Women on Wings communications strategy expert Karen de Loos candidly shares about saving time and communications strategy while consulting with the agri-food Taru Naturals and other Indian social enterprises. A version of this article first appeared on LinkedIn in Dutch.
The title above was the answer to my question via Google (nice and traditional): ‘what does flexibility mean?’
Why do I start my story like this? Because last week I was in India again to consult Women on Wings. I went to give a two-day workshop on communication strategy at Taru Naturals in Rajasthan, the social enterprise of Ruchi Jain.
Now, of course, I have been working for years in a profession that requires flexibility day in, day out, but that certainly is no different in India. Because it is social entrepreneurs with ambitious growth plans that we consult. So responding to current events, changing sales channels or challenges in team composition, it’s encountered everywhere.
This was also the case during my recent trip – this time somewhat shorter – to Mumbai. The weeks before, the Women on Wings team, Ruchi and her team and I organized three online sessions in which we used the ‘communication house’ model (you may know it: touch/tell/sell/engage, and let’s not forget, share!) for our initial exercises from determining target groups to deciding which media we would use. So the homework was known in advance. The first exercises done. And we knew we would put all the puzzle pieces together when we met.
Savvy flexibility creates a social enterprise’s ‘growth spurt
Now I have taught myself something in recent years. In 2010 and 2011, I still prepared the workshop to three decimal places and it was set in stone. Over time I became wiser through ‘trial and error’ (or let’s say ‘learning moments’) and from that time on I fixed only about 60/70% of the content.
Now I take a box of sheets with me that always come in handy and that you can therefore handle ‘on the fly’. During lunch or a short chai break I double check whether everything is still up to date and if not I add a sheet or remove one and voila: strict on the goal, flexible on the way there.
Talking about communication leads to other challenges
So when we were busy on Day 1 of the workshop and had the frameworks in place, it became clear that we should not only talk about marketing communication but also corporate and internal communication. And the customer relations employee immediately seized her chance, because she indicated that she had received complaints about delivery.
But where was the problem then? The nice thing is that with all those years of experience at all levels in so many sectors, you are more of a ‘company doctor’ or as a board member once called me ‘dentist’ (because I can pull the tooth and make the first filling, not an implant). So okay, a break, a cup of chai or coffee, a snack, I’ll grab my reusable flipchart, and start sketching ideas.
What are the steps, how does the order come in, how is it checked, how are the labels (because it concerns food expiration dates) produced, who is responsible for that, and how are they delivered to the warehouse, and with which distributor do you deliver? where and when? Mumbai? Maharashtra? The whole of India?
In no time, bottlenecks were discussed, possible solutions ditto, and before the end of the afternoon, my Indian Women on Wings colleague Chanakya and I had put together a checklist, and the Taru Naturals team worked on the FAQs and SLAs. The customer relations employee was very happy. I call it a ‘growth spurt’ :-).
Karen de Loos
communication strategy expert
And so you have it, every time a ‘the problem lies somewhere else in the company but the impact on communication is big, so how do we solve that? challenge’
And so you have it, every time a ‘the problem lies somewhere else in the company but the impact on communication is big, so how do we solve that?’ challenge. And certainly also at Ruchi and her mother’s (a naturopath) beautiful company that already works with the hundreds of farmers / women in the region who produce herbs, plants, fruit, rice etc. to make beautiful Taru Naturals products.
Recently we also changed the visual identity. When you see it like that, and you see Ruchi and her beautiful team’s eagerness to learn, then they will get there. And they will grow a number of jobs for women in the Indian countryside, the same goal we at Women on Wings are also working toward. But our BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is to co-create one million jobs.
At the end of the day, tired but satisfied and inspired, especially because I visited Ruchi and her parents’ home. An incredible number of plants and trees were planted when the house was built that her mother tends. She creates all sorts of things with them (in food, as medicine, as shampoo and so on). A gift to be able to work with these people. And I look forward to the next time.
Namaste!
PS Check out where we stand today with Women on Wings’ BHAG: https://www.womenonwings.com/impact/
Women on Wings expert Karen de Loos consults with Indian social enterprises and government institutions pro bono. She’s also an independent marketing/communications consultant, interim manager, coach on the job, matchmaker, and ‘eye opener & broadener, improver & accelerator’.
