Communicating in the City

I feel old

I'm only 38 but today I feel like I'm 68.

It used to be I was the youngest one in the crowd - among friends, family members and in the office. But now...I'm the old one.

In the workplace, I'm surrounded by youth - colleagues in their early-to-mid twenties - full of new ideas and passionate about shiny new tools to introduce inside the company. It's all good, of course. Fresh ideas are always a good thing. But these days, it's all just too much.

Every time we get used to using a new tool or platform, another one comes along that's better and faster. There's no time to enjoy or appreciate a tool; it's bang -- on to the next one! Yet another thing to learn and adapt to...in addition to our normal every day activities.

And with all these new tools, I don't even think my staff reads my emails anymore.

Companies like Atos and Volkswagen are cutting down on internal email to reduce overload and it's giving people ideas. Sure, we all suffer from electronic noise but like I said, these alternative tools in themselves are noise.

Whatever happened to a good old-fashioned phone call?

Minnesota bound

Off to Best Buy's Richfield, Minnesota HQ this week to cover their town hall for simply-communicate. What makes their internal town halls unique? They're completed unscripted with no agenda and have proven to be an effective internal communications vehicle for staff.

While Best Buy's CEO Brian Dunn has been under fire as of late, kudos to him for exhibiting transparency and expressing a desire to set the record straight for his employees. It's always great to see a CEO blog and do videos - he's obviously a champion of social media.

And from what I hear, Dunn is just as transparent and accessible during the company's internal town hall broadcasts. He also makes it his business to visit Best Buy stores and interact with retail employees.

Looking forward to hearing what he has to say this week and meeting the friendly and hospitable Best Buy internal comms team.

In this day and age of struggling economies and nervous employees everywhere, it's nice to see a CEO like Dunn visit the front lines and not hide in an office or behind impersonal, scripted emails. More and more leaders are seeing what it takes to truly engage employees and build a sense of trust.

Look out for my video report about my Best Buy visit in the February 1st edition of simply-communicate.

But more sooner than that - be sure to check out this Wednesday's edition where I'll be reporting on Alcatel-Lucent's social intranet. We'll also have 2012 internal communications predictions, a handy toolkit on creating a successful internal social media campaign, as well as top tips on employee surveys and how to conduct research/engagement during challenging times.

And of course, tune into simply-tv on Wednesday where we'll be bringing you our usual array of informative and entertaining interviews live from London and New York!

Something to make you think

Yesterday's tragic death of Suzanne Hart sheds light on the importance of elevator safety.

The Young & Rubicam executive was crushed to death during an elevator mishap as two other passengers watched in horror.

All she was doing was entering an elevator on the way to work - something we all do every day.

The horrifying incident has led me to recall many times in which an elevator I was on suddenly shook or stopped abruptly. I was even stuck in an elevator when I worked at CBS.

In addition to the building safety angle, I really hope Young & Rubicam have grief counselors in place to assist shaken colleagues of Hart. As a WPP company (I used to work for one), Y&R should have ample crisis communication plans in place.

On simply-communicate, I recently published an article on how to communicate the death of a leader or executive inside a company which was just followed up with an insighful blog by veteran crisis communications consultant, Jim Lukaszewski. Given the fact that Hart worked in a leadership position, much of the insight in these articles holds true for her passing.

I can only imagine how sad the holidays will be for her family this year.

Articles to check out this month

As I recently blogged, I am not a big fan of typos; especially spelling errors. Well, I found two men that detest typos as much as I do: Benjamin Herson and Jeff Deck, aka The Great Typo Hunters.

I had the chance to interview them for this month's edition of simply-communicate. Read about their cross-country journey to rid the world of senseless typos in my entertaining profile:

http://www.simply-communicate.com/case-studies/business/profile-jeff-deck-and-benjamin-herson

One company that has made internal communication entertaining is eBay Europe. Read how they've enhanced their virtual team meetings via roving reporters and an innovative audience voting feature:

http://www.simply-communicate.com/case-studies/company-profile/ebay-europe-enhances-its-popular-virtual-team-meetings

Finally, communicating the death of a CEO or senior business leader is no easy task for companies. However, one thing's for sure: the communications have to be delivered in a sensitive, timely manner. Witness the experiences of some of these well-recognized brands:

http://www.simply-communicate.com/news/internal-communication/how-communicate-death-leader-inside-organization

Stand-out intranets

Just finished covering the Intranet Global Forum 2011 in New York, presented by Prescient Digital Media.

Heard some neat case studies courtesy of Verizon and Pepsi, as well as a rundown on some of the top intranets in Europe, presented by IntraTeam.

It's always inspiring to see fresh and innovative internal communications that give employees a chance to produce some neat content. Pepsi introduced an internal video sharing site less than a year ago which gives employees the opportunity to create and upload a variety of videos.

