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The Evolution of Business Communication

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The Evolution of Business Communication

This article was first published on BizCommunity, 2 October 2015. Read the original article here.

It's another function that has changed drastically with the advent of social media and the rise of the employee voice, and the consequent need to focus on internal communication as much as external communication.

The International Association of Public Relations hosts an annual Congress, which brings together some of the most senior PR professionals from all over the world. This year's Congress, hosted in Johannesburg, saw over 300 people from some 30 countries descending into Sandton to hear from leading stalwarts of the communication industry. This was an important event for South Africa to host as well, making it the largest PR conference if its kind hosted in Africa.

Speaking alongside industry greats like Rob Cartwright from Ketchum; Svetlana Stavreva, CMO from IBM Eastern Europe; Todd Babiak, CEO of Story Engine; and Jeremy Galbraith, CEO for EMEA at Burson-Marsteller, to name but a few, I had the privilege of addressing the Congress on the new skills set required of communicators in the current age. This was based on the VMA GROUP Africa research conducted in April among 189 communication practitioners in South Africa to understand their needs and challenges.

In-house communication development

Sharing the highlights of the research within the context of the skill-set PR practitioners need, it was noted that in terms of in-house skills development for communicators, strategic thinking and business communication positioning feature very high on the list, with one out of three communicators saying this is a key skill they look for when shaping their teams.

Writing skills features relatively low on the list, possibly as it's an area that is often outsourced. It is somewhat surprising that organisational and leadership skills are also low on the list, given the key role leaders play in communication and the support communicators are expected to provid