Feed: 4imprint Promotional Products Blog » Public Sector News - AggScore: 46.0

The bottom line is that not being found online is inefficient and staff are likely to have to deal with more phone calls and emails requesting information that is online but is perhaps just not easily accessible. Additionally, good websites can be costly and in order to see a return on investment, people need to see it.

So how can your department become well optimized or visible to the search engines?

Well, the short answer is that search engines calculate a website’s results ranking based on two components: context and authority.

‘Context’ depends on how much the page’s content matches what the user is searching for. This directly relates to the site’s text and keywords. ‘Authority’ refers to how much the search engine trusts your website in terms of quality. Frequently visited websites, with numerous other sites linking to them, will have higher authority over their less-trafficked counterparts.

In order to leverage your site’s context and authority, consider these tips:

So how does an organisation respond to such crises in a way that is honest, appropriate and proactive? The answer is by implementing a strong crisis communications plan.

Whether the crisis is a natural disaster, the result of unusual circumstances or behaviour (such as the spate of rioting seen throughout the country earlier this year), or inappropriate behaviour from a senior member of the organisation, all staff need to know who to alert first and a chain of command in terms of spokespeople. These qualified individuals need to be prepared to disclose information concerning the crisis and address questions from a higher level (such as a regional issue that is impacting the organisation at a national or international level), staff, the public and the media. Ideally, a preliminary crisis communications plan will have been created and stored in an identifiable document wallet or binder in a central location by your communications team. The plan should outline possible scenarios and a plan for communicating to all audiences. That way, in the unfortunate event that you are faced with an emergency, you will be prepared to handle it and ready to get into action through these ten steps:

1. As the crisis unfolds, keep in mind that there is always a hierarchy of concern – one that for many is natural but will reinforce credibility with audiences: Be concerned for victims first, employees second, and constituents/the public third
2. As soon as a potential crisis rears its head, contact senior level staff and communications personnel immediately
3. If the crisis occurs on a site that can be contained, secure the area through closed doors or cordon it off and gather the facts, working cooperatively with other authorities
4. Work with communications staff or outsourced experts to create a communications command centre and designate a spokesperson. Create talking points and key messages, anticipating the questions that will be asked and practicing the responses. Also make sure this command centre has multiple phone lines, internet access, computers and printers and fully stocked office materials like pens and pads.
5. Your messaging should communicate your action plan – what are the next steps? What is the organisation doing to resolve the situation and ensuring that it does not happen again? Ultimately, though, actions speak louder than words – you’ll be expected to follow through with this action plan and questioned if you don’t.
6. Avoid jargon. This will work against your messages and key points and create confusion. Additionally, don’t speculate in your messages – just stick to the facts and as new facts become available, provide updates.
7. Be accountable and don’t blame others. It is possible to be accountable without admitting guilt or wrongdoing by simply acknowledging that an event has occurred.
8. Tell the truth. Because the likelihood is that if you haven’t, someone will find out and you’ll have an even bigger communications disaster on your hands.
9. Remember that the media is not the bad guy – they can and often will help you get your message out during a crisis or emergency. That being said, there is no such thing as ‘off the record’ and it’s not advisable to argue with reporters or go on the defensive. Perhaps most importantly when dealing with the media, know that silence is not golden, nor is statement of ‘no comment’. Not commenting opens the floor to the public filling the void with rumour and speculation and, in many cases, doing so appears to be admission of wrongdoing or apathy. There are of course situations in which you will be legally prohibited from providing a direct comment to a crisis such as a pending lawsuit or legal action – but usually in these situations you should still be able to offer some sort of response.
10. Use multiple channels to get your message out. Media are often the first to come knocking when word of your emergency or crisis occurs, but keep the message in your control by consistently communicating through multiple channels. Utilise social media such as Twitter, Facebook or blogs and update your website as the crisis or emergency is dealt with. Many organisations have found great success in temporarily turning their home page or adding a specific landing page into an online communications command centre. Larger organisations also often implement hotlines for those affected by the crisis or emergency to call for information or assistance. For crises with less immediacy, promote this hotline in person and via direct mail with a letter and a memorable item like a keyring or a puzzle. Don’t discount the power of personal phone calls or e-mails, either.

