Crisis Support

My name is Joe Jones. I’m a communications professional, and a strategic and creative problem-solver. I have 20+ years’ experience in roles that include Creative Director, Chief Marketing Officer, Start-up Founder and freelance Consultant. I have worked both agency and client-side, from shop floor to boardroom - and have a track record of innovative and impactful work.

If you’re in a leadership role, you probably rely on some fundamentals in your day to day work. Good information and communication from your team. People you can delegate to. Structures that you can work efficiently within.

In a crisis, these things might (suddenly) not be available. You might have to reconsider how everything works, urgently, without any of the usual resources or systems to help.

You might have a whole new set of plates to spin and, yet, still be expected to keep a cool head and make good decisions. To see both the wood and the trees.

There are three things that could help at this point:

Strategic Clarity

First, you need absolute clarity on the fundamentals of what’s happening, what you need to achieve, and your options - both at an individual and team level.

Being close to the situation often makes this more difficult, because detailed knowledge and personal involvement tends to make perspective harder to achieve. Add in team dynamics, and it's hard to be sure everyone is really on the same page.

I specialise in distilling complex situations into their fundamental parts: to give you and your team clarity on which to base your decisions. I don’t do long, detailed reports or use jargon. I ask the right questions, interpret and organise the information, and reflect it back in a way which helps you move forward.

Rapid Problem-Solving

Secondly, you want solutions. Potentially, everyone in the team can (and should) contribute. Many great innovations come from unlikely places. Defining the problem well and creating an atmosphere where people are comfortable to speak up maximises the chance of finding a great solution.

Regardless of who has the final say, a simple framework for evaluating solutions - in terms of benefits, risk, cost and practicalities - is also helpful to keep the team focussed, motivated and on board with whatever is agreed.

Getting Stuff Done

Thirdly, you need to get things done.

Perhaps you need a set of scribbled notes quickly turned into an online presentation of your new comms plan, and delivered to the remote team along with some coaching as they get to grip with new software tools.

Or maybe you need someone to take ownership of producing a microsite to deliver information to the public, who can liaise between multiple teams and make quick, sensible decisions on your behalf?

Get me in, and I’ll get it done.

To recap, I can help deliver:

Strategic Clarity
Rapid Problem-solving
Getting Stuff Done

Working with me

I have a broad range of skills and a long track record of getting stuff done. I’m ethical, conscientious, personable and thoroughly professional.

I’ve worked remotely with clients my entire career, so location (and isolation) is never an issue. I use video conferencing and digital tools such as Slack, Trello, Asana, Basecamp, Google Docs, Office 365 etc extensively.

My day rate vary according to assignment type and duration, but are typically between £400-450 +VAT. Fees are invoiced via my limited company, Archipelago UK Ltd.

Experience Highlights

In most line-ups I’d be the left-field candidate - and probably the one most likely to come up with a new approach. I’ve made a career out of in at the deep end challenges, including:

Designing, project managing and opening two hotels and dive centres at the age of 26. In Egypt. Resulted in 375% revenue growth over three years.
Consolidating marketing strategy and branding for a 25-year old manufacturing company spread across 18 culturally diverse countries, directing a distributed team of 30 staff. Reversed 4 years of revenue decline, taking group back into growth.
Inventing a subscription-based video business that dominated the market for four years, winning accolades from government and industry.
Worked with leading scientists and international NGOs on a series of innovative outreach and communications projects, including illegal fishing tracker App that was ultimately adopted by Interpol.

If you think I might be able to add value to your team, give me a call on +44(0)7535 839008 - or drop me a message and we’ll have a chat, with no obligation.