Preserving the past, facing the future
In the wake of regulatory change, a consortium of UK museums had to implement green tech and sustainable practices. To gain employee buy-in, they would need executives with the communication skills to make the case.
Background
Communication coaching for leaders (or potential leaders) can help organisations achieve a variety of objectives. Such coaching can impart critical workplace skills; turn executives into knowledgeable and eloquent ambassadors for the brand; and give employees the know-how to advocate specific internal goals, from socialising a reorganisation to increasing sales.
In this case, the goal was internal behaviour change, both to save money and to ensure compliance with new regulations.
The client was an English regional development authority. The UK had recently adopted ambitious, binding emissions reduction targets. In response, the authority sought to improve sustainability at the museums and art galleries within its jurisdiction.
An English regional development authority aspired to reduce its carbon footprint. Executive communications would prove critical to this work.
The necessary change could only come from within. But staff were nervous about engaging with such a complicated issue.
Challenge
The participating institutions were a diverse group, ranging from major metropolitan galleries to tiny rural museums honouring individual historical figures. In seeking to embed sustainable practices, they faced a Catch-22.
On the one hand, sustainability is a complex, evolving issues, and none of the institutions employed environmental specialists. In addition to this lack of knowledge, staff lacked the confidence to advocate for sustainability internally.
On the other hand, the required behaviour change could only be brought about from within each institution. Many staff still believed a myth that green practices and technology would damage the artifacts in their care. A directive from the development authority would therefore be unlikely to stick. Only persuasion by trusted colleagues would suffice.
We are the champions
Realising the scale of this challenge, the development authority engaged Megaphone & Quill CEO Rachel Madan to design and build an internal advocacy network with the skills and knowledge needed to convince colleagues of the necessary changes.
Working with the development authority, Rachel carried out a needs assessment to pinpoint exactly what each institution needed and how communication skills could be used to achieve those goals.
Aspiring “green champions” were recruited from among the senior staff of some 35 participating museums.
Rachel custom-built a 12-month training programme for them, to be delivered via a blend of in-person workshops, online learning modules, seminars, and one-to-one coaching sessions.
Megaphone & Quill CEO Rachel Madan worked with a network of “green champions,” giving them the skills to advocate change.
Green champions learned how to speak with clarity and confidence to various audiences.
This mix achieved a balance between self-paced knowledge-building, guidance tailored to each institution’s needs, and sharing ideas within the peer group.
Among other things, green champions learned:
- How to speak with clarity and confidence about complex issues of emissions, climate change, and green technology.
- How to adapt their messaging, modalities, and communication styles to the various audiences they needed to reach.
- How to pitch their green ideas to colleagues and showcase their institutions’ efforts to the visiting public.
Ready for action
Rachel focused on providing participants with low-risk, practical environments in which to test out their communication skills.
She used proven techniquest like Edward de Bono’s “Thinking Hats” and quick-fire “PechaKucha” presentations.
One participant described the programme as “some of the best training I’ve had in a long time…we’re given the tools and confidence to implement change.”
Another highlighted their improved communications skills, saying, “Even though I have had specific training in these areas before, this has stuck with me the most and got through to me the most effectively.
By the end of the programme, the green champions were enthusiastic to try out their new skills.
“This has stuck with me the most and got through to me the most effectively.”
A third celebrated gaining both self-assurance and knowledge: “I feel I have a much better level of understanding and am quite comfortable talking to colleagues about sustainability. It’s given me a much broader understanding of the organisation I work for, from toilet paper and cleaning products to strategic thinking!”
Equipped with the capacity to argue for and implement greener practices and technologies, green champions had an immediate and dramatic impact on their institutions.
A win-win-win
Environmentally, the programme reduced carbon emissions by about 2,000 tonnes per year, equivalent to around 600 business-class flights from London to New York.
Financially, the programme more than paid for itself through aoperational savings, new grants, and lowered capital costs. The average payback period was just four months.
All told, the programme’s social and environmental return on investment amounted to £5.24 for every £1 invested in the programme.
The programme realised savings, lowered carbon, and trained staff.
Better comms = better outcomes
When executives communicate better, their organisations reap the benefits. Objectives grow clearer, operations become better coordinated, and change gets easier to implement.
Key results
Cost-effective professional development in an array of key workplace skills.
Voluntary, enthusiastic staff compliance with new regulatory requirements.
Immediate, dramatic reduction in the participant institutions’ carbon footprints.
A fivefold social return on investment within one year.