Many executives are already wary of the news media. New "bait-and-switch" media are not making it any easier on the true journalists.

The following are three recent bait-and-switch examples from Atkinson clients:

• U.S. Business Review agrees to write a profile of a CEO but asks for the names of 20 to 30 of the company's vendors who may want to advertise in the issue with the profile.
• Business To Business interests a CEO in a nice profile in its magazine but only if that company advertises in the publication.
• An online business publication agrees to write a profile of a CEO and then sends an order form to purchase reprints of the article (usually quantities of 500 or more).

Proactive media relations is often about quid pro quo: you provide a reporter interesting material for a story, and the reporter provides your company valuable exposure and third-party endorsement. Credible, professional media separate the reporter's work (the story) from the business (the advertising) of the publication.

Bait-and-switch media make no effort to separate the two. For them, stories are simply a means to generate ad revenue -- often by suggesting purchasing something will result in positive coverage.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) study revealed some interesting information about the average workday. The study found that, on a normal day, employees spend:

• 21 percent of their time on personal issues
• 19 percent of their time socializing with coworkers and gossiping
• 60 percent of their time on productive work

Change is vital to every organization, but it can have significant impact on productivity. During periods of significant change, the same BLS study found employees will spend:

• 23 percent of their time on retraining
• 21 percent of their time on personal issues
• 40 percent of their time socializing and gossiping
• 16 percent of their time on productive work

The bottom line: productive work drops nearly 75 percent in times of significant change. At the same time, socializing with others and (most likely) gossiping about the change increase more than 100 percent.

Strong internal communications will do two important things during periods of significant change. First, it will reduce the amount of time employees spend gossiping and starting rumors about all of the bad things they think already happened (even when they didn't) and what they fear will happen next. It's unfortunate that, given a void in communications, employees will often fill that void with the most negative news they can.

Second, strong internal communications helps to speed the change process so the company can return to a stable environment where productive work is the norm rather than the exception.

The most effective internal communications have several elements in common:

• Executives are open and honest about the change and the impact on the organization.
• Employees learn important news directly from their supervisors in a timely manner -- regardless of their position in the organization.
• Everyone knows that questions are encouraged and that suggestions for improvement will be taken seriously by the organization's leadership.

Next time you have to go to a boring meeting, try playing a little game of Business Buzzword Bingo to keep your mind on the meeting.

To play, recruit up to four friends who will be in the meeting. Give each player a separate buzzword bingo card (see below) to mark when they hear certain buzzwords or phrases during the meeting. If the player marks four words in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally), the player must stand up in the middle of the meeting and shout "BUSINESS BUZZWORD BINGO!"

Each Business Buzzword Bingo card features the following sixteen words or phrases in different combinations: leverage, synergy, empowerment, win-win, paradigm, leading, world-class, thought leader, best practices, at the end of the day, core business, thousand foot view, interface, window of opportunity, strategic fit and out of the box.

Click here to download five different Buzzword Bingo cards.

Click here for a complete copy of the 2004 Spin Report.

Ceogo.com brings together many things CEO. The authors have culled numerous articles, speeches, quotes, and surveys related to being a CEO or working with CEOs.

Animals Inc. by Vandana Allman and Kenneth Tucker

Animals Inc. is the third book for Allman and Tucker, both of whom work for The Gallup Organization. In the same way that Gary Larson's Far Side used animals to poke fun at humans, Allman and Tucker use farm animals to poke fun at and illustrate some of the problems with common management practices.

When Farmer Goode decides to retire from his farm, the animals vote to run the farm themselves. The animals choose the senior most animal, a pig, to be the farm's new CEO. The pig immediately immerses himself in business strategy books and works on the farm's new business plan, which all animals hold in great reverence even though they have no idea what a business plan is.

The animals conduct extensive animal opinion surveys to determine the mood of the farm and develop a new five-point vision statement that is scrawled on the side of the barn for all to see. Animals are required to type daily reports -- which proves quite difficult for the horse -- about their activities so that best practices can be shared among all of the animals.

Animals Inc. is as poignant as it is humorous. It is the ideal book to jumpstart a conversation at a company book club or management retreat.