Communications Business Advisor

"If we set up our structures to match what agencies look like, we lose something significant in our partnership, thinking, and actions. Most importantly, our field continues to lose the battle for treatment as a critical function, a critical business function, not a service area." --Tara McDonagh

People with an agency background bring a strong skill set to whatever business area they move into next, including the ability to juggle multiple projects, being a very quick learner, and building strong relationships.

Unfortunately, many with agency background, especially at a senior level, come in ready to implement an internal agency model, and this creates a model where the comms department becomes order takers. Exactly what communicators fight against.

There are some components agency hires bring in that can strengthen a communications function in a corporation and some that need to be left behind. Let's discuss.

In this episode, host Tara McDonagh explains:

• The unintended impact an internal agency model can have on corporate comms.
• What makes agency staff great hires for communications roles inside corporations … and what they need to leave behind at the agency.
• Teaching people how to treat you.

As we get close to wrapping up Season 1 of the Communications Business Advisor Podcast, take a moment to share this episode, or the show, with someone. Drop a rating or leave a review. We can ignite a movement when we share the message.

Visit taramcdonagh.com to learn more about how to work with Tara. Or follow her content on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

The Communications Business Advisor Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide, the unique coaching, community and professional development program that elevates corporate women communications leaders and emerging leaders in the communications field.

"It became really clear what we could do and do well with the resources that we had, and those were limited resources. And I never stopped talking about what we could do with more."

--Jessica Onick

The dirty word on this episode of the podcast is "prioritization." Host, Tara McDonagh has invited Jessica Onick, Senior Director of Internal and External Communications at GitHub to share how prioritizing and setting boundaries ended up doubling the size of her team in just over a year.

In this episode of the Communications Business Advisor Podcast, Tara and Jesscia talk about:

• Jessica's experience losing staff and being required to prioritize
• How to go about the prioritization process and be intentional, NOT ruthless
• The art of telling others, "No, it's not a priority"
• Determining where you're really needed to do it all, where to guide, and where to empower self-service
• Using up-front prioritization as a framework for the day-to-day
• Growing your team and budget as a result of the prioritization process

Links & Resources:

Jessica Onick on LinkedIn –– www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaonick

Raise the Tide - Join the movement.

If the topic of today's episode of the Communications Business Advisor Podcast resonated with you, please take a moment to share this episode with someone, drop a rating, or leave a review. We can ignite a movement when we share the message.

Visit taramcdonagh.com to learn more about how to work with Tara. Or follow her content on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

The Communications Business Advisor Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide, the unique coaching, community and professional development program that elevates corporate women communications leaders and emerging leaders in the communications field.

Process––you're not alone if that word makes you cringe. You may find processes stifling to your creativity or just generally something that's a necessary evil.

On this episode of the Communications Business Advisor podcast, Tara challenges the way we think about processes.

It's time to turn the dirty P word into something fun. Something that works for you and the business areas you partner with. Let's use processes to get to the ultimate goal easier so you can spend more time on things that energize you.

In this episode, host Tara McDonagh explains:

• How to NOT be the DMV of process
• Making a process audience-friendly AND Communications-area friendly
• Focus on accomplishing the business goal easier and more quickly, not necessarily making your life easier (though this should be an outcome)
• Uncovering hidden processes
• What to use instead of Communication Request Forms
• The time you'll save by having the right processes in place

If the topic of creating and finetuning processes resonated with you, please take a moment to share this episode with someone, drop a rating, or leave a review. We can ignite a movement when we share the message.

Visit taramcdonagh.com to learn more about how to work with Tara. Or follow her content on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

The Communications Business Advisor Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide, the unique coaching, community and professional development program that elevates corporate women communications leaders and emerging leaders in the communications field.

"If you're not measuring, you don't know if you're successful." --Natalie Papaj

Host, Tara McDonagh talks with guest Natalie Papaj, VP of Communications at Wells Fargo to answer listener questions about measurement in Communications - internal and external.

In this episode of the Communications Business Advisor Podcast, Tara and Natalie address questions on:

• Aligning your metrics with business objectives
• The many uses for measurement
• Balancing time/bandwidth with measurement and analysis
• Creating a culture of measurement
• What Natalie uses for measurement in her role at Wells Fargo (and why)

Links & Resources:

Natalie Papaj on LinkedIn –– www.linkedin.com/in/nataliepapaj/

If the topic of today's episode of the Communications Business Advisor Podcast resonated with you, please take a moment to share this episode with someone, drop a rating, or leave a review. We can ignite a movement when we share the message.

Visit taramcdonagh.com to learn more about how to work with Tara. Or follow her content on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

The Communications Business Advisor Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide, the unique coaching, community and professional development program that elevates corporate women communications leaders and emerging leaders in the communications field.

Can you truly grow your career without working EVEN more? This is a key question host, Tara McDonagh, is asked regularly by ambitious, exceptional, overachieving women. The assumptive answer is always - no. What most of us have always seen and assumed is that when you continue to rise in your career, company demands on your time will grow. Most women are eager and ready for growth, but don't want to sacrifice even more time with family and friends. Is there another way?

Host Tara McDonagh, invites Megan Witherspoon, VP of Communications at Altria, to discuss how she's both grown her career, and embraced a new level of personal fulfillment through remote work.

Megan not only works remotely, she moved her family across the country and continues to take on more responsibility in her role at Altria, while enjoying more time for family and hobbies as well.

