5 Things You Need To Know to Become an IT Communications Rockstar

@carleton_IT | #ITcommstar

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Hi, I’m MK.And I am not a rockstar.

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I’m the Communications Advisor in the IT

department at Carleton University.

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As the IT Communications Advisor, 60% of my time is spent on:

1. CCS Website2. IT Projects3. Service Promotion4. Strategy / Organizational

changes5. Big Outages – planned

and unplanned

The 5 things that are super important in IT communications are actually…

THE SAME AS A

ROCKSTAR

PRACTICE = PLANFANS = AUDIENCETOUR = CHANNELSMUSIC = CONTENTREMINISCE = EVALUATE

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Practice = Plan1. Start Planning Early

2. Create Clear Goals and Objectives 3. Gather Resources

If possible, determines: Point of contact, Services impacted, Time to resolve

Performs initial scope assessment, Posts to generic channels

Prepares message for broadcast, Tweets outage

Contacts include: Department of Communications, Student Services, Registrar’s Office

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Issue Discovered

Outage Reported for 1st Phase

Communications

Big Issues Escalated for

Broadcast Communications

Issue is Broadcast to Community as

Necessary

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“The secret is to gang up on the problem, rather than each other.”

- Thomas Stallkamp

Fans = Audience1. Note Characteristics

2. Work with Timing/Schedules3. Address Potential Questions and Issues

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Are busy.

Are not listening

during breaks.

Are on social media.

Are stressed.

Don’t like getting a lot of

email.

May need to hear your

message more than once.

Like to get info from ONE

spot.

Are tech savvy.

Do take pride in the

University name.

Are interested in news that affects their day to day

work.

Relate better to

conversational messages

Are very resourceful.

Are not listening to you during

exams.

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“How does this impact me?”

- Your audience.

Tour = Channels

1. Contact Person for Each Available Channel2. Use your Website to its Full Potential3. Leverage Existing Social Media Channels

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Twitter “Rules”:• Be polite• Be useful.• Be interesting.• Be social.• Be consistent.• Be a person.

Twitter Plan:• What to tweet.• What hashtags to use.• How to measure.

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Audience

Content Strategy

Resources

Measurement

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“Every time you add something you take something away.”

- 37signals.com

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Music = Content1. Keep it Simple

2. Use Pyramid Writing3. Use Lists (Top 5’s)

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Source: the Pyramid Principle by Linda Huysmans

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When, What, WhoFrom Friday June 7 to Monday June 10, Microsoft will be upgrading all Carleton student email accounts.

Why, How (does this affect you)This upgrade will result in a significant storage increase, from 10 GB to 25 GB.

During the upgrade, students will experience a few minutes of service interruption. Access via the Portal and via smartphones will be unavailable during this time.

DetailsTo access your account during the upgrade, (details)

Background InfoLearn more about the upgrade at this website.

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“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”

-Hans Hofman

Reminisce = Evaluate1. Know what you’re evaluating

2. Set SMART objectives to measure against3. Share your lessons learned / success

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Quantitative Data • Conversions• Google Analytics – hits + time spent on page, new vs return visitors• Surveys• Subscribers/Followers/Likes• Facebook stats• Youtube stats• Hashtags/MTs/RTs (via HootSuite)• Bitly• Klout/Peerindex/Kred

Qualitative Data• Interviews• Surveys• Focus Groups• Social media feedback campaign

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Mid-Stage • Is my audience more informed about / engaged

with X? What evidence do I have?• Are there changes that I need to make?• Are there ideas I need to abandon?• Has anything happened that may affect my

progress? • Can I make a valid claim of having

contributed to change? How?

Nearing the finish line • Have I achieved my objectives and goals?• What lessons have I learned?• With whom should I share my lessons learned?

Other comms officers within my organization? The team in CCS?

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“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.”

- Randy Pausch

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1. Plan. Have one. Involve people early.

2. Audience – Address potential prejudices. Potential issues. IT knowledge. Be aware of schedule conflicts.

3. Channels - Know what channels work best for each audience and tailor content accordingly. Use RSS. Get social – but keep in mind your resources.

4. Content - Content needs to be tailored to both the audience and to the channel. Use pyramid writing. Simple, clear, concise.

5. Evaluation – Include in the plan. Get feedback. Report. Be even better next time.

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Questions?Mary Kathryn Roberts

CCS Communications Advisor, Carleton Universitymarykathryn.roberts@carleton.ca

@carleton_it