Include mobile in your internal comms strategy

May 20, 2013 at 8:47 am | Posted in oracle, plan, rss, training | 1 Comment

To coincide with my last post ‘Why you need a mobile strategy‘ in my current series on the mobile workspace, I was interviewed by the Journal of Internal Communication for an article about the potential of mobile devices when developing internal communications strategies.  I gave my views on the importance of people using mobile devices to be communicated with and to communicate and collaborate with other people while away from their normal place of work.

People have always been outside of the office space however, mobile technology now enables you to get messages out to them quickly – something that wasn’t possible in the past.  This doesn’t only affect remote workers or employees who travel a lot: work is increasingly shifting towards mobile devices.

The traditional situation where employees were using a desktop and ‘consuming’ communications during specific hours of the day is over.  Increasingly, they will want to share things anytime, anywhere, and to be updated instantaneously.  So there’s a whole new audience out there that internal communicators need to get to know.

You can read ‘The benefits of incorporating mobile devices into your strategy’ in full for free here.

From my time working in BT and with clients such as Centrica, internal communicators sometimes feel left behind or threatened by it.  Actually I believe it is the opposite!  This is a great opportunity for internal communicators to take a more strategic, value-add, position and plan how to take full advantage of the benefits this new way of working technology is offering.

If you want more information or advice please get in touch.

Why you need a mobile strategy

May 13, 2013 at 9:20 am | Posted in digital workplace, governance, intranet, research, strategy | 5 Comments
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In my last post ‘Letting the mobile genie out of the bottle‘ I said mobile is one of the key drivers for the transformation of intranets into digital workplaces which could become mobile workplaces but progress is patchy.  I asked how do you manage this so it benefits your organisation and people while managing the risks of bring your own device (BYOD), intellect property, consuming and contributing content, and using apps that are available anywhere, anytime?

It is no surprise if I say a mobile strategy to set you in the right direction is a good start to make.  Setting the right direction for your organisation with mobile is critical.  To do that you need to know why is your organisation considering mobile access to your intranet.  You need to develop a strategy aligned to your overall business strategy and other strategies that may conflict, support, or overlap with your mobile strategy e.g. IT, Communications, Security.

Your mobile strategy will need to show how it will help to improve the performance.  You need to first research how productivity can increase with people more mobile.  You need to find out which content and apps are most needed while people are mobile.  Ask people what tasks need doing most or have the biggest impact if done with a mobile device.

Without a mobile strategy, with clear priorities shown, there is little chance of creating a successful business case that can help people and your organisation.  But who should be responsible for sponsoring the implementation of your mobile strategy?

You need to find a senior manager who will champion this or, better still, a group of senior managers from across your organisation.  Consider who will have the biggest influence on your mobile strategy.  Check out who will be most affected by your strategy.  Lastly, who has the biggest interest in a mobile strategy being adopted.

Involve these people and any people they nominate in developing your strategy and working out the best way to get your organisation to adopt.

When you have achieved this you will need governance so your mobile strategy sets out and continues in the right direction.  More on this in a future post.

Letting the mobile genie out of the bottle

May 7, 2013 at 7:46 am | Posted in digital workplace, governance, intranet, mobile, strategy | 3 Comments
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Mobile is now one of the key drivers for the transformation of intranets into digital workplaces which could become mobile workplaces.  Progress is rapid but patchy.  Why is that?

I believe many organisations want to move towards greater mobile access to content, collaborative tools, and apps, but it is fear of the unknown which prevents them doing this.  Part of that fear is about letting the genie out of the bottle.

While there are some surprising examples of organisations like Yahoo! and Google reacting negatively (in my view) to this trend, many are starting to test the waters by putting a (mobile) toe in and finding it a warm and pleasant experience.  They are not getting out of their depth either by planning what to try out first, how it fits with the wider picture, and understanding the benefits.

How do you manage this so it benefits your organisation and people while managing the risks of bring your own device (BYOD), intellect property, consuming and contributing content, and using apps that are available anywhere, anytime?

It is no surprise if I say a mobile strategy and governance helps to achieve this.  Setting the right direction for your organisation with mobile which is supported by the right framework is vital.

