During a business trip to Birmingham the other day I happened to notice a sign taped to one of the chairs. In two different styles of handwriting it displayed the following conversation:
- Do not use
- Why?
- Back broken
This simple conversation via the medium of an A4 sheet of paper got me thinking about the ways we communicate with our colleagues, and how it could be improved.
The sign on the chair is a great example of simple, efficient communication. The question and answer are taped to the item to which it refers, meaning anyone who would see the message immediately knows the context.
Another form of communication that got me thinking was during a visit to the local hospital during the nurses' handover, where one group of nurses updates the next group when they change shifts. All of the nurses would go around together in a group of eight or so, telling each other the state of each patient; what they had given them, what they had eaten, and any other useful or necessary information. The nurses about to start their shift would all take notes so that when they needed to see to the patients again later they would know what needed doing and what had already been done.
This struck me as very thorough, and I remember thinking at the time that if this practice were to be adopted in some companies it would greatly improve communication between the staff and could enable everyone to have a better idea of what their colleagues were doing.
The current darling of the web is Twitter, a real-time messaging and status system. Users can post updates on what they are doing and others can subscribe to these updates, or 'follow' them. Some companies have used Twitter extensively, with reports that it has greatly improved communication and collaboration amongst their team; far more than email had previously achieved.
For companies not wishing to rely on an external system, either for security or stability reasons, software such as Laconica can provide a company with the same messaging and presence facilities but hosted on their own internal servers. Allowing your staff to post frequent updates on what they are working on means that every member of the team is updated on their work and can follow their progress. It is also incredibly useful for real-time updates on server status, or for warning users of current or future outages.
For more advanced communication, something like Google's recently-revealed Wave platform, which again can be used on Google's servers or installed locally, may be more appropriate. Details on Wave are currently scarce but the protocol specification has been published under an open licence, meaning anyone can build it into their systems or create their own implementations without paying royalties to Google.
Until recently the extent of collaboration via computers in the workplace seems to have stalled at email. Companies are unwilling to explore microblogging and social networking because the people who make the decisions are not able to see the potential in allowing greater communication between their employees. Microblogging and blogging in general are a great way to let people within the company know what is happening, and the openness this creates means the staff become more trusting and more excited about what the company is doing.
It gives them a voice, making them feel equal and more a part of the team, and it allows greater communication between different departments. I know from my experience working in a college that different departments would rarely communicate purely because they didn't know who worked there or what they did. Allowing an internal, Twitter-like communications platform lets every member of staff know what every other member of staff is doing, and will allow them to create networks and contacts that will improve their skills and make a big difference in their willingness to communicate with each other.
