At the start of a new year, IoIC’s Suzanne Peck sets professional resolutions for 2017 for her fellow internal communications professionals

"Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending,” says author Carl Bard. This epitomises the New Year for me as a time to take stock of the year that has gone, and to look forward to the shiny new one.

I’m human. I make New Year’s resolutions in my personal life that start well, but peter out by mid-February. I’m not unusual: apparently 66% of resolutions fail within one month as they’re unrealistic and unachievable.

In my working life, aside from loving a good clear-out of drawers, emails, files and stacks of paper, it’s less a time for making resolutions and more a time for thinking of what I can improve, learn or do differently. What’s happening more widely that will influence my industry, my business, my role? This is far more realistic than doing more exercise, learning to meditate or resisting the urge to self-gift (shopping, dear readers, shopping!).

Like many other organisations, the Institute of Internal Communication puts together an annual trends insight. We’ve done it for a number of years and what struck me about this year’s forecast – designed to help communicators when considering their plans and priorities for the year, is the pace of change.

Often, the key messages are around the changing role of the internal communicator and how we need to move from messenger to curator and demonstrate our value to organisations. This year the focus is on being more agile as disruption becomes the new norm, finding new and innovative ways to collaborate and curate across the changing communications landscape. It’s about working harder to understand people’s drivers so that we’re creating strategies, content and channels that resonate and help organisations achieve their objectives.

Here are three key resolutions from the trends book that resonated with me. First, does the future of communication belong to specialists who develop deep expertise in one area or to generalists who can deliver across a wider range of communication portfolios? The communicators best placed to help their organisations communicate and maintain a core identity as it changes in response to uncertain environments will be those that understand that broader picture. What can we learn from HR, marketing and PR, for example, to better understand the relationship between engagement, communication and performance outcomes?

Second, it’s to find your place in the connected organisation. Organisations are changing and internal communications is not just adapting with them, but often at the heart of catalysing the transformation from traditional hierarchy to fully networked. No longer is it about communicating messages down but pulling in and pushing out in all directions, being an advocate and enthusiast and explainer of the shared purpose. Doing this relies on existing skills used in new ways. In the networked organisation you need to infuse your skills into others and support everyone in communicating. Learn to listen, to share, to be the perfectly placed catalyst for change.

Finally, what’s got you here, won’t get you there. Sound advice to kickstart or restart learning and career development no matter how many years you’ve worked in communications. Professional qualifications demonstrate ability. Get a mentor, or be a mentor, and find out how to differentiate yourself whether it’s through your skills or being more involved in the business world around you. Be a flamingo in a flock of pigeons! January is a good time to start a brand new ending in 2017.

Suzanne Peck is president of the IoIC