Entries by Mike Pounsford

Creating a listening culture: Responding to surveys

How do you ensure a response to employee survey results? Moving from data to action is one of the biggest pain points in effective listening. The hallmark of an attractive company is caring about peoples’ opinions and giving people a voice. As we face post-Covid changes to working practices, listening will become more important. A […]

Listening podcast – why listening matters

During the research we conducted into Listening across Europe, we became increasingly convinced that:   Effective listening has a direct impact on both the performance of a business and the wellbeing of the people who work within it Listening has to be developed at a systemic level, rather than adopting ad hoc approaches Communicators have […]

The Listening Project and new online course

The Listening Project is a collaboration with Howard Krais and Dr. Kevin Ruck.  As well as our reports (see two recent conversations on this site), the survey across Europe, Middle East and Africa and various webinars and workshops we are shortly launching a global Listening Survey.   What motivates us is the belief that organisations […]

Good Listening Practice

Link to report: – Couravel_Listening_Report_Project_2_Good Practice I’m delighted to share the results of the second report that Howard Krais, Dr. Kevin Ruck and I have published.  With the help of the IABC Foundation we have spoken to serial winners of the Gold Quill, a rigorously evaluated International Communicators’ Award.  To win a Gold Quill entrants […]

Exploring how organisations listen to employees

Who’s listening?   A small scale research project exploring how organisations listen to employees   “Who’s Listening?” features the results of the research that we conducted into the state of organisational listening across EMENA with the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and PR Academy. The report’s insights include: Effective listening to employees is seen […]

Developing Listening Organisations for the 21st Century

Developing listening organisations for the 21st Century Listening matters Listening is important. 98% of people agree listening to stakeholder groups is a critical communication competence and 89% say the insights they bring from listening are of strategic importance.1 Listening matters for: Responsiveness and survival2 The speed at which industries and markets are changing means we need […]

Mapping history

How and why to use the story of your business to build engagement and purpose   The birth of the business and the founders’ hopes highlight the DNA.  The early and crises years add colour, athenticity and credibility.  The recent past acknowledges the importance of current people and sets up a discussion of what needs […]

Creating better places to work

What can you do to make people happier at work? The focus for a knowledge cafe1 (facilitated by David Gurteen at Portcullis House in Westminster) threw up some valuable insights and reflections. James Brown the business psychologist kicked off with some personal stories and highlights of the growth in poor mental health identified by the […]

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Defining Purpose

Every team, group and organisation needs clarity about its purpose.   This chart explores questions that are helpful in uncovering purpose.  Use this to start a quality purpose-defining conversation within a team at any level in an organisation, or within an association or community group.