What Content Should You Create First For Your Change Program with Matt Fenwick
How intentional are you about the content that’s being created to support your change program?
Do you know what content you should focus on at different stages of the change journey?
How do you handle it when a senior leader rushes in excited about a cool type of content that they like the sound of that worked for a colleague of theirs? Should you immediately get to work creating it or not?
Getting content right can be a minefield! That’s why I’m excited to have Matt Fenwick on the show today.
Matt is the founder and managing director of True North Content, a Canberra-based strategic content consultancy.
Matt and his team help government departments, peak bodies and consultancies solve messy communications and content problems. He's a regular conference speaker on content, strategy, and human-centred design. He’s presented at TEDx Canberra, UX Australia and Copycon. He has also lectured at University of Newcastle, Sydney University and University of Canberra.
You can see why I’m excited to pick his brain on all things content!
In this week’s podcast ep, you’ll discover:
How to decide what content to create to support your change program
Why your FAQs are likely a bad idea; and
How to get through the content clearance process without completely decimating the content you’ve worked so hard to create. (I know so many change managers know what I’m talking about here!)
Matt shares so many useful tips and practical tools in this conversation - and of course, we link to all the resources he mentions in the show notes so you can get your hands on everything and start using them today.
You’re going to love this episode.
Take a listen now!
TOPICS DISCUSSED AND WHERE TO FIND THEM:
[00:51]: How intentional are you about the content that you’re creating to support your change program?
[1:23]: I’m excited to have Matt Fenwick on the show today. Matt is the founder and Managing Director of True North Content, a Canberra-based strategic content consultancy.
[2:06]: You’ll learn how to decide what content to create to support your change program, why FAQs are a bad idea, and how to get through the content clearance process.
[2:45]: Kate welcomes Matt to discuss content and why it’s so important. Content doesn’t get enough airtime in the organisational change management space.
[3:23]: Why should change managers be thinking carefully and strategically about content? Matt shares that content is where the value and meaning you want to share becomes concrete, usable and actionable.
[4:53]: What is a content strategy and how does it work with a communication strategy? Matt explains that there’s a lot of overlap and that he thinks that content strategies are typically more granular and specific.
[6:51]: Often someone in a change or comms team will create content and as part of the clearance process that content gets changed significantly. Matt shares his views and advice on this.
[9:56]: It’s often useful to bring the influencers on the journey in terms of the intent of the communication and aim for collaboration and co-creation.
[10:56]: Bringing two sets of expertise to the table and for both of those to be defined and understood is key. Having roles and workflows defined upfront is really helpful.
[12:32]: Matt explains the idea of Pair Writing and how it’s really helpful to change dynamics in an organisation with an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality. Complex problems do not necessarily require complex solutions.
[14:22]: When an organisation is trying to introduce a new way of working, are there specific kinds of content that it must have? Matt shares that intranet content is the most effective and the issues with email communications.
[16:30]: Matt also discusses news and FAQs.
[17:18]: Matt believes that FAQs are generally a bad idea and outlines why.
[19:50]: Change managers often have a lot of ideas for content. How do you decide what to focus on first? Matt outlines how to approach this using a good content strategy, and the Northstar Framework.
[22:15]: This framework provides really clear prioritisation and also provides a focus on what will deliver the most value. It can also be really helpful as a tool to manage up the line.
[24:00]: Matt shares the best ways to get in contact with him.
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
CONNECT WITH MATT FENWICK:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmfenwick/
Website: https://truenorthcontent.com.au/
Email: matt@truenorthcontent.com.au
CONNECT WITH KATE:
Website: https://www.everchange.com.au/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ever-change-and-communication