52
Best Practices for Employee Communications in a Digital Workplace March 15, 2016
Best Practices for Employee Communications in a Digital Workplace March 15, 2016
About Tri-State Generation and Transmission
Association, Inc. Wholesale electric power supplier owned by electric
cooperative across Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming
Headquartered in Denver More than 1,500 employees at
37-plus sites Employees range from power-
plant operators to linemen to knowledge workers
About Nicole Carlson, Internal Communications
Manager More than 10 years experience in corporate
communications Background in journalism, administrative studies
and project management Served as project manager, intranet owner and
intranet SME Twitter @nicjoy
Project background Intranet redesign and platform
change/upgrade No audit processes for content or
formal ownership + active management of department sites No formal design standards or
content organization Not all departments represented
Project goals
Project goals Design site that reflects needs of employees Involve and engage diverse workforce Representation of all departments + locations One platform + updated, modern design Improved method for displaying and distributing
corporate news Addition of search Active management by site owner
Project goals Replace outdated content + improve content
ownership and accountability Deploy content categorization processes Analytics and implement reporting schedule Personalized content on the home page
generated from enterprise applications User-generated content published to home page
+ targeted locations
“You don’t know where you’re going until you know where
you’ve been.” –English proverb
Prepare and assess Benchmarking + research Developed business case + strategy
Business need + objectives + project-success criteria
Analysis of current intranet Determined intranet owner Wrote charter + gained approval Analysis of employee base and culture
Prepare and assess Conducted workshops + focus groups Sent out surveys + analyzed results Created communication plan (it’s never too
early)
Prepare and assess Developed multi-year roadmap
Plan Requirements Platform
selection Vendor selection
Project plan Project site Project team
The meat and potatoes
Design + Build Information architecture
Design + Build
Department meetings + content audits Design Processes and procedures
Design + Build Grid Gurus Branding Key stakeholder
involvement Employee
involvement
Ready, set . . . Go!
Launch
Launch
Launch
Launch Old corporate
communications
Launch
Rebranded corporate communications
Launch Introduction to The Grid
Launch Ask the Grid
Launch Communication plan
Launch
Launch-day breakfast for the help desk + stickers for Grid Gurus and employees
Launch Using our external Power Works for You
campaign + stickers and posters to promote The Grid launch
Launch Continued
education, training and communication Communication
plan includes year of follow-up communication and trainings
Treat each employee as a key stakeholder
Engagement + Adoption Began adoption +
engagement efforts early
Engagement + Adoption Project introduction and updates, ambassador program, naming contest
Engagement + Adoption User experience testing
Heat maps Tree testing Polls + surveys
Engagement + Adoption Beta
Three-month period 200 users
Engagement + Adoption Sneak peek (soft launch)
One week prior to launch New and old sites simultaneously Trainings Videos
Engagement + Adoption Sneak peek (soft launch)
Began launch communication
Building trust + recognition + taking time for fun
High-performing project team Fun
Happy hours Team-building events
Recognition for job well done Provide adequate time for group development
Forming, storming, norming, performing Trusting each other to make decisions
When the going gets tough . . .
Obstacles and challenges New leadership (CTO and CEO) mid-project Introducing new concepts to employees (metadata,
content types) Introducing new platform Location and differences in job functions of
employees Many non-computer users No real previous intranet ownership Ended early relationship with contractors
Obstacles and challenges Internal resources had limited knowledge of
SharePoint 2013 Unavailability of training team
Project team took on creation of all training content
Expectations were high for project + project team based on previous project successes Budget constraints
. . . keep going.
Celebrate successes Good support for employee communications
taking on ownership of site Already established + strong internal
communication platform Change readiness assessment results Strong project communication plan Grid Gurus Beta + soft launch
Measure successes Lessons Learned
Measure successes Launch
garnered project team Ragan PR Daily’s 2015 Best Website Launch
Key takeaways
Focus on employee experience
Prepare + assess + analyze Multi-year roadmap Plan (project, communication) Design + build + branding Launch + post-launch User experience testing
Focus on communication Communication plan Continued education, training
and communication
Focus on engagement Begin adoption + engagement
efforts early Pilot Naming contest Sneak peek (soft launch) Creativity
Focus on measurement Metrics + lessons learned Launch garnered project team
Ragan PR Daily’s 2015 Best Website Launch
Key project takeaways Take adequate time for planning Lessons learned are not just for project end Don’t be afraid to end relationship with contractors Empowering users works COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE Take time for fun and recognition Thank your users + recognize it’s a big change Don’t reinvent the wheel, but also recognize where
your culture doesn’t fit what others have done
