About Us
Joe Williams Communications, Inc.
When people ask me what we do, I tend to say that we’re a management consulting firm. But we’re really much more than that.
We focus on three areas: research, training and strategic planning.
There are larger firms that do this as well. And they are located in major metropolitan cities.
Instead, we’re headquartered in the community of Bartlesville, Oklahoma–some 45 miles north of Tulsa, central to the U.S. and home of Frank Lloyd Wright’s only skyscraper and to major operations of Phillips Petroleum.
Why Bartlesville? We’ve lived and worked in other states, such as Arlington, VA and Rome, Italy. But we’re Oklahoman’s by birth and by choice. My grandchildren are fifth generation Oklahomans. Our roots run deep here. We are part of this land and it is part of us.
So why do leading companies across the globe select us to work with them?
For starters, it’s because we have something that larger firms do not have–to our knowledge, we are the only ones able to offer the following:
1. We innovated ComLINK, a state-of-the-art predictive research analysis process that for the first time links communication to the bottom-line.
2. We developed Face2Face, the first training program to give managers research-proven tools–not more useless theory– for improving their own communication with others.
3. We were the first to teach strategic communication thinking and planning through our innovative Dialogue in the Desert Workshop, now in its 30th year.
And we like to believe that we give outstanding quality to our clients. When you come to us, you get us, not junior-level assistants. You get our combined 50 years of experience. And we pride ourselves on giving great customer service. When you call, you get a human voice. We return calls and emails promptly. You never have to wonder where things stand with us or with your work.
We work with clients ranging from McGraw-Hill, to General Dynamics, from Chevron to the Bank of Butterfield in Bermuda, and
from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
In Canada we have worked with Enbridge, TELUS, Farm Credit, the College of Physcians and Surgeons of Alberta, Bell Canada, Cirque Du Soleil, Nortel and others.
And our work has taken us to Australia, South Africa, and Europe. Being centrally located has its advantages.
Joe Williams
Joe is recognized as one of the leading thinkers, practitioners and teachers in organizational communication. His style is engaging, interactive and participative. He has won more than 100 national awards, including 12 Gold Quills from the International Association of Business Communicators–and an unprecedented four in one year and three in a row for communication planning. The Ragan Report once named him one of the top five communication innovators in the country.
Joe started Joe Williams Communications, Inc. in 1985 to provide clients with tailored research, strategic planning and training services.
His company’s clients include leading international firms such as General Dynamics, McGraw-Hill, Chevron, MTS Allstream (Winnipeg), Public Service New Hampshire, Northeast Utilities, FirstEnergy, National City, The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Intuit, Butterfield Bank (Bermuda), Sabre Holdings, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and Enbridge (Toronto), among others.
Joe has led strategic planning workshops for companies like MasterCard International, General Dynamics, The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Australia), the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Sydney, the government of the Republic of South Africa, and nonprofit arts organizations. Before forming Joe Williams Communications, Inc. he was with TRW for 10 years as manager of corporate communications where he pioneered the use of strategic communications planning and research methods in organizational communications. Prior to that, he was with Star Manufacturing Co. and earlier served on the editorial staff of the Daily American newspaper in Rome, Italy.
Since 1985, some 2,000 managers have come to the Sonoran desert of Arizona where Joe shares his innovative tools and techniques for thinking, planning and leadership in his flagship workshop, “Dialogue in the Desert.” The Workshop continues to this day, making it the first and longest running strategic communications planning workshop in the world.
Joe has given presentations to organizations across the U.S. and Canada on strategic planning and management communication. He developed the first learning program devoted solely to giving managers research-based tools to improve their Face2Face Communication with employees as they go through change management and employee engagement. Today more than 6,000 managers and leaders are using the tools from this one-of-a-kind program.
His company is headquartered in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, which is home to major operations of ConocoPhillips and Frank Lloyd Wright’s only skyscraper, the Price Tower, which he views daily from his office window. Joe is on the Board of Directors of Jim Walton’s Arvest Bank and has been a Big Brother in the Big Brothers program. He has served on the Board of Directors of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma State University, the Board of Directors of the Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA, Boys Club and was the President of the Washington County United Fund. He is the recipient of the Allied Arts and Humanities Council award for civic and humanitarian service and was awarded the Mayor’s Award as the outstanding citizen of Bartlesville. He is on the Advisory Board of the School of Journalism and Broadcasting at Oklahoma State University.
Joe holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and advertising management and a master’s degree in mass communications research from Oklahoma State University, where he was a Paul Miller Scholar and was named the outstanding graduate student in the School of Journalism and Broadcasting. In the late 1960s, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army (Armor).
John Williams
When his schedule permits, you’ll also benefit from the involvement of John Williams, president of our firm. John is responsible for our company’s research practice, including employee communication audits, reader surveys, customer surveys, and community issues/image surveys. He also consults in strategic planning and change management.
John designed and developed our company’s extensive research database of over 80 companies, now representing some 500,000 employees worldwide.
He developed our innovative ComLINK research analysis process that uses structural equation modeling to calculate the quantitative impact of communication on organizational performance.
In addition, he helped pioneer our company’s innovative Comparative Research Studies process, which benchmarks a company’s internal communication with those of others in the same industry.
John also has been involved in designing our Face2Face communication learning program, including our exclusive ComDEX evaluation survey that measures a managers’ Face2Face communication skills. He has also participated in the Bradford Woods (Indiana) experiential learning train-the-trainer program.
Equally comfortable with both words and numbers, John brings our clients a strong business approach to communications, ensuring that their research is focused and targeted to specific objectives and that their reports are clear and understandable, with appropriate business-based recommendations.
For five years (1990-1995) John was with the Cadmus Group, an environmental consulting firm in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was responsible for research, consulting and project management.
John holds a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University (1990) and an MBA from Indiana University (1997), where he graduated with honors (Beta Gamma Sigma). John’s MBA curriculum focused on strategic management, change management and finance.
He holds a Gold Quill from the International Association of Business Communicators for his innovative research applications and has served as a judge for several award programs. He was named the outstanding communicator from the Tulsa Chapter of IABC. He has authored articles and gives talks to many organizations about the use of research in strategic planning.