Over the next few posts I will shed some light on how to manage mobile devices once people can use access their online environment.  What will help you most?  Let me know please…….

Join me at Intranätverk for an engaging, fun, and participating conference

April 23, 2013 at 8:05 am | Posted in digital workplace, governance, intranet, mark morrell ltd | 1 Comment
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It is less than one month to the start of the intranet conference, Intranätverk.  For three days, starting from 21 May, my good friend Kristian Norling will be hosting the biggest gathering of intranet professionals ever in Gothenburg.

Kristian says “The conference is arranged because there is a need to network, listen, learn and share knowledge amongst us intranet professionals. There is also a lack of really good intranet related conferences in Sweden. To my knowledge there has been no intranet related conferences arranged in Gothenburg or West Sweden for the last few years, if ever?

We strive for a balanced list of speakers. The goal is for it to be split equally between: women and men, practitioners and consultants, young and old, large and small organizations, private and public sectors and both multinational and Swedish organizations.”

Kristian has been working with intranets since 2001 and over the years he has experienced and participated in a lot of great conferences. He will use this knowledge and experience to help to make Intranätverk a great conference with a difference that shouldn’t be missed.

I will have the privilege to:

  • participate as a delegate listening to other great speakers on subjects including intranets, mobile, and SharePoint 2013
  • present on the benefits of a digital workplace
  • help delegates with a governance workshop

I am sure Intranätverk will be a great conference.  Why don’t you join us to help make sure it is?

4 ways and 3 benefits using a wiki to develop policies

April 15, 2013 at 9:04 am | Posted in collaboration, community, engagement, intranet, social media, wiki | 5 Comments
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An organisation’s purpose involves how to manage how their people behave by encouraging, sometimes even mandating, how work tasks need to be carried out and by whom.  In my last post I asked ‘Why not use a wiki to develop policies?’.  How would using a wiki to develop work in practice?  Here are four ways to consider:

  1. You need to have the right culture which will encourage people to contribute and feel comfortable challenging what exists and being constructively critical.
  2. You need ground rules, or terms and conditions, or guidelines which set out clearly what the expected level of behaviour is for anyone using the wiki.
  3. Make sure the wiki is easy to create and edit as well as to read.  Anyone who has used Wikipedia will know it is a very different experience if you want to create/edit an article compared with reading it!
  4. I recommend the person responsible for the policy adds a draft – something which makes sense but its structure and content is loose enough to encourage people to edit – and asks anyone interested to contribute.  It is much easier to comment upon what exists than to start with a blank screen.

It is best to start with a policy that affects most or all people working in the organisation.  Choosing a Human Resources policy best fits that aim.  A policy on employee’s terms and conditions; holiday – how much and when it is taken; flexible working hours – shift patterns; and grading and pay rates.  All of these are policies people will have a view on what they believe is appropriate and will help build up a policy that is accepted by most other people.

Why should your organisation take such a risk?

My answer is “Why not?”  I believe there is very little to be risked if you pick your first policy to be one that has widespread interest and is not seen as being contentious.

One way to encourage stronger engagement with people within your organisation is to ask for their views and listen and act upon them.  Giving people the opportunity to shape a policy which affects them means there is a stronger chance of buy-in to the final version and the impact it has.

When organisations treat their people as adults with a chance to express a view you will generally find it is taken seriously and the outcome is very good.  This applies to blogging, micro blogging, feedback, and discussions that are moderated by the members of the group.

Here are three benefits to consider:

  1. It is probable that a better thought through policy will be developed that takes account of many more concerns and points than an expert or small project team could expect to include.
  2. It is likely to be completed in less time with less effort.  And if it doesn’t work an organisation should be honest and explain why e.g. too few comments, too negative, and pledge to learn from the experience.
  3. Less time, effort, and costs will be spent policing the policy in future if everyone has had the opportunity to influence its development.

So, go on, why not use a wiki to develop a policy in your organisation?

Why not use a wiki to develop policies?

April 10, 2013 at 8:24 am | Posted in collaboration, communication, community, engagement, publishing, social media | 4 Comments
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Ever since organisations have existed there has been a need to manage how their people behave by encouraging, sometimes even mandating, how work tasks need to be carried out and by whom.