In this episode of Communications Business Advisor Podcast, Tara and Megan discuss:

• How Megan was able to move across the country while advancing responsibilities in her company.
• Using data to measure if there are differences in remote vs in-person worker performance - make the case with data.
• Proximity bias. It is a thing. Will it ever die?
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion implications tied to remote work.

Links & Resources:

Follow Megan Witherspoon on LinkedIn -- linkedin.com/in/megan-witherspoon-8b315958/

Harvard Business Review article -- Why Many Women of Color Don't Want to Return to the Office

If the topic of today's episode of the Communications Business Advisor Podcast resonated with you, please take a moment to share this episode with someone, drop a rating, or leave a review. We can ignite a movement when we share the message.

Visit taramcdonagh.com to learn more about how to work with Tara. Or follow her content on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

The Communications Business Advisor Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide, the unique coaching, community and professional development program that elevates corporate women communications leaders and emerging leaders in the communications field.

Women dominate the Communications field in numbers, but not in leadership roles. Why? Couple gender bias together with our misunderstood and oversimplified field and we have a fight on our hands.

In this episode of The Communication Business Advisor Podcast, Tara McDonagh explains:

• Equal Pay Day and International Women's Day - and why companies will recognize one while ignoring the other.
• Gender bias in the workplace and its impact on women's careers - and how and why that shows up even more for women in Communications.
• How second-generation bias, the just world hypothesis and the double-bind impact women at work.
• What to do about this challenge.
• Where to follow more content on women in communications: www.linkedin.com/company/raise-the-tide-for-women

If you've enjoyed the Communications Business Advisor Podcast so far, please take a moment to share this episode with someone, drop a rating, or leave a review. We can ignite a movement when we share the message.

Visit taramcdonagh.com to learn more about how to work with Tara. Or follow her content on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

The Communications Business Advisor Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide, the unique coaching, community and professional development program that elevates corporate women communications leaders and emerging leaders in the communications field.

Metrics are a massive subject for all Communications leaders in every area of our field - PR, internal communications, executive communications - you name it.

In this episode of The Communication Business Advisor podcast, Tara McDonagh explains:

• The area of metrics she sees many Communications teams miss.
• How to approach intentional metrics-gathering with business partners, and how it makes a massive difference
• The dirty phrase "self-promotional" and how to tackle it.
• The impact to you, your team (and our field) if you don't focus on continuous awareness campaigns for your department

Tara notes that she can't cover all the metrics and measurement topics in this single episode, but she promises to cover more on future episodes.

If you've enjoyed the Communications Business Advisor Podcast so far, please take a moment to drop a rating or review. We can ignite a movement, when we share the message. Help us spread the word.

Visit taramcdonagh.com to learn more about the work Tara is doing. Or connect with her on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

The Communications Business Advisor Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide, the unique coaching, community, mentorship, and professional development program that elevates corporate women communications leaders and emerging leaders in the communications field.

Why is normalizing asking for feedback so helpful and 360 reviews so awful for Communications and PR Pros?

In this episode of The Communication Business Advisor podcast, Tara McDonagh explains:

• How to normalize getting feedback continuously and why - as an entire team.
• Asking for feedback without using the word feedback
• The biases that come with a 360 review
• How to counterbalance a 360 review

If you have enjoyed the Communications Business Advisor Podcast so far, please take a moment to drop a rating or review. We can't ignite a movement, without sharing the message. Help us spread the word.

Visit taramcdonagh.com to learn more about the work Tara is doing. Or connect with her on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

The Communications Business Advisor Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide, the unique coaching, community and professional development program that elevates corporate women communications leaders and emerging leaders in the communications field.

Overworked, understaffed, under-resourced, and overwhelmed. Sound about right? It's a common description for Communications leaders working in a corporate environment.

In this episode of The Communications Business Advisor Podcast, Tara McDonagh emphasizes the need to align communications' work with company business goals through a long-term strategy, and making a compelling business case for resources.

Tara explains:

• The top challenges for both PR and internal communications leaders.
• How to fix these challenges.
• Why asking for "more" doesn't work, and what to do instead.

If you want help taking comms within your company from being seen as helpful to essential in driving company success, Tara's signature communication strategy roadmap might be just the thing. Visit taramcdonagh.com to find out more.

Or follow her content on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

The Communications Business Advisor Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide, the unique coaching, community and professional development program that elevates corporate women communications leaders and emerging leaders in the communications field. www.raisethetide.net

The most important work we do as professional communicators, meaning PR, Internal Comm. Public Affairs and related fields, lies in advancing business goals and protecting brands using the lens of Communications to advise.

In this powerful first episode of the Communications Business Advisor Podcast, host Tara McDonagh guides listeners through Communications acting as editor of a business decision, not only content.

Tara explains:

• What it means to edit a business decision as a Communications leader inside a company.
• How to go about it, using an example to bring life to this approach.
• Why it's critical to embrace the uniqueness of your perspective to both advance our professions' reputation and our own careers.

To learn more about ending triage-mode and elevating your department's reputation as a critical business advisors, visit taramcdonagh.com. You can also follow her content on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

The Communications Business Advisor Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide, the unique coaching, community and professional development program that elevates corporate women communications leaders and emerging leaders in the communications field. Together, we are the force of the tide elevating the ships for all in our field. www.raisethetide.net