“Those are very high financial consequences for seemingly inconsequential, inconsiderate words and actions,” notes Pearson.

Of course, the definition of ‘rude’ is a broad one and open to different interpretation by different people. However, there are some basic rules of office etiquette that we can all remind ourselves of in order to be proactive in putting our best foot forward with colleagues:

Make an effort

Maintaining a positive attitude and good manners in the workplace can be quite contagious. Think: Pay it forward, ie asking that a good turn be repaid by having it done to others instead. Make a commitment to yourself to be more mindful of how you treat your colleagues and see others begin to do the same. All relationships take work, even professional ones.

Establish an open door policy

Notes on the fridge in the kitchen, email chains and inter-office memos make it all too easy to be passive aggressive when things are bothering us. Far less time and energy is taken from a work day when problems are approached head on, in an honest way. Encourage your team to let one another know in a respectful way when something is bothering them and give them the tools to solve the problem on their own.

Be on time and be timely

Time is a valuable commodity for us all, which is why it should be respected. Being late for a meeting, even an internal one, can send the message that you think your time is more valuable than other peoples. Be on time or let others know that you will arrive late, whenever possible. Likewise, when responding to ‘phone calls, voice mail messages and emails, do so in a timely manner as another means of respecting the time of others. Remind people that good timekeeping is a priority in your office by distributing handy desktop clocks so that there are no excuses, or stock all meeting rooms with a timer to keep meetings short and respectful of everyone’s time.

Avoid the urge to be helpful in other peoples’ conversations

In many workplaces – especially with the rise of open plan offices – privacy is hard to come by. If you overhear a private conversation, try to practice selective hearing. Do your best not to interject into the conversations of others uninvited. Not only will this be construed as nosiness, it can also disturb others around you who would rather conversations take place elsewhere.

Don’t Gossip

Passing on rumours or information that you have ‘overheard’ is not helpful in a work environment and can escalate into a major issue. If you feel upset or hurt by a colleague’s behaviour or something you believe they have said, speak calmly and directly to that person to defuse the situation before it has a chance to turn into a major issue.

Be adaptable

As you get to know your colleagues, you’ll learn how they prefer to communicate as well as their idiosyncrasies and their level of sensitivity to certain work topics. Adapt to these personality traits when working with individuals as a means of preventing conflict and building a strong team relationship based on understanding and trust.

Encourage respect and show appreciation

In the same way that you have made a personal commitment to be more mindful of your manners in the office, encourage others to do the same. Ask everyone to take a pledge of respect and outline office etiquette expectations. Hand out Post-It Notes or notebooks for everyone to sign up to this pledge. Or, develop a ‘workplace manners’ challenge to promote office-wide participation in conscientiously respecting one another on a daily basis. Distribute fun prizes or gift vouchers, like an Star Keyring or Star Shaped Bookmarks to your teams for them to distribute to their peers when they spot an office etiquette ‘star’.

And really he’s only echoing that well-known adage about necessity being the mother of invention. There’s no denying the necessity throughout public sector organisations to invent and innovate their way into a brighter future.

But where do you start? We thought we’d share some real life examples with you where public sector bodies have undertaken initiatives that might have been unthinkable a few short years ago and are now delivering some inspiring results.

How about the £4 million pounds saved by the merger of Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham Councils’ education departments? Or the NHS authority who reduced shift patterns for nursing staff from 3 to 2 and saving over £500,000 in handover costs and increasing patient satisfaction and safety?

And not all the innovations need to be large scale, one local authority has seen satisfaction in council services rising dramatically after the introduction of Twitter as a form of communication with local citizens.

Every department or agency can take steps to create an environment that fosters innovation and encourages employees to actively participate in making their organisation more effective and efficient. One of the best places to start is for management to support employee initiatives and reward them for their efforts. Whether that’s through performance-based pay, incentives or recognition, leadership needs to provide the resources to ensure an innovative culture grows and flourishes. Try these additional ideas to support innovation in your workplace: