What about permission?

Note to reader: I left at 1pm as I had another engagement so I don’t know what happened in the second half. Do tell if you know.

At an event yesterday organised by The Alternative in deepest Soho I was annoyed to discover that the place had no wireless access and my 3G card didn’t work as we were in the basement. Avery nice basement but nonetheless reception was rubbish.

tribe - Projeto Salamandra

The event was entitled “The New Brand Tribalism” and not being able to pump up my pc to tweet and share with the world what was going on was incredibly annoying. My tribal behaviour towards this brand was no off to a good start.

Note to all event organisers, wireless is as much an essential these days as tea and coffee.

My initial thought before going to this event were that I wonder how much people like Seth Godin and a whole host of others would come up. Not once unless I fell asleep.  Seth has his critics and I’m no fan-boy but c’mon, give a word for those that came before.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I didn’t feel that there was anything “new” here. Lots of talk of being authentic but the also more on being controlling. To my mind that sounded like, try and look like you are authentic. Kind of the opposite of being authentic. I was expecting more about giving employees brand permission, about employees being involved in the decisions that matter to them, the stuff that makes me come to work.

There were some mentions of brand ambassadors but it felt like that some gimmick or other had to be run so as employees would then go and talk about it. Quick fixes fade quick too.

Actually one statement that stuck in my mind went something like, ” We can take the tribal behaviours and control and shape them for the business.” To me that sounds like they way you kill it.

Great chats though with a couple of gents, those were insightful conversations on what is really happening, success and failures, fear and desire.  Wish I also got to meet Joanne and Rach who also attended.

Left a bit, right a bit, up, up, just there..nice.

The other day I mentioned at the end of a rather long and tiresome bleat about social media and internal communications that one of IBM’s biggest assets in this area after our culture is the social computing guidelines.

what?

Now you can watch this video (link on the right of the page) that Global Social Media Comms Manager and Power Lunch botherer @adamclyde made about this very subject during his lunch break with our VP, Security Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer, Harriet Pearson (honestly don’t know if she is on Twitter).

If you are wondering what the music is, it’s an updated version of the IBM anthem, which we are all forced to sing and dance to when we get to the office.

Please note what we think differentiates IBM from our competitors, us, the IBMers, because that is how people experience the IBM brand.

And for that matter, your brand too.

Adam is available for birthday parties where tacos are served.

Connecting ourselves

Not written much here for a while, the odd link and video but this has been because I’ve been on holiday and also busy with a series of projects and activities at work that are just taking more and more time.

"Miles of files" drpritch

But I’m not neglecting my blogging entirely, in fact I’ve been blogging more internally as that is where, right now I need to focus.

I get a bit bored and confused when companies and especially Internal Comms folk start saying that they are using social media for Internal Communications.  To me it sounds like they have got the CEO to “write” a blog or get some “safe” employees to write. That misses the point. Sometimes though it means they have a “Facebook-like” system, which if they are really lucky turns out to be employee profiles, often several versions, none of which can be connected to any other applications running in the enterprise, hence making them nothing more than a time-sink.

I would hope Internal Comms is help employees to use social media to work better with each other.. not just utilise it as another “channel” which is fast rising on my list of Top ten twenty thirty most hated words or phrases – along with stakeholder.

How many have email clients, profiles, blogs, forums and micro-blogging integrated into an enterprise-wide platform for social media and a policy that encourages and enables employees to get stuck in (even if we do still have a fair few lagards)?

Even then it’s not the end of the story. Tools and policy are one thing (two I suppose) but a culture that is open, honest and trusting is needed to take advantage of those opportunities, not to mention motivated and questioning employees, part of which is grown out of the trust  that is displayed in behaviour by management (no one is perfect but things are relative) that means people take their responsibility as brand ambassadors seriously.  Quick note on brand ambassadors, your employees are whether you like it or not, for good or bad.. just try to make it good, eh? Get ‘em to make videos like KFC not Dominoes.

