Behind the Scenes: Insight into Edelman Inside

It’s mid-April, and I’m in my final week of a six-month Edelman Inside experience.  It started as a two-month project, working 2-3 days a week out of my client’s office, helping to execute the internal communications strategy and plan that our account team had spent months putting together for the client.  It grew into a six-month engagement.  We had recommended they hire someone; not only to work through the plan and to execute on the recommendations we’d made, but also to operate in a full-time capacity as an internal communications manager. We knew that they needed someone to provide strategic communications counsel to senior executives and work with the marketing and human resources teams to ensure the successful implementation of a variety of new programs. 

Who knew that it would be me whom they chose? (Well, sort of…they requested a secondement as a short-term solution, until they could figure out how and who to hire.)

For the past six months, I’ve been a part of their team from the inside – sitting on internal committees, attending meetings, working with the marketing and human resources teams, providing communications counsel wherever needed, and executing on the plan that our team at Edelman developed.  I couldn’t have asked for a more valuable experience.  As communications consultants, we’re often called upon to provide assistance in the development of strategies and programs, or to provide strategic counsel on issues that are very specific to a client or industry, but we don’t always get the opportunity to participate in the execution or witness the results first-hand.

My Edelman Inside experience has given me greater insight into the challenges faced by my client that I never could have had without immersing myself in their world.  I have a better understanding of their corporate culture, of their senior management team, of their industry, of the challenges and barriers they face, and of the great opportunities ahead.  I know their people, and I know their programs.  I understand how they organize information, how it’s been distributed past and present, and how it’s going to be distributed moving forward.  I’ve seen their internal communication first-hand, and been to their internal events.  I’ve met their graphics team, their business development team, their web team, their social media team, and I’ve talked to all of them about how the organization represents itself in the marketplace.  I’ve spent hours with senior management, talking about the direction the organization is going, and how they’re going to get there.  Through all of that experience, I’ve made adjustments to our original plan that reflect the realities I’ve seen, and I’ve provided counsel to the client that I may not have been able to provide without direct exposure to their operations.

Ultimately, I’ve had the opportunity to build my relationship with the client as a trusted advisor – someone they can call with questions or issues who already understands their business, who they are, and what they stand for.  I believe that’s what we all hope to achieve when we enter a new client relationship.  And though my mandate with them is almost over, I hope they do call, because I’m going to miss working there.