Coping after the corporate cut - survivors share tips.

Ok, it's old news that your company has downsized. In fact, the dust has settled so deep that you choke on it. You're busier than ever before.

You're surviving, but you want to thrive. You want some tips from the experts.

When Communication World asked me to put together a survival skills article for this special issue, I left messages for 11 people who had found themselves trying to thrive in one-person or small departments after major staff cutbacks. Six never called back, which probably says something about how they cope. Two left messages saying, in effect, they didn't want to talk about it. Three more, despite busy schedules, responded by E-mail. One was on the road in Malaysia, and two, I suspect, took time over the weekend to provide responses.

Below are edited responses to eight questions (didn't have time for 10, much less 20) from Allan Csiky, employee communication manager at Raytheon; Steven Forsyth, corporate communication director at Delta Airlines; and T. Craig Martin, international communication director at Boeing.

1 Do you turn to outsourcing? If so, what kinds of services do you use?

Csiky: I've been through a handful of downsizings at a couple of companies. While I was asked to move people out of the organization, the work they did never seemed to go away. Through the magic of accounting, it's sometimes feasible to bring the same people back as contractors to do the same work they were doing. I like the options outsourcing gives me. I can find people who are strong in specific areas who will do a better job than a staff generalist. I've used writers, photographers, and occasionally, designers from outside, as well as media trainers and meeting planners.

Forsyth: We have used more support from our public relations agency, but that has been strategic, more than backfilling for reduced staff. We also have used clerical part-time support to fill in for crunch needs, so our people don't feel they have to shoulder everything on top of their existing workloads. This has been a tremendous boost, because permanent secretaries can focus on higher priorities.

Martin: Boeing has used communication consultants outside the U.S. for nearly 40 years, and inside the U.S. for the past eight years. I suspect we've transferred some of the burden of dealing with the same (or greater) amount of work with fewer staff to them.

2 Do you rely more on help from other departments or functions within your company?

Csiky: Many larger companies have in-house service organizations that do communication. Generally, they're under-capital-ized, don't have the newest technology, and often are a haven for mediocre performers. I prefer to outsource from among the best and the brightest as opposed to the "civil servants."

Forsyth: There are no other departments that can help much with our key functions, but the company improved its video services management, freeing us from becoming involved in every video. These projects formerly fell into our court because video was an internal communication tool.

Martin: We've used more of the in-house writing capability than in the past.

3 How have your duties changed? Are you doing more, being more selective about what you do, just struggling to keep your head above water, or some combination of these?

Csiky: The manager's job has changed somewhat. I need to know more about vendor selection criteria and procurement procedures. Outsourcing does tend to make me more disciplined about defining work and requirements in terms contractors can understand. It's not like when there was staff around and you kept after something until you had it surrounded and finally got it right.

Forsyth: We are doing more, but we also are being more selective about what we commit to accomplish. We maintain an eye on higher priorities, with support for special projects, but we don't do everything for everyone anymore. Many departments are establishing communication positions as liaison between management and the front line, and they fill some needs formerly handled by corporate communication.

Martin: Mostly we're struggling to deal with increased responsibilities (good) with fewer staff (problematic).

4 Are expectations of you different now than they were before? Are your own expectations different?

Csiky: I've always had high expectations, most often higher than internal clients I support. If I'm careful and pay attention to the right things early, my expectations are more often exceeded by work that was outsourced than that which was produced in-house.

Forsyth: Changes in expectations are subtle, but we have evolved into a much more strategic department. People are beginning to understand that we don't just communicate; we stimulate others to communicate, we promote corporate goals and we strive to change behavior to benefit the company. We've always said it, but now more people believe it.

Martin: We're expecting more from ourselves, and our management is, too, on the basis both of our performance and an increasingly complex and competitive world.

5 Are you more of a strategist, or more of a technician, or both?

Csiky: I'm definitely a strategist. I've done most of the hands-on work in communication at one time or another. I'm more effective as the person who translates the big idea into tangible work for specialists. I can work on one project alone, or I can manage a dozen with the right resources. Most companies would rather pay someone to manage the dozen.

