{"id":131143,"date":"2020-07-07T09:07:42","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T08:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=131143"},"modified":"2020-07-07T11:08:17","modified_gmt":"2020-07-07T10:08:17","slug":"pr-spotlight-on-james-mccollum-director-of-barley-communications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/pr-spotlight-on-james-mccollum-director-of-barley-communications\/","title":{"rendered":"PR Spotlight on James McCollum, director of Barley Communications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking on a new role is always going to be challenging, but especially when it comes during an international health crisis impacting businesses across the globe. James McCollum has welcomed the challenges of working through lockdown in his recent appointment to director at Barley Communications<\/a>, and takes us through how the virtual agency is dealing with the current obstacles facing the PR industry and its clients and what can be learned from them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d ask not whether the industry \u2018can\u2019, but whether it \u2018needs\u2019 to return to the way things were before\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

What are the main challenges you\u2019ve faced taking on a new role during lockdown?<\/span><\/strong>
\nLockdown has been a difficult time for people in ways none of us could have ever imagined.<\/p>\n

I suppose a key consideration has been reassuring clients that I\u2019ll continue to be someone they can contact on a day-to-day basis. There can be perceptions that a change in position can mean less time delivering their work \u2013 which is not the case for me at all. I\u2019m a firm believer that communications leaders and practitioners need to continue operating \u2018at the coal face\u2019 if they want to provide the best advice and deliver the most effective campaigns for their clients, such is the pace of change in how people access and consume content.<\/p>\n

What are you most looking forward to getting stuck into in your new role?<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe two best things about working at Barley are firstly working with and learning from incredible people and talent, at all levels \u2013 from old hands to new kids on the block, we all have something to learn.<\/p>\n

Secondly, it\u2019s working with amazing clients that have a real impact on people\u2019s lives. Our strapline is Communication That Matters \u2013 and it\u2019s true!<\/p>\n

In terms of my new role, I\u2019m looking forward to supporting new and emerging talent in the business, and expanding our social purpose portfolio to deliver more meaningful campaigns that have a positive impact.<\/p>\n

Are the Barley team working from home at the moment, and what are the plans for returning to the office?<\/span><\/strong>
\nBarley is a virtual agency that has always embraced working from home. It enables us to work with the brightest and the best who, in many cases, aren\u2019t able to commute. In that sense, COVID-19 has been business as usual for us.<\/p>\n

We have missed our regular meet-ups, though \u2013 our \u2018B-Hives\u2019. These are monthly opportunities for us to get together, tackle key briefs as a unit and brainstorm ideas together \u2013 as well as have a good catch-up. In the meantime, we\u2019ve continued running creative sessions remotely, both internally, and with existing and new clients \u2013 we’ve won several new briefs in the last few months.<\/p>\n

Having made the adjustment to remote working two years ago, my advice would be to stay connected with colleagues and clients. Don\u2019t be afraid to pick up the phone or suggest a short ideas session to nail a brief. Interaction is one of the most important parts of our jobs \u2013 it\u2019s the heartbeat of what we do \u2013 and it\u2019s important to keep that at the core of your day-to-day.<\/p>\n

Which pieces of tech have really been helping you work through the current crisis?<\/span><\/strong>
\nGiven we work from home permanently, we haven\u2019t needed too many changes. We\u2019ve been using Zoom and Sharepoint for years, so no real changes in terms of software. Although, running messaging workshops via Zoom has led us to explore different features, like the breakout rooms \u2013 if you haven\u2019t used them in lockdown quizzes yet, you\u2019re missing out!<\/p>\n

My main tech game-changer is hardware \u2013 I\u2019m a sucker for multiple screens\/monitors as I always have a heap of different programmes open at once, so when I moved to working from home that was top of my list of must-haves.<\/p>\n

Do you think the industry can return to the way things were before?<\/span><\/strong>
\nI\u2019d ask not whether the industry \u2018can\u2019, but whether it \u2018needs\u2019 to return to the way things were.<\/p>\n

With the exception of face-to-face client meetings and pitches \u2013 which I hope return soon, as you can\u2019t replicate the energy of strategy sessions and pitches on Zoom \u2013 I\u2019m not convinced the industry needs to return to its pre-COVID-19 routines. Do agencies need all team members to waste time every single day on uncomfortable rush hour commutes \u2013 time which could be better spent exercising, reading, learning, or with family and friends? Do agencies need to pay office costs for a workforce that has most likely adjusted to home working? Do teams want to miss out on talent that can\u2019t commit to 9-5, five days a week in an office?<\/p>\n

So, I suppose the answer is no. The industry will adjust in places \u2013 but the best talent will go to the organisations that meet their needs and lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Which particular sectors among your client base do you see making the quickest recovery post-pandemic?<\/span><\/strong>
\nSplitting by sector is tricky \u2013 there are massive differences within each. Look at the charity sector \u2013 some charities are getting massive exposure at the moment (see FareShare\u2019s work with Marcus Rashford) while lots of others are seeing donations fall.<\/p>\n

What we have seen is some clients strengthened and emboldened during the pandemic. One was asked by the Government to run antigen tests for COVID-19, which rapidly expanded its operation. Other clients have adapted to new roles, such as generating funds to support key workers.<\/p>\n

The PR industry has a diversity problem \u2013 what can agencies do to create diverse teams and support BAME colleagues into higher positions?<\/span><\/strong>
\nFirstly, I know that as a white male I\u2019m not necessarily the most appropriate spokesperson here, but it\u2019s abundantly clear that the industry has heaps more to do and we all have a part to play. Agencies have to stop reeling out platitudes and take meaningful action.<\/p>\n

One observation I would make is the need to move on from the obsession with media relations \u2013 for too long the industry has been run by people who honed their skills in a different age of communications, when journalists were wined and dined, and stories proudly cut out of the paper for your scrapbook. This has been reflected in the workforce \u2013 a PR industry of middle-class white people employed to engage middle-class white journalists.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re in a different media age now \u2013 our audiences are more diverse, and their touchpoints and media consumption more varied. In order to channel content more precisely and achieve success for clients, we need tailored insight, understanding and experience from a more diverse workforce, one that reflects the audience we need to engage. Teams that lack diversity will have incomplete strategies that will miss the mark.<\/p>\n

What do you love most about working in the PR industry, and would you recommend this as a career?<\/span><\/strong>
\nVariety. I\u2019m not the first and won\u2019t be the last to say it, but it\u2019s true. This job has taken me to places and given me experiences I\u2019d never have imagined.<\/p>\n

I recently chaperoned the PM and his team around a laboratory (at a 2m distance, of course). Throw in dockside warehouses with famous graffiti artists, the media centre at Gleneagles for The Ryder Cup, NHS secondments, grueling Council meetings and messaging workshops in the Middle East and it\u2019s a pretty eclectic and rewarding mix.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d absolutely recommend it \u2013 if you want the unexpected, get involved!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James McCollum has welcomed the challenges of working through lockdown in his recent appointment to director at Barley Communications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":131145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7365,7272,7326],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131143"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131158,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131143\/revisions\/131158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}