About Tapestry Communications

After over 25 years working in large organizations, Katherine Brennan Murphy decided to venture out on her own and, so, in 1999, she opened Tapestry Communications. Yes, the name was inspired by the Carole King song. Katherine says, “I see the suite of services that I offer as an interconnected, intricate tapestry whose theoretical foundations include technical communication, systems theory, human factors, and ethnography. Starting from these theoretical roots, I add in generous amounts of practical management experience, common sense, and flexibility.”

Whether working with a non-profit to produce a video (see It Starts Out Small), helping an organization resize the work in the face of growth or decline, or facilitating at a workshop, Tapestry Communications works with clients who share the following principles:

• We treat all individuals with respect—even when disagreeing or delivering difficult news.

• We build fear-free work environments, where we encourage risk (within well-understood boundaries) and understand that failure is one of the two normal outcomes of risk.

• We make commitments that are specific and, when needed, we renegotiate commitments as early as possible. For example, when responding to a request, we would say “I will complete a particular task by a particular date in a particular manner.”

• We accomplish tasks in a timely manner and we maintain constructive relationships. For example, we take the time to deliver difficult news in the most personal way possible—a live phone call, IRC channel, or face-to-face—rather than baldly dropping it into a voice mail or email.

• We help people understand their organization, its mission, and policies. From this accurate perspective, we then help facilitate the change process.

• We always consider the resources we have on hand before complaining about the resources we lack. We make a conscious effort to appreciate these resources.

• We make sure that humor has a place in our work life.

Using these principles, Katherine builds a sense of community within the organizations she touches. She searches for opportunities to join with others on projects where she can use her expertise in writing, editing, management, process design, human interface design, meeting facilitation, and workshop development and delivery. Her email address is katherine@tapestrycomm.com.