So back to what I was orginaly waffling on about which was a number of projects that I have been involved in. Working with a variety of people with different expectations and practices can get a bit perplexing at times, especially when you are sent 6mb after 6mb file. I’m by no means anti-email like some but I can see better ways of using it rather than being the default for all chat at work.

So I’ve been encouraging some people to get it on with Files on Lotus Connections (we have 2.5 deployed internally). This is made much easier by showing them the time and effort it saves, using other projects as examples.

I’m lucky enough to work with a bunch of people that are mostly pretty good at using things the right way (that is my way) instead of one tool for all jobs. Explaining how a file we were updating on an employee engagement package was being updated and handled between a bunch of us – then showing how Files kept the previous versions (so you don’t have to – as the advert says) went down a treat. Not only that but we could assign each person with certain level of access, and keep changing that level when we jolly well felt like it.

I could then bore you with the amount of time, (sending emails) money (sending emails to people with large attachments that never open them but leave them in their mail file, just in case) and more money (those attachments keep building up with each wave of emails) and confusion (because you all know which file is the right file – the one in Files) you save, but I won’t.

Don’t knock at the door, I’m out

What I have noticed more and more these days is how much time I spend in Lotus Connections rather than my email and how while I was away for a few days recently my status updates came in useful for people. I now not only leave an “out of office” message in Notes but in all my status points. This firstly cut down on un-required email as more people knew I was away before they sent me the damn thing. Secondly the updates that I had been posting related to things that I was working on, intranet pages, files, video etc.. links where people could find what they were looking for.. this useless track of information I had left behind which also included how wet I got on the way to work while cycling actually came in useful for some of the very people that say they don’t have time for such things.

To quote someone more sensible than me, “With social media, forget about the media and concentrate on the social.”

I’m afraid if I get the energy I’ll more rants coming your way too.. must be something to do with the clocks going back or something or my recent discovery and move to Ubuntu Linux. So I might also change my name to Karmic Karl in future.

It’s not just social media where it can go wrong

I was in the supermarket at lunch-time to get a few things as I’ve hardly been at home this week.

Make sure you send the right message (Image by bindermichi)

One of the assistants came up to me and asked me to read a label for her as she didn’t have her glasses. I imagine she was retired and working in the shop to get out the house. Good on her.

“Pork lunch meat,” I said.

Then she went on about the person that gave her the packet, “Why didn’t he just take it back to where he got it?”

I smiled and thought well it is your job and mumbled something, hmmm.

Then just as I thought she was going she swung back round and said, “Bloody foreigners.”

Racism is alive and well and living in your local supermarket.  I have to say I was quite shocked, almost felt like I was being punched. Why was  this woman, seemingly nice saying something like this to?  The fact that I’m white seemed to mean it was ok, so do lots of people come across this sort of thing?  I have never heard it at work and most of the time when I’m out at the weekend it is with the family.  So do people think this all the time?

Now she may have  thought it was ok to say that to me because I’m white and male but she is unlikely to know that my wife is one of those “bloody foreigners.” I’m not sure what she would make of our children.

My point

While all the attention has been on social media in business over the past 12 months or so, the risks, the danger of getting caught up in something, this just goes to show that it is the content with which employees interact with the public not the tools they use in that interaction.

Employers can block employees from Facebook but if they go and tell their friends that the management are useless, that message is still getting out – the issues still needs to be addressed – not the fact that the employees are saying these things to friends, but why do they think that management is useless.

Likewise if your employees are making racist remarks to customers you can expect someone to write about on their blog and tell their friends. The employer needs to make it clear that this sort of behavior will be dealt with.

I have no idea if this supermarket chain has a set of values and guidelines for it’s employees but it should start there. Then it wouldn’t need to worry about the tools it’s employees  use because it will be clear on what content is acceptable, no matter what.