Meanwhile, at Verizon, the company has completely revamped their intranet with a plethora of interactive features to engage staff worldwide.

Stay tuned for complete coverage in the next edition of simply-communicate.

Is it Christmas already?

What a busy month - had some productive meetings in London (while taking in some lovely holiday decorations of course - see Carnaby Street at right), produced a successful live video webinar from 3 different locations (along with my crack simply staff), and of course, put together another strong edition of simply-communicate and our weekly simply-news feeds.

2011 looks to be quite exciting as simply continues to take off in the States; I'm also working on several standout internal communication case studies at big-name companies.

But until then, it's all about the holidays. Time to wrap some more presents, take in the lovely lights that dazzle my neighborhood and catch up with friends and loved ones. 

Wishing all communicators a simply fabulous Christmas and a happy, prosperous new year!

 

Simplytv is on the air - and so is our NY studio!

Last month, we at simply-communicate stepped up our webinar platform and introduced simplytv, enabling attendees to not only hear us, but see us - thanks to the technology provided by MediaPlatform. I met those guys at Streaming Media East awhile back, and after a few conference calls, we were hooked on their video capabilities.

November's broadcast was soley fed from London; in yesterday's December installment, we unveiled our New York studio - or actually - my apartment, but with a neat New York backdrop.

As viewers took in all the content (consisting of some really cool internal communication case studies), they were treated to a view of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building on a sunny day. Sure, I'm patting myself - and simply - on the back, but I must say, it looked really, really good. CNN and NBC have nothing on our backdrop. And the beauty of it is, I found a terrific vendor out in California (Blue River Digital) who took care of everything - from the stock image to the retractable stand.

Sure, simply has always provided excellent content and best practice tips on social media, intranets and employee engagement to name a few, but the extent to which we've grown is more than admirable.

And the innovation will continue in 2011! I'm off to the mother ship - our London office - to do some forward planning with the team, and of course, some Xmas shopping at Harrod's!

Sitting in the judge's chair

I am tickled pink to be among the prestigious communicators judging the first annual Strategic Video Awards. The competition is being run by McMurry and the Program Chairman is David Murray.

Unlike many other competitions, the videos don't have to be glitzy and high-budget; instead, we'll be judging the effectiveness of the pieces to achieve a strategic purpose. Do they have substance? Are the desired messages successfully communicated?

If you answered "yes" to both questions and work in PR, marketing or employee communications, then you're a perfect candidate to apply. Entries must be received by October 15, 2010.

For more information on entry rules and categories, be sure to check out the awards website. 

And don't forget to visit the YouTube channel created especially for the Strategic Video Awards. If you want examples of engaging viral videos, you'll definitely find them there.

Look forward to judging some really good case studies in the effective use of video communication!

Live thursdays

If it's the first Thursday of the month, then it must be time for simplylive. We put on another successful webinar this morning - 8am in New York (1pm in the UK).

Thanks to all our simply-communicate readers who listened in today. The comments are starting to come in and they're all lovely. It puts a smile on my face knowing we're helping people all over the world become better communicators. And of course, it's been a trip re-tracing my radio roots!

A big shout out to Cameron Batten of Philips, internal comms consultant Aniisu K. Verghese and Emma Bridger of the Communications Lab for guesting on our program today!

For anyone that missed the webinar, you can listen in on our archival recording which can be accessed on our home page. Registration details for our July webinar will be announced shortly. 

And of course, along with today's simplylive comes the June edition of simply-communicate. While publishing after a bank holiday weekend in the US and UK was a challenging task, we got the job done and the content is plentiful - from CEO interviews to new employee motivational tools to big name case studies.

With June now put to bed, time to focus on July...

All in a day's work

I've said this before and I'll say it again - do not be deceived by thinking people have it easy when they work from home. The truth is, it's much harder to work out of your house.

Sure we don't have to deal with chilly, rainy days like today or lousy subway commutes or wondering who's eavesdropping on our conversations in the cubicle next door. What we do have to deal with is the ability to achieve a successful work/life balance.

For example, it's now 8pm. I've been working since 9am - sending out emails, conducting Skype interviews, writing up articles and logging video footage. I haven't eaten dinner, nor have I called back 2 of my friends. Why? I'm a slave to my desk. If I see my laptop, I will want to go on it, whether it's to Tweet, respond to an email or research a story idea. Hell, I've been on my Mac so much that my eyes are now starting to burn. Could glasses be in my future?

When you work in an office, you know at some point you have to go home. You can leave your work at the door (in most cases) and can more easily focus on your evening activities.

That in mind, I will now attempt to prepare some dinner (a different kind of work!) and unwind a bit. I hope.

And for a sneak peak of some of the projects I'm working on, be sure to watch this page!!