There can be various reasons for policies: business, regulatory, and legal are the most common.  The way that policies are created, updated, and developed has changed very little in my experience working in or with organisations.  There will normally be an owner, champion, or stakeholder who will have overall responsibility for creating and managing the policy throughout its life cycle.

When a policy is created or needs to be reviewed it will normally be the owner who will start some form of a consultation exercise.  This may simply be an email to a few people across the organisation who are most affected by or can influence the policy asking if there are any changes they need to be made existing policies or what needs to be included to new policies.

It may involve a more robust approach being taken:

  • maybe a focus group
  • a request to a wider audience who have an interest in the area of the policy
  • or a project team who work through the detail and check back with their business function or stakeholder for guidance on the progress being made.

The variety of approaches used by organisations when creating new policies or reviewing and updating existing policies hasn’t changed much in recent years.

But the ways that organisations can now engage their people to create or update policies are changing.  There are new approaches being used which help encourage people to be more involved in what their organisation’s purpose, aims, values, and culture – amongst many others – should be.

Adapting social media tools used successfully on the internet include:

  • people using blogs to give their views and opinions
  • feedback any questions to news articles
  • share information through discussion groups about a wide range of work related activities.

I believe a corporate wiki that any person in the organisation can use is a great way to create a new policy or to update an existing policy.  It gives the chance for any person with an interest in the policy – maybe they are affected by it and want to improve it – to give their views.

Have you tried this in your organisation?

Digital workplace environment benefits examples

April 2, 2013 at 8:10 am | Posted in benefit, best practice, digital workplace, research, value | 2 Comments
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This is the last in my series of posts showing examples of the savings organisations have made by shifting work to a digital workplace and new ways of working. It draws on my previous posts on how you need to plan your strategy, governance, and management of content, tools, and services for a digital workplace.  This is essential to transform your intranet into a digital workplace.  My previous posts in this series have covered productivity savings, reduced absenteeism, reduced staff turnover, and property costs savings.

I will be using examples from the Digital Workplace Group‘s report ‘What is the financial value of investing in digital working?‘ that show what organisations taking the right approach can achieve.  This example covers how changing to new ways of working can improve your organisation’s green reputation and have a good impact on the environment.

How to reduce the environmental impact

Governments, organisations, and people are realising more what their impact on the environment can be.  More importantly there are options we can take which can reduce the impact we have by changing our behaviour to work.  Simply we can now bring our work to us more rather than have to travel to it.  So, as well as striking a better work/life balance we can also reduce our impact on the environment by:

  • not commuting to work
  • video and conference calls with other people instead of every meeting being face to face
  • less office space to be heated and lit
  • when travelling is necessary, doing it outside of peak commuting hours if possible
  • using collaboration tools that replicate what used to happen when people were in physical workplaces

What organisations can achieve

  • Reducing environmental impact is a key factor of an organisation’s Corporate and Social Responsibilities commitments.
  • If US employees with compatible jobs and a desire to work from home did so half the time, it is estimated the nation could cut its Persian Gulf imports by 47%. The greenhouse gas impact would be equivalent to taking the entire New York State workforce off the road. (Wow!)
  • Reducing an organisation’s liability to environmental taxes and penalties by changing behaviour.
  • Significant savings can be achieved through reduction in business travel. For example: Ernst & Young (£2.5m a year) and Cisco ($10.3m a year).
  • Digital workplace technology has the potential significantly to reduce the negative environmental impact of organisations.

Examples

  1. During 2010, consolidation enabled Hewlett Packard to close 16 data centres and 447 computer labs and reduce floor space by around 12,000 square metres, while maintaining HP’s presence in all the world’s major regions and their ability to support customers worldwide. In turn, HP estimates that this consolidation avoided 260,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2) emissions.
  2. Through its award winning flexible working programme, in 2009/10 Ernst & Young avoided 6.8m air miles from using video-conferencing facilities. And in 2010/11, it achieved a 24% reduction in distance travelled by road per head, and a 15% reduction in CO2 emissions per head, compared with 2006/07. It also achieved a 5% reduction in distance travelled by rail and CO2e emissions per head in 2010/11 compared with 2006/07. Its flexible working strategy has been supported by a £650,000 initial investment while the potential annual direct cost savings from business travel avoidance is £2.5m.
  3. In its 2010 CSR report, Cisco makes an explicit link between using collaboration solutions internally (principally WebEx and telepresence) to host a staggering 19.3m hours of virtual meetings. This represents an annual saving of 47,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year and a general reduction of 12% of Cisco’s output in greenhouse gases since 2007.
  4. Capgemini’s carbon emissions have fallen by 12.6% since 2008 as a result of its TravelWell programme, which included providing technology alternatives to non-essential travel. It has also achieved WWF UK’s ‘One in Five Challenge’ (reducing business flights by 20% in five years). A founder sponsor of the challenge, Capgemini achieved this in the first year, reducing flights by 4,508.

I hope these posts have made you pause and think about how you can help your own organisation.  You can contact me if you want more help.

There are more examples and details in ‘What is the financial value of investing in digital working.

Big property savings examples in digital workplace

March 25, 2013 at 8:17 am | Posted in benefit, best practice, digital workplace, mobile, research, strategy, value | 3 Comments
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This is the fourth in my series of posts showing examples of the savings organisations have made by shifting work to a digital workplace.  It draws on my previous posts on how you need to plan your strategy, governance, and management of content, tools, and services for a digital workplace.  This is essential to transform your intranet into a digital workplace.  The previous posts covered productivity savings, reduced absenteeism, and lower staff turnover.

I will be using examples from the Digital Workplace Group‘s report ‘What is the financial value of investing in digital working?‘ that show what organisations taking the right approach can achieve.  This example covers how less, better utilised, physical workspace can save large amounts of money and impact on your organisation’s financial bottom line.

How to make the savings

  • Transform the physical workplace into a digital workplace where employees can take advantage of its benefits.
  • Dedicated versus flexible workspace – do you need the same workspace every working day?
  • Reduce the number of buildings you need if more people are working at home or away from their dedicated workspace more often.
  • Increase occupancy rates by matching the workspace to the people who actually use it rather than have empty desks while people are working elsewhere.
  • Lower your costs by accurately forecasting your physical workspace needs based on trends in digital working.

What can be achieved

  • Traditional offices are expensive, inefficient, inflexible, and difficult to scale (particularly down).
  • About 60% of a company’s desks are vacant at any time.
  • The average business could save $2,500 to $5,000 a year in property and related costs for each half time teleworker.
  • Savings from real estate reduction through new ways of working programmes are making the headlines globally: Cisco ($1.1bn), BT (£60m), Deloitte ($30m),
    IBM ($450m), US Patent & Trademark Office ($19.8m), GlaxoSmithKline ($50m) and more.
  • Investment in the digital workplace is a prerequisite for enabling employees to work effectively while reducing office space.

Examples

  1. BT’s Agile Worker programme saves approximately £6,000 a year for every full-time homeworker at BT. In 2009, with 10,168 homeworker par ticipants, BT saved approximately £60m, largely based on reduced estate costs.
  2. On any given day, more than 115,000 IBM employees around the world work in a non-IBM office. 40% of the IBM workforce operates without a dedicated office space. The employee/desk ratio is currently 4:1, with plans to increase the ratio to 8:1 in field locations. IBM calculates that it saves $450m a year in reduced facility infrastructure and associated initiatives through agile working.
  3. By transforming its sales team from office based to mobile, YELL reduced its property costs by £1.5m ($2.5m) a year and drove efficiency through reduced downtime.
  4. Through its Global Workplace Initiative, HP has increased its office space utilisation from an average of less than 40% to nearly 80% in just three years. The ratio of employees to desks ranges from 2:1 to 20:1 and varies by job, location, and other factors.

There are more examples and details in ‘What is the financial value of investing in digital working.  My next post will cover the environmental benefits.

Reduced staff turnover savings in a digital workplace

March 20, 2013 at 9:42 am | Posted in benefit, best practice, collaboration, digital workplace, engagement, intranet, research, social media, value | 4 Comments
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This is the third in my series of posts showing examples of the savings organisations have made by shifting work to a digital workplace.  It draws on my previous posts on how you need to plan your strategy, governance, and management of content, tools, and services for a digital workplace.  This is essential to transform your intranet into a digital workplace.  The previous posts covered productivity savings and reduced absenteeism.