UK Government in shock Twitter update

Little while ago I added a list of 10 reason why PR, Marketing and Comms people should be on twitter and the the Government come up with a rather good template strategy document for depts to use twitter themselves.

Not only is it useful but it is quite realistic about the criticism that one may expect when a dept sets up an account. One of my favorite parts is where it mentions that from time to time Twitter may not work and essentially says live with it, everyone else does.

This document is full of useful tips on how to measure effectiveness and use of the service and indeed how to set expectations.  Just as valid as anything written by a “social media guru” on this stuff. The only surprise is that it came from the Government.

The people who put this together have no future in politics.

You can read more about it on the Cabinet Office blog and follow Neil Williams (head of digital channel, BIS) on Twitter @neillyneil.

10 reasons why PR, Marketing and Comms people need to be on twitter

I’m not one for these lists usually – especially when it comes to twitter as there are so many – but this one is pretty good.  Also it isn’t telling you the way to get 10 gazillion followers.  Just plain, simple, good reasoning.

But you know what, apart from the bit about selling a story to journalists and bloggers, these are great reasons for anyone: (Full details)

1. Twitter is an influential medium

2. Meet clever people

3. Build your network

4. Keep up with trends

5. Pitch journalists

6. Pitch bloggers

7. Tactical execution

8.. Get info…fast!

9. Build your personal brand (and sphere of influence)

10. Have a laugh.

Just blocking Twitter doesn’t work

So another example of why every organisation needs clear social computing guidelines on how to USE this media. Simply stopping the access through computers just directs people to their iPhones or other mobile device.

A school teacher posting up to 38 post a day (not sure if I am supposed to be shocked by that statement but it’s what was on the web site) was talking about her pupils.

The BBC web site reports:

Argyll and Bute Council said it has a policy of blocking the use of social networking sites in all its schools.

It is thought the language teacher, who has not been named, may have accessed the site via her mobile phone.

You would think that the advertising billboards around most towns and cities telling you how just about every mobile phone service provider will get you on Facebook or Twitter for next to nothing or free would have been a hint.

What this really points to are problems in the school, disenfranchisement of students and staff with a situation that is not rewarding to either. The teacher needed to get something off her chest but didn’t have the policy that supported her.

With a policy that says you can only blog about professional topics of value Argyll & Bute seem to have a rather ridiculous policy. Especially for a school. What is professional and what is personal? It is hard enough to tell in industry but where you job is to handle the emotions of teenagers I doubt the divide could be even finer. Just saying someone can’t have their own blog is similar to saying you can’t have your own phone or email account.

The 21st century is here A&B, would you all please hurry up and join it.

SOA is forbidden, virtually

Something I’m looking forward to in a couple of weeks is the IBM Virtual Forbidden City event which takes place at the end of this month (April 28, 29).  Here ithe host of the eventIBM’s John Tolva to tell you more.

So what’s it all about?

• Discuss SOA with IBM’s leading architects and strategists
• See a real-life SOA case study in action and learn the business benefits
• Learn how to solve complex architectural challenges through SOA without disrupting your existing systems
• Network with your peers in a unique virtual, SOA-based environment

Each session will be about 40 mins long and if nothing else will be a great chance to meet up with similar minded people from all sorts of organisations and a few of us from IBM.

Back to work

I’ve been back a week but it feels longer.. just because so much was crammed into last week.

Started off with the usual email mountain but thankfully nearly all my 824 emails were notifications, only 20 or so were directly to me and of those 3 or 4 needed action.  The rest, as they say, happened and I’ll move on.

After day one it was a transformation meeting in the UK for our Marketing and Communications team.  Lots going on, not least I know work in Workforce and Field Enablement, rather than Internal Communications. Only one problem, explaining to everyone what that means!

End of the week I was asked to join the Managers Institute in London to talk about social media.  We have a good turn out for the Communications Clinic and some great insights – as well as some new contacts who I shall be seeing this week.  A lot of what I will be doing has probably already been shaped by what was talked about in our two sessions – the abundance of tools, the way to decide what to use and helping those not on the IBM network stay connected.

