The Change Communication Playbook was developed by the CIPR Inside Committee and written by Ann-Marie Blake Chart.PR, FCIPR, co-founder of change and internal communications consultancy True. It is a practical member resource for practitioners who are new to change communication or reviewing their existing approach. It takes readers from first planning through to the weeks after launch, when managers face questions and new habits need reinforcing.

The playbook covers:

• Understanding change: how the brain responds to uncertainty, people-centred change, listening and dialogue, and managing rumour and speculation.
• Planning and delivery: an eight-step change communication plan, the core characteristics behind a strong change narrative, and how to time and sequence sensitive announcements.
• Change models: the Kübler-Ross Change Curve, Prosci’s ADKAR model, Hilary Scarlett’s SPACES model and David Rock’s SCARF model, with the limits of each and how to apply them to communications.
• Working with programme teams: how project management offices and governance structures operate.

It also includes a glossary of common change management terms and scenario cards on a restructure, an office move and a new IT platform. Each card sets out the checks and actions communicators should consider, and teams can use the cards for discussion or planning exercises.

Alongside the playbook, the CIPR has published a change communication skills guide that is open to everyone. It gives an overview of the knowledge and approaches practitioners need to communicate change and put people at the heart of the process. The guide covers why change communication matters, how to plan it, how to communicate through uncertainty and how to measure whether communication is helping a change succeed. Members can then turn to the playbook, which explores these topics in more depth and adds further tools and practical guidance.

• Read the Change Communication skills guide
• Download the Change Communication Playbook (CIPR members only)
• Find out more about CIPR Inside

Internal Crisis Communication – exclusive to CIPR members - was developed by crisis communication specialist Alison Arnot Chart.PR FCIPR, and provides practical guidance for communicating with employees, contractors, and other internal stakeholders before, during and after a crisis. The guide emphasises the essential role of informed, engaged and supported employees in preventing harm and enabling organisational recovery post-crisis.

It also explores the seven stages of Internal Crisis Communication, a staged model that helps communicators meet evolving human and organisational needs from the first moments of crisis through to long-term recovery. It offers clear advice on message development, choosing the right channels, involving multiple organisational voices, and monitoring and adapting communications as crises unfold.

• Download the Internal Crisis Communication Skills Guide
• Log 5 CPD points for reading the guide

A capability framework informs practitioners about the skills they need at different stages of their career. The CIPR's capability framework combines insights from two sources:

• The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management's Global Body of Knowledge, an extensive global study of PR skills and;
• skills identified by CIPR members as a core competency in the CIPR State of the Profession survey.

The refreshed guides, available exclusively to members on the CIPR Skills Hub, have been recategorised by 'Core Skills'. By reading the Skills Guides in Core Skills section as part of their Continuing Professional Development, CIPR members will know they are building up knowledge of all the core abilities required of a rounded PR practitioner.

Written by expert practitioners, CIPR Skills Guides are around 6-8 pages in length and take around 30 minutes to read. They are designed to provide a practical introduction to different areas of PR practice. They also include links to training courses and further information for those who want a deeper knowledge of the subject.  

The following skills guides have been republished after they were reviewed and updated by a committee of volunteers: 

• Code of Conduct 
• Facebook for PR practitioners
• Online video
• Social storytelling
• Tips for writers
• Understanding broadcast and digital terminology
• Writing comment articles
• Writing for online audiences
• Writing great speeches 
• Writing press releases

The updates form part of a broader review of the CIPR's guidance for members led by Steve Shepperson-Smith Chart.PR, FCIPR. 

Members signed up to the Institute's CPD scheme can claim 5 points for each skills guide. The 2017/18 CPD deadline is Wednesday 28 February.