I will be using examples from the Digital Workplace Group‘s report ‘What is the financial value of investing in digital working?‘ that show what organisations taking the right approach can achieve.  This example covers how reduced staff turnover can improve engagement save costs impacting on your organisation’s financial bottom line.

How to reduce staff turnover

I posted on ‘How an engaged newbie can become a top performer‘ which showed that:

  • Performance management where you are measured on outcomes rather than time spent at work
  • Having the right collaboration tools in place with a good governance framework in place is needed
  • Having the right tools to connect from a hub, home or while on the move keeps you in touch with everyone

What organisations can achieve

  • Recent studies have found clear links that show new ways of working have a positive impact on staff turnover.
  • The value of reduced turnover from people telework for half the week is estimated at an annual $3,350 per teleworker.
  • If a quarter of a business’ workforce leaves each year, and the average pay is $35,000, it could easily cost a 1,000-person organisation $4m – $10m a year to replace employees.
  • Employees with flexible working arrangements are more likely to be satisfied, productive and committed – and stay with their employer in the long term.
  • The digital workplace is a key component in reducing absenteeism through flexible work options.

Examples

  1. More than 91% of Cisco’s 2,000 survey respondents say being able to telework issomewhat, or very, important to their overall satisfaction.
  2. In a 2009 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 80% of HRprofessionals felt that flexible work arrangements have a positive impact on employee retention. Some 75% felt it helps them attract employees. And 86% felt it improved employee commitment.
  3. In Accenture’s 2012 Women’s Research – The Path Forward, 64% of respondents said that they stay in a job longer if offered flexible working.
  4. Canada’s Top 100 employers competition has found that employees who are given the option to telecommute report greater loyalty.
  5. 82% of Fortune Magazine’s 100 best companies to work for in 2011 offer telecommuting opportunities to workers.

If I was working in Yahoo! or Google I would want to consider how this evidence stacks up with their policies on homeworking.  Wouldn’t you?

My next post in this series will be on property savings.

Great examples of digital workplace savings:absenteeism

March 13, 2013 at 10:20 am | Posted in benefit, digital workplace, engagement, research, value | 6 Comments
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This is the second in my series of posts showing examples of the benefits and savings organisations have gained by shifting work to a digital workplace.  It draws on my previous posts on how you need to plan your strategy, governance, and management of content, tools, and services for a digital workplace.  This is essential when transforming your intranet into a digital workplace.  The first post ‘Great examples of Digital Workplace productivity savings‘ covered productivity.

I will be using examples from the Digital Workplace Group‘s report ‘What is the financial value of investing in digital working?‘ that show what can be achieved if your organisation can take the right approach.  My second example is how reduced absenteeism can lead to savings in your time working and show on your organisation’s financial bottom line.

How to make the savings

I posted on how to encourage people to be more engaged with their organisation:

  • Policies that encourage you to move to a digital workplace
  • Recognise and reward the right behaviours that make a DW succeed
  • Working styles that encourage productive and effective working

What can be achieved

  • Studies indicate significant costs to employers from absenteeism. For example, average direct and indirect costs of all categories of absence are estimated at about 35% of payroll.
  • The value of reduced absenteeism from half-time telework is estimated at an annual $1,900 per teleworker.
  • Improvement in overall work-life balance, and reduction of stress, are key factors in reducing absenteeism enabled by new ways of working.
  • The digital workplace produces significant and sustained reductions in absenteeism and the direct and related financial gains from this are dramatic.

Examples

  1. A study showed 63% of BT homeworkers take fewer sick days than office-based people
  2. And 74% of BT homeworkers have a “good” or “very good” work-life balance
  3. Surveys showed 4% of US people have called in sick to work because they couldn’t face their journey to work
  4. US Dept. of Labour estimated 3% to 5% of the workforce was absent on any day in 2010.  So, any slight improvement means large sums of money saves.

There are more examples and details in ‘What is the financial value of investing in digital working.  My next post will cover declines in staff turnover.

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