Friday was a time to get things back together and ponder what this week would bring. It was also a terrible day for the network, one of those once a year days where the things you want seem to be out of action. It allows you time to think and reflect on what you have already done. Something I think I probably need to do a little more of.

And with that I’ve decided to work a little less on the computer and take time to do other things. Spread my self a little thinker in the places I got most from last year. Getting some perspective on things will be important in the organisational changes we will see and part of that will probably mean getting out to see the conditions and situations people really find themselves in at work.

Isn’t it just about relationships

I’m sat here at 2am in a rather warm Taipei just after Chinese new year unable to sleep because I have a blocked nose and my youngest daughter is also feeling a bit rough.

by gfpeck (cc)

So while I was sat in the easy chair holding her as she slept I started thinking about what people had asked me about bringing her here for the first time. “Is it the first time that her grandparents have seen her?”

Well it is, sort of.  Of course they have seen pictures of her on flickr, Photobox, had video chats on Skype, seen me talk about her on Facebook. I can’t remember when we sent an email or picked up a normal phone to talk – so  they really knew her before she arrived in Taiwan. Of course we have also been able to see how her 4 cousins have grown – not forgetting our own eldest daughter who loves more than anyone to chat on Skype and debate the ways of the world with her grandma and show her what she is wearing. Talking of which my wife was using a site called Babyhome (in Chinese) to share pictures and a diary when she had our first – we know most of our friends in London through this site – well before Facebook was making news.

When I get back to England I have said I’ll do some panel thing at work with managers from around the business – and I’m being touted as a social media communications expert (I am fully aware of what an expert is and it all depends on who is in the room) – within communications I’m probably not doing too bad though. So I was thinking, what the hell am I going to say to these peoplen if I get asked a question, I keep meaning to come up with some line and appear to be organised but it never happens. I usually come up with it on the spot. I was also thinking about something that came up in my review about measuring what I do more or how others can measure it themselves (that is measuring the benefit of social media).

So first off, the way we live and where we live determine what techniques we use to keep in touch. They are not an alternative to seeing my in-laws, they are an addition.  We aren’t going to stop coming here every year because we have Skype or Facebook – which is often where business gets it wrong. They think this will replace a face-to-face. Someone said to me, “I don’t like social media, I prefer to see my friends in the flesh.” Well, duh! Only because you like watching DVDs, does that mean you can never go to the cinema? No.

Funny that someone as anti-social as me is into social media and it has actually made me more social as the number one benefit I get is being prepared for meeting someone I have never met before and can instantly start chatting about topics we both know we like or have in common. Meeting a stranger rarely happens these days. I know most of them before meeting and not just from a phone call.. that is usually the last method of communication.  At work I may see pictures on their Beehive or Facebook profile, chat on Twitter with them or read their blog. And you know what, meetings get going quicker and things get done faster because trust and familiarity  is already established.

I feel how I keep in touch with people outside work is no different from in work. And I don’t sit there once a month looking at stats on how well I’m doing with the in-laws, how many comments I got from friends on Facebook, the number of instant messages on MSN. So why would I do that at work?

To measure the way that you are doing a job is ridiculous. To measure what you produce or achieve isn’t.  Judge me on the overall results of my work not on how I get there. What social media “experts” are saying is that these are techniques that will help you individually, at home, at work and throughout your life. Families come together from different parts of the world, business is the same. Find what works and if you don’t think it is helping YOU.. then try something else.

You won’t need to measure it because you will know, you’ll be talking to yourself.

This was all so much clearer in my head when I was sat in the chair earlier with Zoe. So I still need to invent that machine which takes thoughts directly out of my head and puts them on a screen.. but when I do, that won’t stop me talking to people, it just might mean that this blog was much much shorter.