Digitization means a profound transformation of organizations. It’s more than just supporting existing processes with digital tools – the task is much more about completely reshaping processes. Communications departments have a dual role to play here: On the one hand, they are expected to accompany the transformation process of the entire organization. On the other hand, they must ask themselves what position they will occupy in the future and how their value contribution to the company will change. For the heads of communications departments, this means a major challenge: They have to actively shape the change, take their departments along with them, and are themselves just beginning to grasp the paradigm shift. We want to accompany communicators in this “sensemaking” through exchange and first practical examples.

The cluster meets every third Monday of the month from 17:00 to 18:00 for a virtual ideas workshop. Each session begins with a short, practical keynote speech. The first meeting is on March 18, 2024.

The goal of the cluster is to quickly and effectively achieve concrete results on current issues around tech, tools and trends. This is intended to give PR practitioners more clarity in the thicket of challenges of modern communication in a simple and direct way. Especially the question about the possibilities of AI are on everyone’s lips since the launch of ChatGPT and the integration of the tool into the Microsoft search Bing and the browser Edge. Interest in the artificial intelligence initiative is correspondingly high. For this reason, this was again somewhat “drilled out” and an additional subgroup was formed.

The cluster meets every fourth Tuesday of the month at 17:00.

What good is the best technology if no one uses it? What good is data without insight? How can we ensure that data and AI are not seen as foreign bodies, but as an integral part of every communication strategy and daily work? How do I create a glow in the eyes instead of the shock of numbers?

We explore these questions in the People & Culture cluster. We talk about the necessary skills, agile and learning-oriented methods, the development of an open data culture, an AI framework for the integrated use of technology and leadership that provides orientation and shapes culture. The aim is to create a working environment in which digitalization and technology, including AI, are understood, lived and further developed.

The cluster meets every two weeks on Wednesdays at 17:00.

“You can’t control what you don’t measure.” This insight is as old as it is banal. However, the vast majority of communications departments today are not able to collect and prepare the available data in such a way that it can be used for two essential tasks:

1. Measuring success, i.e. tracking what successes the communications work has delivered in the past. These measurements are mainly used to argue internally that the communications department is doing a good ob.
2. Far more important is the use of data to optimize communications work. This involves using data from the (recent) past to learn for future communications work.

The Impact Measurement Cluster is working on solutions for these two tasks in order to provide colleagues with practical assistance.