Forsyth: We are more strategic now, but so is the entire company. We have a new planning process, and people speak the language of strategy. We have strategic roles such as explaining the value of stock options to all employees, and we communicate successes to balance the bad news people remember from re-engineering. We were the motivating force behind a company-wide leadership conference that will deliver several key messages, many built around the essential role of communication. There is a great demand for technicians, as well, particularly for writing skills that are in short supply. Speeches, columns, cover letters, and other requests come to us frequently. But we're also included earlier in planning meetings that involve changes in our product, innovations in our business, etc.

Martin: My job principally involves strategy, planning and bureaucracy. But I still have a lot of fun doing the work. I'm responsible for our advertising and public relations work outside the U.S., but the day-to-day work is done by a staff of seven and our network of 30 public relations consultants and the agency.

6 Are you actively seeking alliances with other departments or functions? If so, what's working for you and what's not?

Csiky: The only way communication can work effectively today is to work as a partner with other parts of the organization. Strategic communication involves integrating good communication practices into all parts of an organization. The "product" side - the words and pictures - can be outsourced. The "process" side needs to be worked by an embedded stakeholder, someone who knows the culture and has developed trust and relationships.

Forsyth: We recognize the need for alliances with safety, benefits, training and personnel departments, to fold their goals in with what communication can help deliver. We have added significantly to the impact of a company-wide reward and recognition program run by personnel, so we have a strong bridge there. Other divisions seek or accept our involvement on major tasks identified for each of their areas. This is a trend we encourage, and hope we have the staff to support effectively. It's an area where we can be internal consultants, and take pride in results.

Martin: We work closely with marketing and sales. In the case of marketing, our organizations report to the same vice president, and that vice president reports to the executive vice president overseeing sales. But I'm not sure these relationships constitute "alliances."

7 If you are not in a policy-making or -advising role, are you closer to or more removed from top-level decision makers than you were before the downsizing?

Csiky: My boss has reported to the CEO in my last two jobs.

Forsyth: Our department is involved in policy-making or advising, primarily through our senior vice president, and we have been closely involved with top management during and after re-engineering.

8 What other lessons might you share to make the most of being a leaner organization?

Csiky: Being lean can make you efficient. Some years ago I had a job with no staff and I was responsible for employee communication, media relations, and community relations for a bil-lion-dollar business. I discovered it's better to have a single message for all audiences than to try to manage conflicting messages among different audiences. I developed our message set, made employees the first priority, and distributed the internal communication to the media. It worked like a charm. So I simplified my life and got my message out efficiently and credibly. I still look for the same opportunities.

Forsyth: Being leaner begins with determining core needs, and not fighting for everything the way you used to. Seek alternative ways to get work done, or cut it entirely. Formal reviews help determine what's worth keeping - put it on paper. Bad news and good news must be communicated internally first, if possible. Both require timeliness and candor, and if you're successful, credibility will follow. Surveying employees is effective, although not in the heat of downsizing. It gives you facts and measurable trends to back up plans and programs. Don't criticize the past, because it forces people to become defensive. And what they did then may have been right for the times. Finally, help teach people that circumstances outside the company dictate re-engineering: economics, customer preferences, competitiveness and financial pressure (Wall Street). When people accept that, they can move on with the company.

Martin: There's not much good to say about downsizing, although, if you're lucky, the organization collapses around its most capable members. But stress is uniformly high, and the slightest problems seem to have an exaggerated impact on morale. We are taking advantage of the industry upturn to begin to rebuild our organization on what I believe is a stronger foundation than we had pre-downsizing. But I'm not sure the benefits measure up to the costs of the past few years.

Tom Geddie, ABC, is an employee communication consultant based in Dallas, Texas. He thanks Csiky, Forsyth and Martin for their prompt E.mail responses. Geddie may be reached at [e-mail].