your new organisation before you reply.

Phrases to help you with that include, ‘let me sleep on that’ or, ‘I’ll come back to you’ or even, ‘I don’t know yet, let me think about it.’ This gives you time to sense-check your responses with your comms colleagues or others and give a response that you feel good about.

5. Don’t set an unsustainable precedent

Be as responsive as necessary but don’t overdo it. Especially at the start in a new role, we can over-deliver which worst-case can lead to burnout. Precedents matter – start as you mean to go on and set a precedent that is sustainable.

For example, if you know you don’t want to be answering emails late at night or over the weekend, don’t. We know there will be times when out of hours work is necessary and we’re willing and excited to do it, such as a big company event, financial results time, crisis situations – but that doesn’t have to be the norm.?

MONTH 3

6.Don’t buy into a whirlwind pace.

Easier said than done. The speed in the comms world can be incessant. Yet, many comms pros say that they work hard and fast on a piece of work only to find that overnight it’s no longer needed because a strategy or priority has changed.

If you feel your boss or the business is caught up in a whirlwind pace, challenge it. Slowing down to think about whether something truly needs to be done ‘right now’ can help us speed up in the long-run – and that benefits the business.

It can be hard to do this at the start of a new role, so find the right time to do it.

7. Don’t let a stakeholder’s reputation drive your opinion

When we’re new in role, we’re often told by others which stakeholders are difficult and who to watch out for. While the intent of this information is often to help us, do your best to be open and form your own view.

Each person responds differently to each other person. You may surprise yourself and build great relationships with stakeholders that others have advised you not to trust.

8.Don’t talk yourself out of contributing your voice

It may seem counter-intuitive that some comms experts are quiet by nature or need time to process their thoughts. If this is the case, it can be hard to speak up in a new role.

Yet contributing your voice is important. Find ways that work for you to speak up – for example, test your ideas with your boss or a trusted colleague who you respect, giving you a chance to hone your thoughts before you share them with a wider group.?

MONTH 6

9. Don’t stop asking questions

Harness your ignorance for as long as possible! Use ‘I’m new here’ for as long as you can to ask questions, even the ones you think you’re supposed to know the answers to. Others appreciate being asked and, hey, you can’t be expected to know everything!

10. Don’t decide too quickly that the role isn’t for you

A new comms role can bring challenges, often unexpected. Communicators can feel out of their depth and tell themselves that they must be ‘doing it wrong.’

It’s common to feel this way as you get to grips with an unfamiliar environment or role. Share how you feel with colleagues and ask for help – other communicators will understand and offer support. It’s also known that the best leaders ask for help. ??

Being new in role is an exciting time to learn, influence and grow! What else would you add to this list to help others new in role?

how can I help?

Are you curious about working with a leadership coach who specialises in internal comms?

I can help you make better decisions, build stronger relationships, be more creative and FEEL better.

And you’ll grow your leadership presence and influence.

Take advantage of my free 30-minute session by emailing [email protected] (no selling, just talking).

Until then, come and connect with me on?Linked In?if we're not already connected.

If you have any comms colleagues who you think would benefit from this newsletter, please pass it along.

And remember to click the "Subscribe" button in the upper right corner of the page.