Presented at the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Chicago chapter meeting as a professional development lunch topic on April 20, 2011. Description from the meeting invitation: Over the last 10 years, the communications landscape has dramatically changed. While many of us were pursuing the coveted ‘seat at the table’ with our leaders, the table moved—becoming virtual and global. Today, thanks to social media and other enabling technologies, even small businesses have a global reach, and large companies are leveraging talent on every continent to achieve their goals. What do we need to do as communicators to adapt and succeed in this dynamic, global workplace? Join us as we explore this topic with Jeff Zwier, Associate Director of Global Business Line Communications for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL). Jeff will share his experiences managing a 20+ member communications team supporting leaders around the world. For the past two years, Jeff has been developing practices, competencies and processes in cooperation with the rest of DTTL Global Communications to build better virtual team collaboration and communication capabilities. During our session, we’ll go beyond the basic global communication challenges of translation and time zones and explore how his team faces the challenges of collaborating, influencing and delivering world class communications for Deloitte leaders while separated by thousands of miles. Prior to working for Deloitte, Jeff held a variety of internal communications roles serving global organizations with a specialization in communications strategy, executive communications and technology-related change management. He has published several articles on communications strategy and related topics and has presented at conferences on metrics development, communication measurement, developing communication strategies and motivating teams during organizational change.

1. Global communications
Getting a seat at the
(virtual) table
Jeff Zwier,
Associate Director, Global Business Line Communications
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ltd.
Presented to the IABC Chicago Chapter Luncheon April 20, 2011
For more information, contact the presenter at jeff@zwier.net

2. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Going global: What’s changed?
New practices and work environments . . .
2
“Ninety percent of life is just
showing up.”
- Woody Allen,
Actor/Director
“When you ask people where do
you go when you need to get work
done…you rarely hear them say
„the office.‟ “
- Jason Fried,
37 Signals Founder
(TED talk)

3. Going global: What’s changed?
New tools . . .
3
Radio (1920)
TV (1950s)
Internet (1996)
eBay (1997)
Wikipedia (2001)
Cell phones (1984)
Blackberry (2002)
Google (1998)
iPod (2001)
Facebook (2004)
Twitter (2007)
1920 1970
Fax machine (1970s)
Dates shown above are when the technology became
commercially viable
Source: DTTL Online Communications team research
1990 2000 20101930 1940 1950 1960 1980
LinkedIn (2003)
YouTube (2005)
Blogs (1999)
iPhone (2007)
Macintosh (1984)
IBM PC (1981)
iPad (2010)
Mainframe Computer (1960s)
HBO (1972)
MTV(1981)
Amazon (2001)

4. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Going global: What’s changed?
New challenges . . .
4
• From workplace . . .
to workspace
• From translation . . .
to interpretation
• From time zones . . .
to time shifting

5. What’s changed?

6. EVERYTHING
(almost)

7. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Going global: What do leaders want from communicators, and
what does it take to succeed today?
7 DTTL Global Communications
• New competencies for
communicators
• New roles, teams, tools and
ways of working
• Readiness for higher
expectations from business
leaders
• New definitions of how the
communications function
contributes to the organization

8. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
New competencies
8 DTTL Global Communications
Actingand
influencing
atadistance
‘Unboxing’
the business
objective
Strategic advisor role
True business knowledge
Diversified skills

9. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
New roles, teams . . .
9 DTTL Global Communications

10. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
. . . tools, and ways of working
10 DTTL Global Communications

11. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Higher expectations
11 DTTL Global Communications
From . . . To . . .

12. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
The new global communicator:
Getting a seat at the (virtual) table
12
• Individual contributors
• Communications teams
• Team leaders

13. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Going global on your own:
Steps to success
13
• You are a global communicator
• Listen first . . .then start a
conversation
• Know your business, the culture . . .
and the business culture
• Set priorities globally, boundaries
locally (and do them both
collaboratively)
• Learn the language of influence

14. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Going global with your team:
Growing together
14
• Get the tools
• Build relationships first
• Measure your successes
together
• Leverage each other
• Empower your clients

15. © 2011 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Going global as a leader:
A new kind of leadership
15
• Individual contributors
• Communications teams
• Team leaders
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